Cape Pahnas to 



mucli the appearance of ati extensive 

 |>ark. 



The capital of Warre is divided into 

 two towns, distant IVou) cacli other iialf 

 a mile. 'J'lie most populous one is that 

 in MJiicli the kinf^ resides, and the coin- 

 l)inc<l iiopulatioii aii;ounts probahly to 

 5,0(K) souls. 



We had lodgings prepared for us at 

 the house of our guide's father, and soo:i 

 after our arrival, refreshments was sent 

 us by the king, accom|)anied by a mes- 

 sage, that he would be glad to see us 

 the following day. We accordingly 

 waited on him (our guide acting as 

 linguist), and arrived at his house about 

 mid day. After passing through five or 

 six a]iartmcnls of various I'ornis and 

 sizes, we were ushered into the audience 

 chamber, where we found his sable 

 majesty fully pre|)ared for the occasion, 

 and seated on a low stool, placed on a 

 kind of platform, raised about eighteen 

 inches above the floor. A boy was 

 holding a pink silk umbrella over bis 

 head, and another was brushing away 

 flics with an elephant's tail. To our ex- 

 treme surprise, we found the king 

 dressed in the European style, and 

 wanting nothing to complete the dress 

 but a shirt and a neckcloth. 



1'he king, whose name is Oloo, ap- 

 peared about sixty years of age, his 

 countenance mild and intelligent, and 

 liis person of the middle size, inclined to 

 corpulency. lie had on a white satin 

 Waistcoat, trimmed with silver lace, a 

 silk puri)le coat much embroidered, 

 black satin small-clothes with knec- 

 bucklcs, coarse thread stockings, shoes 

 and buckles, and a large black hat 

 trimmed round the edge with red fea- 

 tliers ; all of which aj)[)carcd to us of 

 Portuguese fabric, except the coat and 

 waistcoat, which, there is little doubt, 

 bad, at a former period, been worn at 

 Uie court of St. James's. 



Our audience continued about an 

 Lour, when King Otoo dismissed us with 

 much courtesy; and requested that 

 while wc remained at Warre wo would 

 visit him daily. 



On entering the first apartment of Iho 

 palace, we were much sur))rised to sec, 

 placed on a rude kind of tai)le, several 

 emblems of the Catholic ri;ligii»n, con- 

 nisling of crncilixes, nnitilaled saints, 

 and other trumpery. Some of these 

 articles were manufactured of brass, and 

 others of wood. ( )n in<|uiring how Ihey 

 came iulo their present siluution, vve 

 were iuloruittl that several black I'wilu- 



the River Congo. 589 



gucsc missionaries had been s^t Warr<5, 

 many years since, endeavouring tu 

 convert the natives into Christians! 

 and the building in which they per- 

 formed their mysteries, we fouiiij ^tiU 

 standing. 



A large wooden cross, whicli Jiad 

 withstood iiie tooth ol time, was 

 remaining in a very perfect state, in one 

 of the angles fornieil by two roads intcr- 

 Svcting each other. VVc could not learn 

 that the Portuguese had been successful 

 in niriking proselytes; indeed, King 

 Otoo's subjects appeared to trouble 

 themselves very little about religion of 

 any kind. 



WOMEN. 



I'olygamy is common here, as in other 

 pans of Africa i and the number of 

 wives which the black monarch had ex- 

 ceeded sixty ; for such I judged to be the 

 amount, as one day in my rambles, I 

 inadvertently peeped into the royal 

 seraglio. "I'liis building is at some dis- 

 t.inee from the king's residence, and has 

 the form of a (juadrangle with a large 

 open urea, in tlic centre ; the doors and 

 windows of the various apartments 

 which compose the sides opcnijig into it. 

 The external walls are comparalivelyr 

 high, and have but one oi)cning. Hear- 

 ing the noise of many voices, and the 

 door standing invitingly open, I walked 

 in, when loud screams from a vast num- 

 ber of women and children assailed my 

 cars. As I perceived that my j)resenco 

 very much alarmed them, I did not 

 advance far beyond the threshold of the 

 door, where I first entered, but remained 

 stationary a few minutes, in order to 

 ol)serve what their various employments 

 were; and here indeed were queens 

 actively engaged in all the duties and 

 enibelhshmenis of domestic life, from 

 the toilette to the washing-tub. And as 

 we often hear of king's being called 

 (allegorically) the fathers of their |)co- 

 ple, the extraordinary fact seemed to be 

 verified in old King Otoo's person ; as, 

 from the number of young children in 

 this establishment, it would be no great 

 stretch of the imagination to fancy tho 

 popidalion of Warre to have been priu- 

 ci]>ully of his own creation. 



When I called on the king tho day 

 following this adventure, he with niucli 

 good humour inlormed me that he had 

 heard of it; but, as I was a stranger, 

 and unae(pi,'unted with their customs, 

 he would excu.se the mistake ; but 

 added, by way of warning, perhaps, to 

 somw of liis courtiers who wue 2)rcscut, 



that, 



