BEER CUKE FOR A WRY FACE BALL. 



193 



On paying our respects to his majesty one day, we were re- 

 galed with a prodigious quantity of beer, brewed from grain, 

 and served out of a monster calabash with spoons (made from 



BEER-CUP AND BEER- SPOON. 



diminutive pumpkins), in nicely-worked wooden goblets. Be- 

 ing unwell at the time, I was not in a state properly to ap- 

 preciate the tempting beverage. Nangoro, however, who 

 probably attributed the wry face that I made to the influence 

 of the liquor, suddenly thrust his sceptre, which, by the way, 

 was simply a pointed stick, with great force into the pit of 

 my stomach. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground at 

 the time, but the blow was so violent as to cause me to spring- 

 to my feet in an instant. Nangoro was evidently much 

 pleased with his practical joke. As for myself, I sincerely 

 wished him at the antipodes. However, for fear of offending 

 royalty, I choked my rising anger, and reseated myself with 

 the best grace I could, but I tried in vain to produce a smile. 

 On another occasion we attended a ball at the royal res- 

 idence. An entertainment of this kind was given every 

 night soon after dark, but it was the most stupid and unin- 

 teresting affair I ever witnessed. The musical instruments 

 were the well-known African tom-tom and a kind of guitar. 



