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46 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
This one had for his costume an old shirt which had only 
one sleeve and no sign of a button to be seen anywhere, 
a shirt that formerly must have been white but had nev- 
er been washed since he got it, which was several years 
before. This prime minister had nothing else on. The 
third man, who of course formed part of his Majesty’s 
suite, had on an old beaver hat and nothing else. An- 
other that followed him had one of those old-fashioned | 
black neck-ties (as tight as the neck itself, and attached 
with a buckle) which: were worn some thirty years ago, 
and nothing else. How the deuce did that fellow get 
that cravat? I asked myself. I learned afterward that 
he had inherited it. Then came a fellow who by hook 
or by crook had possession of an old pair of shoes; how 
he had got them I was unable to find out. His father 
had perhaps left them to him. How steady, how grave 
they looked, as they passed one after another before me. 
These were the leading men of this Mbisho village. They © 
thought themselves splendid, and their legis thought 
the same. They came out in state. 
I had seen before so much of the same kind of African 
court costumes that I tried to look sober, as they made 
their appearance in the midst of the shouts of their peo- 
ple, who praised their good looks. 
They looked at me and I looked at them, and at last 
with one voice they asked me to notice how handsome 
they were, each at the same time in one way or another 
making the most of what he wore. I said they were 
very fine. 
The houses of that village had no windows or doors, 
except on the side toward the street ; and when the gates 
of the streets at each end were locked the village was in- 
a 
