286 STRANGE CUSTOMS OF SAVAGE RULERS. 



As age grew upon her she grew worse and worse — more cruel 

 to her victims; more abominable in all her dealings with her sub- 

 jects. At last she w^as subdued. Falling desparately in love with 

 a private soldier in her army, she publicly married him, and gave 

 him half her throne and kingdom. At last she grew tired of him, 

 as she had grown tired of a hundred before. But she had met her 

 match. Calming, cajoling, and flattering his terrible queen, the 

 king-consort managed for a time to postpone his inevitable fate — 

 to be fondled to-day, to be dined off to-morrow. One day he enter- 

 tained her at dinner with all the choice viands which the kingdom 

 of Congo or the young Portuguese colonies on the coast could 

 supply. Her drink had been poisoned. Her husband was saved, 

 and the kingdom freed from a tyrant, whose rule was beginning to 

 be too heavy to bear. Yet he was never suspected ; or perhaps his 

 act was of too meritorious a character to be taken notice of. 



THE QUEEN'S TRAGIC END. 



So, after much wailing over her funeral — as subjects will wail 

 over kings, no matter how vile — Tembandumba slept with her 

 fathers; and Culemba, her affectionate husband, reigned in her 

 stead. 



Blood-curdling tales are told of the excesses of some of the 

 old sovereigns. For instance, Shinga was the name of the Negro 

 queen who came to power in the year 1640, but, through the intrigues 

 of the Jesuit priests, to whose rites she did not choose to submit, 

 was forced to fly the kingdom, after contending with her nephew in 

 three pitched battles, which she lost. In 1646 she regained her 

 kingdom, after many vicissitudes of fortune. But by this time 

 Queen Shinga had got so accustomed to war, that she cared for 

 nothing else. Her life was spent in hostilities against the neighbor- 

 ing kingdoms. 



Before she undertook any new enterprise, she would sacrifice 

 the handsomest man she could find. Clad in skins, with a sword 

 hanging round her neck, an axe at her side, and bow and arrow in 

 her hand, she would dance and sing, striking two iron bells. Then 

 taking a feather she would put it through the holes in her nose, as 



