168 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



of chain - armour, one of which had loose leggings. 

 They were evidently of old workmanship and very 

 good, but their weight is colossal, — the one without 

 leggings weighs 34 lb. It is this that he wore him- 

 self in his old captive days, and he told us he had 

 seen 500 men tog-ether thus accoutred in Abechir 

 before Rabeh came with firearms to disprove their 

 worth. 



He used to wear a fifteenth-century Persian helmet, 

 ornamented with a raised steel pattern picked out 

 in bronze. All this armour is now in our possession, 

 for, to the great surprise of the Resident (though with 

 his consent), Gauaronga exchanged these and other 

 treasures for a sum of money and a rifie of Mr 

 Talbot's, with which he was delighted, for a rifle in 

 Central Africa is almost priceless. 



Our visit ended with an invitation from the Sultan 

 to come back next morning and witness the levee 

 he was to hold. 



It was a very great occasion, and two or three 

 thousand people were present. The chiefs came and 

 made their bows one by one, each attended by as 

 many followers as he possessed, down to quite 

 tiny naked boys, all of whom knelt at a respectful 

 distance while their masters made obeisance. They 

 then retired to squat in a semicircle on the ground 

 on either side of the throne, if that distinguished 

 name may be applied to a folding-chair set on rugs. 

 The canopy, however, at least was there, represented 

 by a big tent. 



I have begun at the end, though, when the people 

 had arrived ; but there was a long beginning, when 

 Gauaronga sat in state, and we sat under a shelter 



