THE SHAEI 197 



Whether his suspicions eventually calmed down or 

 not, he received us next day with cold civility at 

 the gates of the lesser palace, where his new Queen 

 resides. She is but a bride, the young daughter of the 

 Shehu (King) of Bornu, who gave her in marriage to 

 the Jeggara with great pomp and many gifts. The 

 audience-chamber, where Mrs Talbot and I visited her, 

 was a long, narrow room. Directly facing the door, the 

 bride sat, cross-legged, upon a divan, her attendants 

 gathered round her on the floor. It was very dark, and 

 we could make out little more than the outline of the 

 fresh young face and brilliant eyes that were fixed on 

 us : she never broke silence, though a smile of pleasure 

 gleamed out suddenly when we praised two painted 

 chests, the only furniture her room contained. The 

 walls were hung with tin plates and dishes, supple- 

 mented by others made of earthenware. This seemed 

 a favourite form of mural decoration, for when, by 

 her permission, we entered her two bedrooms, we found 

 one plastered with a dado of cowrie-covered plates with 

 tin pots below — and in the other earthenware pots 

 heaped one upon the other from the floor upwards. 

 Hanging from above were beautiful trappings of leather, 

 or of woven straw, stitched over with cowries, part of 

 her marriage dower. 



When we rejoined Mr Talbot, our host the Jeggara 

 took us to his principal palace, and escorted us to 

 his treasure-house, passing through many courtyards, 

 one of which contained a large bed made of maria 

 wood, shaped like a tortoise. The room was small, 

 with lines stretched across it and clothes hanging 

 upon them, as we see on laundry-greens at home. 

 Two brass trumpets (German), an old pistol, a big 



