THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 71 



a becoming manner ; his surprise was great to hear him 

 inquire so intelligently about people and governments in other 

 lands, and when he asked his visitor to take two of the princes 

 with him to England, that they might become educated, and 

 return to tell him all about the world, his admiration was greatly 

 increased. As to the domestic character and tastes of Rumanika, 

 Capt. Speke writes: 



" In the afternoon, as I had heard from Musa that the wives 

 of the king and princes were fattened to such an extent that they 

 could not stand upright, I paid my respects to Wazezeru, the 

 king's eldest brother who, having been born before his father 

 ascended the throne, did not come in the line of succession with 

 the hope of being able to see for myself the truth of the story. 

 There was no mistake about it. On entering the hut, I found 

 the old man and his chief wife sitting side by side on a bench of 

 earth strewed over with grass, and partitioned like stalls for 

 sleeping apartments, while in front of them were placed numer- 

 ous wooden pots of milk, and, hanging from the poles that sup- 

 ported the bee-hive shaped hut, a large collection of bows six 

 feet in length, while below them were tied an even larger col- 

 lection of spears, intermixed with a goodly assortment of heavy- 

 handled assegais. I was struck with no small surprise at the 

 way he received me, as well as with the extraordinary dimensions, 

 yet pleasing beauty, of the immoderately fat fair one, his wife. 

 She could not rise ; and so large were her arms that between the 

 joints the flesh hung down like large, loose-stuffed puddings. 

 Then in came their children, all models of the Abyssinian type 

 of beauty, and as polite in their manners as thorough-bred gen- 

 tlemen. They had heard of my picture-books from the king, 

 and all wished to see them ; which they no sooner did, to their 

 infinite delight, especially when they recognized any of the 

 animals, than the subject was turned by my inquiring what they 

 did with so many milk-pots. This was easily explained by 

 Wazezeru himself, who, pointing to his wife, said, * This is all 

 the product of those pots ; from early youth upward we keep 

 these pots to their mouths, as it is the fashion at court to have 

 very fat wives.' " 



