90 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



for his mother, a woman of about forty years, was queen- 

 dowager, whose influence in civil matters was almost equal to 

 that of her royal son. She was good-natured and received Speke 

 with great friendliness, even offering him any one of her many 

 daughters for a wife. This offer led the Captain to inquire what 

 ceremony was connected with marriage in the Uganda country, 

 to which the queen replied, in substance, as follows : 



There are no such things as marriages in Uganda ; there are 

 no ceremonies attached to it. If any mkungu possessed of a 

 pretty daughter committed an offense, he might give her to the 

 king as a peace-offering ; if any neighboring king had a pretty 

 daughter, and the king of Uganda wanted her, she might be 

 demanded as a fitting tribute. The wakungu officers in Ugan- 

 da are supplied with women by the king, according to their 

 merits, from seizures in battle abroad, or seizures from refractory 

 officers at home. The women are not regarded as property, 

 though many exchange their daughters; and some women, for 

 misdemeanors, are sold into stevery, while others are flogged or 

 are degraded to do all the menial services of the house. 



The company now became jovial, when the queen improved 

 the opportunity by making a significant gesture, and with roars 

 of laughter asking Speke if he would like to be her son-in-law, 

 for she had some beautiful daughters, either of the Wahuma or 

 Waganda breed. Rather staggered at first by this awful 

 proposal, he consulted his interpreter as to what he should 

 do with one if he got her. Bombay, looking strictly to number 

 one, said, " By all means accept the offer, for if you don't like 

 her, we should, and it would be a good means of getting her out 

 of this land of death." 



The queen appeared much amused at Bombay's selfish solici- 

 tude, and became quite hilarious with her visitors under the 

 influence of the pombe that she had swallowed, and they all 

 seemed bent upon having a truly royal time of it. Cups were 

 not enough to keep up the excitement of the occasion, so a large 

 wooden trough was placed before the queen and filled with 

 liquor. If any was spilled, the officers instantly fought over it, 



