92 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



SAVAGE CRUELTIES. 



THE savage nature of Mtesa is well described in the incidents 

 following: While holding a levee with Speke one day, a large 

 body of officers entered the palace with an old man whose 

 two ears had been cut off for having been too handsome in 

 his youth ; with the old man was a young girl who, after a dis- 

 appearance of four days, had been found by a searching party in 

 the old man's house. These two were brought before the king 

 for his judgment. No one but the plaintiff was suffered to make 

 any statement, and he, after bowing and kissing the ground, 

 declared that he had lost the girl, and after considerable search, 

 had found her concealed in the house of the old man, who was, 

 indeed, old enough to be her grandfather. From all appearances, 

 one would have said the wretched girl had run away from 

 the plaintiff's house in consequence of ill-treatment, and had 

 harbored herself on this decrepit old man without asking 

 his leave ; but their voices in defense were never heard, for 

 the king instantly sentenced both to death, to prevent the 

 occurrence of such impropriety again ; and, to make the example 

 more severe, decreed that their lives should not be taken at once, 

 but, being fed to preserve life as long as possible, they were to 

 be dismembered bit by bit, as rations for the vultures, every 

 day, until life was extinct. The dismayed victims, struggling 

 to be heard, in utter despair were dragged away boisterously in 

 the most barbarous manner, to the drowning music of the milele 

 and drums. 



The king, in total unconcern about the tragedy he had thus 

 enacted, immediately on their departure said, "Now, then, for 

 shooting, Bana ; let us look at your gun." It happened to be 

 loaded, but fortunately only with powder, to fire Speke' s announce- 

 ment at the palace ; for the king instantly placed caps on the nipples 

 and let off one barrel by accident, the contents of which stuck in 

 the thatch. This created a momentary alarm, for it was supposed 

 the thatch had taken fire ; but it was no sooner suppressed 

 than the childish king, still sitting on his throne, to astonish his 

 officers still more, leveled the gun from his shoulder, fired 



