THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



503 



such as charm-gourds, charm-powders in bits of red and black 

 flannel, and a collection of wooden antiquities, besides a snuff- 

 gourd and a parcel of tobacco-leaves. He was constantly filling 

 his nose with snuff and then sneezing it out again. He also 

 carried a pipe six feet long, decorated with brass tacks. From 

 this pipe he would draw long whiffs until his cheeks were dis- 

 tended, and then fumigate his charms with the smoke. He had 

 forty wives, each of whom was permanently collared with thick 

 brass rings, which must have weighed as much as twenty pounds. 



When one of his wives dies 

 he cuts her head off and 

 thus secures the brass collar. 

 This clever and really 

 kind-hearted old monarch 

 was one of the richest char' 



KING CHUMBIRI. 



ONE OF CHUMBIRl'S WIVES. 



acters that Stanley met in all his travels, and he remained in his 

 village several days, studying his peculiarities and recruiting his 

 almost famished people. On taking his departure the old king 

 furnished him with an escort of forty-five men, under the com- 

 mand of one of his sons, who accompanied him nearly fifty 

 miles, and rendered him valuable services in that wild and 

 unknown country. 



