AN AUDIENCE OF KABREGA. 61 



well-formed, smoothly shorn head, these constituting the tribal 

 mark of the Wanyoro ; his four lower incisor teeth were want- 

 ing, as is the case in all Wanyoro, and the upper incisors 

 projected slightly, and were brilliantly white. (The lower in- 

 cisors, sometimes also the canines, are always removed from 

 girls and boys as soon as they arrive at puberty. They are 

 forced out with a broad piece of iron used as a lever.) A neck- 

 lace of hairs from a giraffe's tail, upon the middle of which was 

 strung a single blue glass bead, encircled his neck. A root 

 amulet and an iron bracelet were the only ornaments on his 

 strong muscular arm ; his hands were small and well kept. 

 He is strikingly fair, probably in consequence of his pure 

 Wahiima blood. He made, upon the whole, a very favourable 

 impression upon me, but there was a decided voluptuous ex- 

 pression on his face. His attendants, about fifty in number, 

 were clothed in skins and bark cloths, and amongst them was 

 his brother, an ugly black fellow. 



After presenting him with my credentials, to which I added 

 a few words, a very lively conversation sprang up between us. 

 Kabrega speaks the Sudan Arabic fluently. He requested me, 

 however, although I speak Kinyoro, to talk with him in Arabic, 

 and to permit my words to be translated by his interpreter, " so 

 that his people could understand them." I next gave him the 

 presents I had brought with me, and much enjoyed his pleasure 

 in receiving them. He paid especial attention to a few pieces 

 of scented soap. My soldier had a small revolver in his girdle ; 

 Kabrega requested permission to view it, and comprehended at 

 once its mechanism. He took it to pieces, put it together 

 again, and then gave it back to me. He then asked me to 

 inform him how I had enjoyed myself last year in Uganda, 

 and what I had seen there, and he was highly amused with 

 my description of the court ceremonials which obtain in that 

 country. Threatening rain brought our conference to an end 

 before either of us wished its conclusion. He promised, how- 

 ever, that he would soon call me again into his presence, and 

 then took leave of me in a thoroughly dignified manner. 



I have often visited Kabrega subsequently, and cannot say 

 that I ever heard him speak an improper word or make an 

 indecent gesture, or that he was ever rude, excepting, perhaps, 



