ROYAL VISITORS ENTERTAINED. 673 



passed ; the villagers were all cautious ; only news of war, war ! 

 filled the country. The terror of Mirambo was on the whole 

 region. Kasegera was passed just as a welcome was being given 

 to a party returning from the coast. The great village of 

 Ugunda, from whose formidable stockade even the powerful 

 Mirambo had withdrawn his forces in despair of taking it, was 

 left behind them. On the 2d of October they entered the culti- 

 vated fields of Manyara. made conspicuous in the story by a 

 scene such as can never fade from the memory of a man who has 

 any eye for the ridiculous. The authorities of this village refused 

 admission to the travellers, and declined positively to allow their 

 people to sell them any food. On the 3d, Stanley continued to 

 ply the chief with offered presents, having well learned already 

 that no African chief is proof against such beautiful things as the 

 white man can offer. When terms were made, and the precious 

 beans and rice and matama and Indian corn began to flow into his 

 camp, Mr. Stanley arranged to receive the chiefs. His Persian 

 carpet and bear skin were spread out, and a bran new piece of 

 crimson cloth covered his bed. He received the chief and his 

 associate chieftains at the gate of his camp and escorted them 

 with all dignity into the gaudy-looking tent, and invited them 

 to seat themselves. 



The first thing that these noble men did was to scrutinize the 

 owner of that pavilion intently, his face, his clothes, his entire 

 person, and thereupon burst into uncontrollable laughter, accom- 

 panied with repeated snapping of the fingers. Everything in 

 the tent was examined with the same intent curiosity ; the six- 

 teen-shooter particularly elicited a thousand flattering observa- 

 tions, and the tiny revolvers seemed to them of superhuman 

 workmanship. As they passed from object to object their 

 enthusiasm increased, and in the wildness of their delight they 

 seized each other's index fingers and screwed and pulled as if 

 they would inevitably dislocate those innocent members. When 

 the medicine chest was produced, the climax of their admiration 

 seemed to be reached. They tasted the brandy ; next came a 

 bottle of concentrated ammonia, whose use it was explained was 

 for snake-bites and headaches. The chief immediately com- 

 plained that he had headache and must have some. Telling 

 him to close his eyes, Mr. Stanley suddenly uncorked the bottle 



