218 



THE SEER. 



of the past, the present and the future ; whilst 

 a thousand instances have shown that such scenic 

 exhihitions of thino-s absolutely unknown to the 

 seer have actually come to pass. Almost invari- 

 ably also the Mganga has, or induces, the ' disease 

 which precedes the power to divine ' ; and he at- 

 tributes it to ancestral ghosts, which would now 

 be called spirits. 



At 6 p. M. the ' Ministers ' ran back, and 

 summoned us, breathless, to the 'Palace.' They 

 led the way, through wind, and rain, and gather- 

 ing gloom, to a clump of the usual huts, half 

 hidden by trees, and spreading over a little emi- 

 nence opposite to and below Fuga. We were 

 allowed but three Baloch as escort. Theii' match- 

 locks were taken away, and a demand was put in 

 for our swords, which of course we insisted upon 

 retaining. The natural suspiciousness of the 

 negi'o is always exaggerated by being in the 

 neighbourhood of a more advanced race. IIer(^ 

 even Ilamdan became a Rustam. 



Sultan Kimwere half rose from his couch as 

 we entered, and motioned us to sit upon low stools 

 in front of him. The Simba wa Muigni — Lion of 

 the Lord^ — was an old, old man (un vieux vieux), 



1 Dr Krapf writes, ' Siraba wa Muene,' i. e. the Lion is 

 Himself, or the Lion of the Self-Existent (God). 



