KING ARMANIKA. 



183 



and roofs so carefully thatched that no rain can pene- 

 trate them: the villages, as in Usagara, are scattered 

 upon the crests and ridges of the hills. 



The Mkamd, or Sultan of Karagwah, in 1858, was 

 Armanika, son of Ndagara, who, although the dignity- 

 is in these lands hereditary, was opposed by his younger 

 brother Rumanika. The rebel, after an obstinate 

 attack, was routed by Suna, the late despot af Uganda, 

 who, bribed by the large present of ivory, which was 

 advanced by Musa Mzuri of Kazeh, then trading with 

 Armanika, threw a large force into the field. Rumanika 

 was blinded and pensioned, and about four years ago 

 peace was restored. Armanika resides in the central 

 district, Weranhanja, and his settlement, inhabited only 

 by the royal family, contains from forty to fifty huts. 

 He is described as a man about thirty to thirty-five 

 years old, tall, sturdy, and sinewy-limbed, resembling 

 the Somal. His dress is, by preference, the mbugu, or 

 bark-cloth, but he has a large store of fine raiment 

 presented by his Arab visitors : in ornaments he is dis- 

 tinguished by tight gaiters of beads extending from 

 knee to ankle. His diet is meat and milk, with some- 

 times a little honey, plantains, and grain : unlike his 

 subjects, he eschews mawa and pombe. He has about 

 a dozen wives, an unusually moderate allowance for an 

 African chief, and they have borne him ten or eleven 

 children. The royal family is said to be a race of 

 centagenarians ; they are buried in their garments, 

 sitting and holding their weapons : when the king dies 

 there is a funeral feast. 



Under the Mkama is a single minister, who takes the 

 title of Muhinda, and presides over the Wakungu, 

 elders and headmen, whose duty it is to collect and to 

 transmit to the monarch once every month his revenues, 



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