Mr. King Declines His State Room. 
143 
hospit'able ladies noticed Hamlet making a start with Ms cooking utensils, 
she brought out a number of yams, potatoes, and a calabash covered with 
leaves beneath which squirmed a whole lot of larvae of CaJandra pal- 
marum (the Grogru of the negroes). Hamlet, who ruled and surveyed 
everything relative to his department with the eye of an eagle, and knew 
the most suitable ways of serving up the most out-of-the-way things, ap- 
proached me with triumphant mien and assured me that when stewed in 
fat this grub, which we so contemptuously disdained, would prove to be 
the daintiest dish upon our table. 
501. Clementi occupied these pleasant quarters in company with his 
harem, his two step-sons, a number of lean and yelping dogs that took a 
long time before reconciling themselves to our presence, still larger quan- 
tities of Parrots, Hokko hens ( Grax a lector), Trumpet birds ( P sophia 
crepitans Linn.), Jakus ( Penelope cristata), and beautiful Sun-birds 
( Eurypyga Hellas) which, with long-stretched neck, regarded us in sur- 
prise, and quickly flew to a distance as we drew near. The beautiful 
plumage — a mixture of grey, yellow, green, black, white, and brown — • 
makes the last-mentioned one of the loveliest birds in this district so full 
of brilliant ones, especially when it spreads its wings and tail like a 
turkey-cock and lets their colours glisten and shift in the sunshine. Its 
nourishment consists only of flies and insects which it pursues with such 
skill that they seldom escape. Ever on the move and turning its head 
in all directions, it searches the ground and leaves of low bushes for food. 
Directly an insect is detected it. curbs its gait, sneaks slowly on, and then 
by a sudden stretch of the neck quickly seizes and swallows its unsuspect- 
ing victim. I found the tame Trumpet-birds equally interesting: they were 
so devoted to their mistress that they followed her every step like a faith- 
ful domestic animal and all the time boomed out their deep bass notes 
which they have to thank for the name applied to them. 
502. Hardly had we taken possession of the lower portion of the 
house, than curiosity prompted Mr. King to inspect his room which 
reduced itself to a small compartment made from the split young trunks 
of Euterpe oleracea which were fastened with vine-rope instead of nails: 
it was a soft of fowl-coop reached by a ladder. Immediately after our 
arrival Clementi had asked for Mr. King's hammock and already slung 
it there. Hardly had we got down again by ourselves than Mr. King, to 
dementi’s very great surprise, followed us with his hammock. The hon- 
our showered on him by Clementi in the way of reserved State Apart- 
ments and the slight put upon us had so tickled King’s fancy at our ex- 
pense that we now returned him all his over-confident chaff in the most 
good-natured style, when he was at last forced to exclaim : — “No, do what 
you like. You can tease me as much as you please, I'll stand it all right 
so long as I haven’t to go back to that smoke-hole with (lie fumes of all 
these fires almost stifling me.” His woe-begone face reflected itself in 
that of Clementi whose previous merriment had disappeared and whose 
brows had become darkly clouded : lie went fretting from one corner of 
the house to the other, climbed up (he ladder quite four or five times to 
satisfy himself of the truth of the reproach and finally drew the conclus- 
ion that “white men don't know what they want.'’ 
503. Hamlet’s dish, the larvae stewed in fat, was tolerable. Our in- 
ventive cook stood waiting at a distance to note the appreciation bestow- 
