48 
RESIDENCE AT KATUNGA. 
style ; in doing which, he would frequently throw a somerset equally 
as expert as old Grimaldi himself in his best times. I sat for an 
hour and a half, during all which time the prostrations were con- 
tinued without intermission, accompanied with the dancing and 
tumbling, without regard to the intense heat of the sun. I con- 
cluded that they were practising before the eunuch, in order to 
be perfect when they appeared before the king. They were dressed 
in leopard skin robes, hung round with tassels and chains. At 
last the prostrations were completed, and the eunuch sent for 
several jars of palm wine. The caboceers were admitted to drink 
theirs in the eunuch’s house, but the attendants drank their share 
under a tree. In the afternoon, the king sent for us to see him, 
but I was too unwell to go, and desired Mr. Houtson and .Richard 
to attend him. 
Monday, 13th. — This morning, our friend and guardian, the fat 
eunuch, was drunk ; when in that state, he begs every thing he 
sees. He got Mr. Houtson and myself into his house to see 
him dance ; but independent of his want of steadiness, he was 
the most clumsy and unwieldy performer I ever saw. He begged 
we would also dine with him, but I complained of illness, and 
Houtson ran off. He followed and made Mr. Houtson hand out 
the flask, which, without waiting for a glass, he put to his mouth, 
and drank upwards of a pint of raw rum, without drawing his 
breath. He said, he had drank two quarts to-day already, and 
given away a small cask : that rum was good, and made him fat. 
The people of Katunga are fond of ornamenting their doors, 
and the posts which support their verandahs, with carvings ; anti 
they have also statues or figures of men and women, standing in 
their court yards. The figures carved on their posts and doors 
are various ; but principally of the boa snake, w ith a hog or an- 
telope in his mouth ; frequently men taking slaves, and sometimes 
a man on horseback leading slaves. 
