K All AG WE AND ITS GENTLE KING. 
313 
persons, principally youths, all those who might be con- 
sidered in their boyhood being perfectly nude. 
“ Who are these ? ” I inquired of Sheikh Hamed. 
“ Some of the youngest are sons of Rumanika, others 
are young Wany a -Ruanda,” he replied. 
The sons of Rumanika, nourished on a milk diet, were 
in remarkably good condition. Their unctuous skins 
shone as though the tissues of fat beneath were dissolv- 
ing in the heat, and their rounded bodies were as taut 
as a drumhead. Their eyes were large, and beaming 
and lustrous with life, yet softened by an extreme 
gentleness of expression. The sculptor might have 
obtained from any of these royal boys a dark model for 
another statue to rival the classic Antinous. 
rumanika’s measure house. 
As we were followed by the youths, who welcomed us 
with a graceful courtesy, the appropriate couplet came 
to my mind — 
“ Thrice happy race ! that, innocent of blood, 
From milk innoxious seek their simple food.” 
We were soon ushered into the hut wherein Rumanika 
sat expectant, with one of the kindliest, most paternal 
smiles it would be possible to conceive. 
I confess to have been as affected by the first glance 
at this venerable and gentle pagan as though I gazed on 
the serene and placid face of some Christian patriarch 
or saint of old, whose memory the Church still holds in 
reverence. His face reminded me of a deep still well ; 
the tones of his voice were so calm that unconsciously 
