330 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
a dome thatched neatly with straw. It was about thirty 
feet in diameter. 
The weapons and articles, of brass and copper and 
iron, were in perfect order, and showed that Rumanika 
did not neglect his treasures. 
There were about sixteen rude brass figures of ducks 
with copper wings, ten curious things of the same metal 
which were meant to represent elands, and ten headless 
cows of copper. Billhooks of iron, of really admirable 
make, double-bladed spears, several gigantic blades of 
exceedingly keen edge, eight inches across and eighteen 
inches in length, exquisite spears, some with blades and 
staves of linked iron ; others with chain-shaped staves, 
and several with a cluster of small rigid rings massed at 
the bottom of the blade and the end of the staff ; others, 
copper-bladed, had curious intertwisted iron rods for the 
staff. There were also great fly-flaps set in iron, the 
handles of which were admirable specimens of native 
art ; massive cleaver-looking knives, with polished 
blades and a kedge-anehor-shaped article with four 
hooked iron prongs, projecting out of a brass body. 
Some exquisite native cloths, manufactured of delicate 
grass, were indeed so fine as to vie with cotton sheeting, 
and were coloured black and red, in patterns and stripes. 
The royal stool was a masterpiece of native turnery, 
being carved out of a solid log of cotton- wood. Besides 
these specimens of native art were drinking-cups, goblets, 
trenchers and milk dishes of wood, all beautifully clean. 
The fireplace was a circular hearth in the centre of the 
building, very tastefully constructed. Ranged round 
the wall along the floor were other gifts from Arab 
friends, massive copper trays, with a few tureen lids 
of Britannia ware, evidently from Birmingham. Nor 
must the revolving rifle given to him by Captain 
Speke be forgotten, for it had an honoured place, and 
Rumanika loves to look at it, for it recalls to his 
memory the figures of his genial white friends Speke 
and Grant. 
The enormous drums, fifty-two in number, ranged 
outside, enabled us, from their very appearance, to guess 
