346 
AFEICA AND ITS EXPLOEATION. 
gaged in gorging- himself with a mass of meat which he 
held on a fork in his left hand, while with an enormous 
carving-knife he fanned off the swarming flies. Every 
now and then Fairbairn took a sly look at me to 
see what my powers of reception were in the beef-eating 
line. 
Little slave boys, who had only recently been captured, 
and were nothing but skin and bone, crouched up beside 
us, and were glad to accept either morsels of beef or drops 
of beer that we did not want. Gladly enough would 
I have given them the whole lot; but I was well aware 
that the better I proved a capacity for eating and drink¬ 
ing, the more would savage appreciation smile upon me 
and favour my designs. The reader, therefore, may be 
assured that I tried to be sufficiently omnivorous. 
Evidently a case of no slight importance was being 
heard by Lo-ben. All eyes were riveted upon him, and 
the facial expressions showed how eager every hearer 
was to catch even an echo of the weighty words which 
fell from the monarch’s mouth. Occasionally, as he 
conversed with the assembled endunas, Lo-ben would 
utter some transcendent expression of infallible wisdom, 
which when given forth would get many responsive 
ejaculations of accpiiescence and sympathy. 
“ Yebo, yebo, Kurnalo ! ” cried the audience. “ Ye, 
hay, hay! ”* 
An oppressive subjection was evident among the crowd. 
They sat willing, should the potentate so ordain, and 
without a word of remonstrance, to see their own brothers 
die the death, for here could be found the most vivid 
illustration of the axiom, the “ King can do no wrong.” 
It was strangely noticeable that all who passed the 
circle of royalty had to cower to the earth, crouching as 
though they were about to collapse together. 
Sunset was approaching, and as every one, excepting 
those immediately connected with the royal household, 
were bound to be outside by that time, 1 was beginning 
to fear a further delay ; but luckily the crowd dispersed, 
* Yebo means yes. Kumalo is a courtesy title for the royal family. 
The other exclamation indicates approval. 
