THE GREAT JOURNEY FROM SEA TO SEA. 
801 
tious as a spoiled child, he never seemed to know exactly what he 
wanted, and would issue simultaneously the most contradictory 
orders, and then expect them to be obeyed. 
As for the men who held the honorable post of his guards, they 
were treated something worse than dogs—far worse, indeed, than 
Mtesa treated his own dog. They might lodge themselves as they 
could, and were simply fed by throwing great lumps of beef and 
plantains among them. For this they scramble just like so many 
GOATEE,. WARRIOR WITH BATTLE-AXE. 
dogs, scratching and tearing the morsels from each other, and try¬ 
ing to devour as much as possible within a given number of seconds. 
The soldiers of Mtesa were much better off than his guards, 
although their position was not so honorable. They are well dressed, 
and their rank is distinguished by a sort of uniform, the officers of 
royal birth wearing the leopard-skin tippet, while those of inferior 
rank are distinguished by colored cloths, and skin cloaks made of 
the hide of oxen or antelopes. 
