384 
THE BEGGING ENVOY. 
[chap. XIII. 
give him the “ little double rifle that I always carried, 
and my watch, and compass ! ” He wanted “ nothing” 
only my Fletcher rifle, that I would as soon have 
parted with as the bone of my arm: and these three 
articles were the same for which I had been so perti¬ 
naciously bored before my departure from M'rooli. It 
was of no use to be wroth ; I, therefore, quietly replied 
that “ I should not give them, as Kamrasi had failed 
“ in his promise to forward me to Shooa; but that 
“ I required no presents from him, as he always 
“ expected a thousandfold in return/' M'Gambi said 
that all would be right if I would only agree to pay 
the king a visit. I objected to this, as I told him the 
king, his brother, did not want to see me, but only to 
observe what I had, in order to beg for all that he saw. 
He appeared much hurt, and assured me that he would 
be himself responsible that nothing of the kind should 
happen, and that he merely begged as a favour that 
I would visit the king on the following morning, 
and that people should be ready to carry me if I 
were unable to walk. Accordingly I arranged to be 
carried to Kamrasi's camp at about 8 a.m. 
At the hour appointed M'Gambi appeared, with a 
great crowd of natives. My clothes were in rags,— 
and as personal appearance has a certain effect, even in 
Central Africa, I determined to present myself to the 
king in as favourable a light as possible. I happened 
to possess a full-dress Highland suit that I had worn 
when I lived in Perthshire many years ago; this I 
had treasured as serviceable upon an occasion like the 
present;—accordingly I was quickly attired in kilt, 
sporran, and Glengarry bonnet, and to the utter amaze¬ 
ment of the crowd, the ragged-looking object that had 
arrived in Kisoona now issued from the obscure hut, 
with plaid and kilt of Atliole tartan. A general shout 
of exclamation arose from the assembled crowd; and 
taking my seat upon an angarep, I was immediately 
shouldered by a number of men, and attended by ten 
of my people as escort, I was carried towards the camp 
of the great Kamrasi. 
