The March to Banza Nkulu . 261 
Despite the promise, we were delayed by King 
Nekorado, whose town, Palabala, lies at some dis¬ 
tance, and who, negro-like, will consult only his 
own convenience. In the afternoon we were 
visited by a royal son, who announced that his 
royal father feared the heat, but would appear 
with the moon, which was equivalent to saying 
that we might expect him on the morrow. He is 
known to be a gueux , and Gidi Mavunga boasts 
of having harried and burned sundry of his vil¬ 
lages, so he must make up by appearance for 
deficient reality. His appearance was announced 
by the Mpungi, the Egyptian Zagharit, the Persian 
Kil; this “ lullilooing” in the bush country be¬ 
comes an odd moaning howl like the hyaena’s laugh. 
Runners and criers preceded the hammock, which 
he had probably mounted at the first field ; a pet 
slave carried his chair, covered with crimson 
cloth, and Frederique his “linguister” paced 
proudly by its side. 
After robing himself in Nelongo’s house, King 
Nekorado held a levee under the shadiest fig, 
which acted bentang-tree ; all the moleques squat¬ 
ting in a demi-lune before the presence. A short 
black man, with the round eyes, the button¬ 
like nose, the fat circular face, and the weakly 
vanishing chin which denote the lower type of 
Congoese, he coldly extended a chimpanzee’s paw 
without rising or raising his eyes, in token that 
