"If my lords are ready we will journey on to Loo,where a hut is made ready for my lords to-night.The moon is now bright,so that we shall not fall on the way."We assented,and in an hour's time were at the outskirts of the town,of which the extent,mapped out as it was by thousands of camp-fires,appeared absolutely endless.Indeed,Good,who was always fond of a bad joke,christened it "Unlimited Loo."Presently we came to a moat with a drawbridge,where we were met by the rattling of arms and the hoarse challenge of a sentry.Infadoos gave some password that I could not catch,which was met with a salute,and we passed on through the central street of the great grass city.After nearly half an hour's tramp past endless lines of huts,Infadoos at last halted at the gate of a little group of huts which surrounded a small courtyard of powdered limestone,and informed us that these were to be our "poor"quarters.
We entered,and found that a hut had been assigned to each of us.These huts were superior to any which we had yet seen,and in each was a most comfortable bed made of tanned skins spread upon mattresses of aromatic grass.Food,too,was ready for us,and as soon as we had washed ourselves with water,which stood ready in earthenware jars,some young women of handsome appearance brought us roasted meat and mealie cobs daintily served on wooden platters,and presented it to us with deep obeisances.
We ate and drank,and then,the beds having by our request been all moved into one hut,a precaution at which the amiable young ladles smiled,we flung ourselves down to sleep,thoroughly wearied out with our long journey.
When we woke,it was to find that the sun was high in the heavens,and that the female attendants,who did not seem to be troubled by any false shame,were already standing inside the hut,having been ordered to attend and help us to "make ready.""Make ready,indeed,"growled Good;"when one has only a flannel shirt and a pair of boots,that does not take long.I wish you would ask them for my trousers."I asked accordingly,but was informed that those sacred relics had already been taken to the king,who would see us in the forenoon.
Having,somewhat to their astonishment and disappointment,requested the young ladies to step outside,we proceeded to make the best toilet that the circumstances admitted of.Good even went the length of again shaving the right side of his face;the left,on which now appeared a very fair crop of whiskers,we impressed upon him he must on no account touch.
As for ourselves,we were contented with a good wash and combing our hair.
Sir Henry's yellow locks were now almost down to his shoulders,and he looked more like an ancient Dane than ever,while my grizzled scrub was fully an inch long,instead of half an inch,which in a general way I considered my maximum length.
By the time that we had eaten our breakfast and smoked a pipe,a message was brought to us by no less a personage than Infadoos himself that Twala,the king,was ready to see us,if we would be pleased to come.
We remarked in reply that we should prefer to wait until the sun was a little higher,we were yet weary with our journey,etc.It is always well,when dealing with uncivilized people,not to be in too great a hurry.
They are apt to mistake politeness for awe or servility.So,although we were quite as anxious to see Twala as Twala could be to see us,we sat down and waited for an hour,employing the interval in preparing such presents as our slender stock of goods permitted -namely,the Winchester rifle which had been used by poor Ventvögel,and some beads.The rifle and ammunition we determined to present to his royal highness,and the beads were for his wives and courtiers.We had already given a few to Infadoos and Scragga,and found that they were delighted with them,never having seen anything like them before.At length we declared that we were ready,and,guided by Infadoos,started off to the levée,Umbopa carrying the rifle and beads.
After walking a few hundred yards we came to an enclosure,something like that which surrounded the huts that had been allotted to us,only fifty times as big.It could not have been less than six or seven acres in extent.All round the outside fence was a row of huts,which were the habitations of the king's wives.Exactly opposite the gateway,on the farther side of the open space,was a very large hut,which stood by itself,in which his majesty resided.All the rest was open ground;that is to say,it would have been open had it not been filled by company after company of warriors,who were mustered there to the number of seven or eight thousand.
These men stood still as statues as we advanced through them,and it would be impossible to give an idea of the grandeur of the spectacle which they presented,in their waving plumes,their glancing spears,and iron-backed ox-hide shields.
The space in front of the large hut was empty,but before it were placed several stools.On three of these,at a sign from Infadoos,we seated ourselves,Umbopa standing behind us.As for Infadoos,he took up a position by the door of the hut.So we waited for ten minutes or more in the midst of a dead silence,but conscious that we were the object of the concentrated gaze of some eight thousand pairs of eyes.It was a somewhat trying ordeal,but we carried it off as best we could.At length the door of the hut opened,and a gigantic figure,with a splendid tiger-skin karross flung over its shoulders,stepped out,followed by the boy Scragga,and what appeared to us to be a withered-up monkey wrapped in a fur cloak.The figure seated itself upon a stool,Scragga took his stand behind it,and the withered-up monkey crept on all fours into the shade of the hut and squatted down.
Still there was silence.
