annon. Interpreters put off to meet them and escorted them
to the landing-stage, where the District Governor waited to receive
them. The Sultan wore a gorgeous turban, a royal _sarong_ worked
in thread of gold, and shoes with similar adornments. On landing,
the old prince, trembling from top to toe, with despairing glance
clutched the arm of the Governor for protection. Never before had
he seen the great city of Zamboanga; he was overcome and terrified
by its comparative grandeur, and possibly by the imposing figure of
the six-foot Governor himself. The police had to be called out to
restrain the mobs who watched his arrival. On the other hand, as the
Sultans, the _Dattos_ and their suites together numbered about 600,
and from other places by land about 400 more had come, all armed,
many of the townspeople, with traditional dread, shut themselves
up in their houses, believing that such a vast assemblage of Moros
might, at any moment, commence a general massacre. It is well known
that the question of public security did engage the attention of the
American authorities, for the gathering was indeed a formidable one,
and at the moment General Wood was in Sulu Island, leading his troops
against Panglima Hassan. All the available forces were therefore
held in readiness to meet any emergency. With faltering footsteps and
shaking like an aspen leaf, the Manguiguin, followed by his _Dattos_,
approached the double lines of soldiers with fixed bayonets stationed
on the quay. There was a pause; the Sultan, who in his youthful days
had known no fear, now realized the folly of walking into the jaws
of death. But the Governor assured him, through the interpreters,
that he was doing him the greatest honour that could be rendered to
any prince or to the great president of the greatest republic. Only
half convinced and full of suspicion, the Sultan walked on in a daze,
as though he were going to his last doom. Having emerged safely from
this peril, the great durbar was held, and lasted some hours. This was
followed by a reception at the Army and Navy Club, where a throne was
erected under a canopy for the Sultan, with seats of honour around
it for the chief _Dattos_. The reception over, the royal party was
conducted to where waggons and teams awaited them to take them to a
suburb at the foothills of the great sierra. The Governor purposely
had the biggest American horses and the largest vehicles brought
out to make an impression. The Sul