s anxious to make
the profoundest possible impression of his power and greatness upon the
mysterious beings he was about to visit; and, indeed, the cavalcade, as
it swept at a hand-gallop out through the wide gateway which formed the
principal opening in the stockade, constituted, with its tossing plumes,
its fluttering mantles, its glancing weapons, and its prancing horses, a
sight to make a soldier's heart bound with appreciative delight.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

KING M'BONGWELE IS TEMPORARILY REDUCED TO SUBMISSION.

In the return of the _Flying Fish_ to her former berth the subject of
the reception to be accorded to king M'Bongwele, in the event of his
obeying their summons, was somewhat anxiously discussed by the
travellers. They had already seen and heard enough to convince them
that the individual in question was a sovereign of considerable power,
as African kings go, and former experience among savages had taught them
that he would, as likely as not, prove to be a crafty, unscrupulous, and
slippery customer to deal with. To satisfactorily carry out the object
of their visit to this man's country--namely, the examination and
exploration of the mysterious and very interesting ruins which
surrounded them--it would be absolutely necessary that they should be
able to pass to and fro, freely and unmolested, between the ship and the
various points selected for examination; and, in order to secure this
perfect freedom, it would be necessary not only to conciliate this
powerful ruler and his people, but also to so thoroughly impress him and
them with the mysterious and wonderful attributes of their unbidden
guests that they should, one and all, be absolutely _afraid_ to
interfere with them. The question was, how could this be most
effectually achieved? The first part of the programme, namely the
conciliation of sovereign and subjects, appeared simple enough; the
obvious pride and delight with which Lualamba had received his flashy
presents of beads and Manchester finery furnished a key to the
satisfactory solution of this difficulty; but how was the second and
equally important part of the programme to be carried out? Lualamba, it
was true, had been effectually cowed by the simple expedient of carrying
him a few thousand feet up into the air; but something more than the
mere repetition of this experiment would be necessary to produce the
required impression upon M'Bongwele and the crowd of warriors he would
be cert