so much better than did the Sultan's own Prime
Minister that there was in consequence much joking and laughing. The
Sultan then was a most dignified, intelligent, and charming old
gentleman. He was popular both with his own people, who loved him
with a religious fervor, and with the English, who unobtrusively
conducted his affairs.

There have been sultans who have acted less wisely than does Hamud
bin Muhamad bin Said. A few years ago one of these, Said Khaled,
defied the British Empire as represented by several gunboats, and
dared them to fire on his ship of war, a tramp steamer which he had
converted into a royal yacht. The gunboats were anchored about two
hundred yards from the palace, which stands at the water's edge, and
at the time agreed upon, they sank the Sultan's ship of war in the
short space of three minutes, and in a brief bombardment destroyed
the greater part of his palace. The ship of war still rests where
she sank, and her topmasts peer above the water only three hundred
yards distant from the windows of the new palace. They serve as a
constant warning to all future sultans.

The new palace is of somewhat too modern architecture, and is not
nearly as dignified as are the massive white walls of the native
houses which surround it. But within it is a fairy palace, hung with
silk draperies, tapestries, and hand-painted curtains; the floors
are covered with magnificent rugs from Persia and India, and the
reception-room is crowded with treasures of ebony, ivory, lacquer
work, and gold and silver. There were two thrones made of silver
dragons, with many scales, and studded with jewels. The Sultan did
not seem to mind our openly admiring his treasures, and his
attendants, who stood about him in gorgeous-colored silks heavy with
gold embroideries, were evidently pleased with the deep impression
they made upon the visitors. The Sultan was very gentle and
courteous and human, especially in the pleasure he took over his son
and heir, who then was at school in England, and who, on the death
of his father, succeeded him. He seemed very much gratified when we
suggested that there was no better training-place for a boy than an
English public school; as Americans, he thought our opinion must be
unprejudiced. Before he sent us away, he gave Childs, and each of
us, a photograph of himself, one of which is reproduced in this
book.

Our next port was the German settlement of Tanga. We arrived there
just as a blood-re