"Not very long," answered the king; "perhaps while the sun has been
climbing thus far,"--describing with his hand the arc of a circle
measuring about seven degrees, or, say, half an hour--"I had just
finished my breakfast when the pains seized me."

"Ah!" remarked I, trying to look as though I knew all about it; "and of
what did thy breakfast consist?"

"Of very little, for I am but a moderate eater," answered the king. Let
me consider. There was, first, a broiled fish, fresh from the river,
with boiled yams; then a few roast plantains--not more than a dozen, I
think; then the roast rib of a cow; a few handfuls of boiled rice; and--
yes, I think that was all, except a bowl of jaro'--the latter being a
kind of native beer.

It occurred to me that, probably, after this very "moderate" meal, his
Majesty might be suffering from indigestion, although the "burning"
pains in the stomach puzzled me a bit. I therefore came to the
conclusion that if vomiting could be freely induced almost immediate
relief ought to follow; and I accordingly prescribed the only emetic
which I could think of at the moment, namely, copious draughts of warm
water, followed by tickling the back of the throat with a feather.
These means were so far successful that the patient acknowledged a
certain measure of relief; but after a time the burning pains recurred
and seemed to become more acute than ever, to my profound dismay; for,
goaded almost to madness by the intensity of his suffering, the king was
rapidly growing as dangerous as a wounded buffalo, and, between the
paroxysms of his anguish, began to threaten all and sundry with certain
pains and penalties, the mere enumeration of which made my flesh creep
and plunged me into a cold perspiration.

At length, after a more than usually intense paroxysm of pain had
passed, Gouroo, Banda's favourite wife, who was present, and whose
virulent animosity I had been unfortunate enough to arouse, bent over
the patient and whispered something in his ear, the purport of which I
could not catch. But it was a suggestion, the nature of which I was
able to divine without difficulty, for, by way of reply, Banda
ejaculated between his groans:

"Yes, yes; let Mafuta be instantly summoned. And as for the white man,
let the presumptuous pretender be closely confined in his own hut until
I can decide upon the nature of his punishment. Away with him at once;
and if he is allowed to escape, the guards who have him