do, ordering
his attendants to place the goods he had brought in front of the king's
palace, advanced, carrying a big tusk, the last article of value which
he had agreed to pay for his bride. On the king receiving it, the
prince stretched out his hand and took that of the lady's, when Sanga
Tanga gave her his paternal blessing, and apparently a large amount of
good advice, the only ceremony, as far as we could discover, performed
on the occasion. She had now become the bride of the prince, and I must
own that I breathed more freely when I saw him lead her away, and felt
satisfied that the king would no longer insist on my becoming her
husband. The ceremony, such as it was, being concluded, the people
began to shriek and shout at the top of their voices, congratulating the
prince on becoming the possessor of so lovely a bride. Tom-toms were
heard beating in all directions, and horns sounding, and the whole
capital was in an uproar. The feast then began, and the cooks, who had
been busily employed all the morning in roasting, stewing, and boiling,
produced the result of their labours in baskets and dishes, which were
spread out in front of the king's house, which was on this occasion to
serve as a banquet hall. The guests quickly assembled, the bride and
bridegroom taking, if not the head of the table, the post of honour,
while King Sanga Tanga, the heir-apparent, and the old grandfather and
other members of the family, placed themselves on either side. At first
matters were conducted quietly enough, the guests eating to their
heart's content; but when the palm-wine began to circulate freely, they,
like persons in more civilised communities under similar circumstances,
became uproarious. The old grandfather tumbled not under the table, but
at full length on the ground; King Sanga Tanga cried out that it was
time to commence dancing, and he himself starting up, set the example,
and the crowd forming a circle, he performed a series of eccentric
evolutions, similar to those exhibited on a previous occasion by his
brother monarch King Quagomolo; when at last, overcome by his exertions,
he sank down on the ground close to the royal portion of the circle, the
bride and bridegroom springing up went through a like performance.
Their places were taken by a number of courtiers and the ladies, if I
can so describe them of the royal household, but for obvious reasons I
will not describe the style of their dancing. It was barba