studying his own
countenance for several minutes, and then bursting into rapturous
laughter.

When the first acute spasm of delight at seeing his own physiognomy
reflected in a mirror had passed, I suggested to the king that if he
would like to try on his new garments I should be very pleased to
instruct him as to the proper method of getting into them, an offer
which he instantly accepted; and he would have donned the clothes there
and then, in the presence of his guards, if I had not whisperingly
hinted that it would be much more effective to get into them in the
privacy of his own house and then reappear _en grande tenue_. His
Majesty immediately recognised the force of this, and thereupon
retreated to the interior of the itunkulu, taking me and the clothes
with him; and there, in feverish haste, he proceeded to array himself
under my direction. By a miracle the garments fitted him almost as
though they had been made for him--for he was at this time still a young
man, and had not yet begun to put on flesh. The poor man must have felt
horribly hot and uncomfortable in his unaccustomed rig, for the
perspiration literally streamed from him; but no matter, he was about to
appear before the eyes of his faithful subjects--or at least a portion
of his bodyguard, who would not fail to talk about the matter to the
rest of the people--apparelled in unimaginable splendour, and such a
trifle as a little discomfort from excessive heat was as nothing
compared with the sensation which he expected to produce.

And really, when at length he was completely rigged in tunic and
trousers, with the cocked hat on his head, the belt about his waist, and
the drawn bayonet in his hand, his appearance, although just a trifle
incongruous to my critical eye, was well calculated to produce a
profound impression upon his unsophisticated subjects, as was evidenced
by the note of admiration which rang unmistakably in the ecstatic shout
of "Bayete!" with which his guards greeted him upon his reappearance.
He strutted up and down the compound for a few minutes, showing off his
fine feathers; called his chief induna to him, and instructed the man in
my presence that I was to be permitted to go wherever I pleased in
Basutoland, stay in the country as long as I pleased, and kill as much
game as I chose; and then, dismissing me rather abruptly, retreated to
the interior of the itunkulu, and, as I afterwards learned, sent for his
wives, that they migh