f gold being one of my chief hobbies;
eccentric, amusing, perhaps even ridiculous, but--well, there it was.
And I accompanied my final statement with a shrug of the shoulders which
I intended should express deprecation of my own folly. I intercepted a
glance and nod of intelligence and amusement which passed round the
circle at this naive confession of folly on my part, and at that moment
the king, shorn of his temporary glories, and with a distinct frown of
annoyance upon his royal brow, emerged from the itunkulu and stalked
towards us. Also, to my secret discomfiture, I observed that he carried
in his hand the sword which I had just presented to him, and in the use
of which he had expressed a desire to be instructed. I began to think
that I had permitted my passion for harmony and completeness to carry me
rather too far when I included the sword with the other items of the
uniform which I had selected for presentation to King Lomalindela; and I
resolved, there and then, never again to include lethal weapons of any
description among my gifts to savages.

The king flung himself down into his throne with much of the petulance
of manner that is observable in the demeanour of a spoilt child when its
temper has been ruffled, from which I surmised that the impression
produced upon the ladies of his harem by His Majesty's martial garb had
fallen short in some respects of what he had anticipated; that in fact,
and not to put too fine a point upon it, His Majesty's vanity had been
taken down a peg or two--for the which I was rather sorry, because I
somehow had a premonition that the resulting soreness of temper would
recoil upon me. And, for once in a way, my premonition was promptly
verified; for after scowling round for a minute or two upon all and
sundry, maintaining meanwhile an ominous silence, the king straightened
himself up and said sharply:

"Now, white man, we have wasted enough time in folly; let us proceed
with the matter which I was discussing when you interrupted me. You
were about to show me how this thing which you call a `sword' should be
used. You shall show me now. Mapela, choose you a skilled warrior from
your regiment, that he may fight this white man, and that I may thus be
able to judge the real value of the white man's gift. The white man
shall be armed only with the sword, and the Mashona's weapons shall be
his shield and stabbing spear."

Saluting, Mapela strode across the square to where his