main entrance to the palace, upon the top landing of which stood Anuti,
clad in the resplendent uniform of a general, supported by the nobles
and chiefs--and also by myself, in my uniform, which I had resumed at
the urgent request of the king and his supporters; while the herald and
trumpeters also stood upon the steps, but halfway down. The actual
ceremony was of very brief duration, and simply consisted of seven
blasts upon the golden trumpets, followed by the formal statement by the
herald that, it having pleased the spirits who presided over the
destinies of the Bandokolo nation to summon Bimbane to her long-deferred
rest, her husband, the noble and illustrious Anuti, would take up the
reins of government and henceforth rule the people. Might the king live
for ever! Upon which the trumpets again sounded seven blasts, the
assembled multitude expressed their approval by loud and prolonged
applause, the nobles and chiefs present came forward in the order of
their rank and did homage to the new king, the royal bodyguard, paraded
in full strength for the occasion, deployed in front of the steps and
gave the royal salute, and the ceremony was at an end. At Anuti's
urgent request I resumed occupation of the apartments which I had lived
in during my stay in Masakisale; and as I did not wish to be further
mixed up in the political situation, and was moreover somewhat fatigued,
I at once retired to them and was soon sound asleep.

The following day was scarcely less strenuous than that which had
preceded it, though in a different way; for it had been arranged that
the obsequies of the dead queen should take place at sunset, and all day
long the several Court officials concerned were busily engaged in making
the necessary preparations.

The funeral pyre was erected in the centre of a spacious basin among the
hills at the head of the valley, some six miles from the palace, and
early in the afternoon the inhabitants began to gather in front of the
palace, to witness and take part in the spectacle. Then, about four
o'clock, the royal bodyguard, with their regimental banners twisted into
a knot and bound to the staves with broad white ribbons in token of
mourning, paraded before the palace, and the trumpeters sounded seven
blasts; whereupon the funeral cortege made its appearance, issuing from
the main entrance to the palace. First stalked the royal
standard-bearer, carrying the royal standard, knotted and bound to its
sta