CHAPTER XXVIII.

The King had allotted to us, for the purposes of our camp, a large vacant space a little over two hundred yards from his own residence. And we had scarcely settled down, when, on the morning of the thirtieth of May, an officer presented himself to our interpreters with the information that his royal master would receive us that same day.

As we wished to appear before the African monarch in full splendour, we all devoted ourselves at once to the mysteries of the toilet. Since we left Khartoum we had not had any special reason for getting ourselves up regardless of expense, and it was, therefore, with a certain amount of satisfaction and a slight admixture of self-complacency, that we opened our portmanteaus, for the purpose of extracting therefrom the garments reserved for special occasions.

De Morin and I selected hunting tunics with carved buttons, white waistcoats, velvet caps, and splendid riding boots. Round our waists we wore leathern belts, which held our hunting knives, loaded revolvers, and a box of cartridges, and these, with our carbines slung across our shoulders, completed our costume.

The Doctor adopted a semi-official "get-up" calculated to take the fancy of the blacks; a blue coat with large brass buttons, grey trousers, patent leather boots, a sword by his side, and a minature pistol in each waistcoat pocket.

Madame de Guéran also thought it advisable to change her walking costume for a fancy dress, half-European, half-Oriental, very much after the fashion of the one which had gained for her the title of the Parisian Sultana. When she burst upon us thus transformed, with an air of surprise at seeing herself look so enchanting, and with an eager, smiling look, we hastened to compliment her upon her appearance.

"Take care," she said, laughingly. "Your compliments verge upon insult. They seem to imply that I need the adjunct of dress, and that, only this morning, when in my travel-stained, sun-scorched clothes, I was scarcely to be tolerated."

Just as we were about to protest against this view of the matter, Miss Poles interposed, by saying—

"My dear Baroness, these gentlemen have not said anything really disparaging. Nature, you see, requires to be aided; the more generous she displays herself towards us, the more are we bound to do something for her. A little bit of dress completes us, as it were, and imparts to us additional lustre."

Miss Poles herself, instead of putting on a new dress, had fixed in her hair an enormous bunch of red flowers, thrown a yellow shawl over her shoulders, and put on a pair of ten-buttoned, blue kid gloves. According to her own mode of expression, she had completed nature by appearing as a rainbow. It was, perhaps, an act of imprudence to let her go near Munza, but, of course, the moment it was decided that Madame de Guéran should visit the King, her companion was bound to follow suit.

Seriously speaking, I must record that we had frequently discussed the propriety of allowing the Baroness to be present at the audience vouchsafed by the African monarch. We could not know by intuition what sight was in store for us amongst these savages, or, under the pretext of doing us honour, what class of entertainment they would offer us. But, in the common interest, and in order to attain the object we had in view, we should not have been justified in displaying an excess of reserve or prudery, even when our companion was in question. Proud, as all negroes are, and susceptible, like all despots, to affront, Munza, who had for some time past been aware, from the reports of his emissaries, that we had a white woman with us, would have been naturally annoyed at her absence if she had stayed away on the day when he condescended to give audience to foreigners. The wound thus inflicted upon his _amour-propre_ might, from the very first moment, compromise us and cause us the greatest anxiety, and we therefore came to the conclusion not even to mention our scruples to Madame de Guéran.

Besides, we were quite capable of hiding from her anything that might offend her eye, and, in spite of our desire to ingratiate ourselves with the African potentate, if he took it into his head to honour us with any _fêtes_ after the fashion of those indulged in by the Bongos, we should know perfectly well how to withdraw our fair leader to a considerable distance from his residence.

As soon as we had finished our toilet operations, we reviewed the escort. We had decided that the bearers should be left in camp, and that the Nubian and Dinka soldiers, our attendants and personal servants alone should accompany us.

The guide, Nassar, on this occasion, had found means to make the famous boots we had given him shine like a mirror, and our two Arab interpreters, who had put on clean bûrnus, were glitteringly white. Our female Soudan brigade, with their flowing tunics, hair well greased, shiny skins and bright eyes, looked magnificent, and the Nubians, with their bodies covered with their most highly-prized amulets, in fighting array, and carbine in hand, were calculated to give a very flattering idea of the civilization of the northern tribes.

About two o'clock in the afternoon, another of Munza's officers came to fetch us, and we left our encampment in the following order. Half our escort, under the command of Nassar, marched in front. We followed, Madame de Guéran carried in her palanquin, Delange, de Morin, and I on horseback, followed by Joseph, dressed in black with a white tie, clean-shaved, smooth, and smiling. The other half of our escort, led by the interpreters, brought up the rear.

An immense crowd collected from all sides to see us, dancing, shouting, and expressing their admiration after the Monbuttoo fashion, by opening their mouths very wide and putting the palms of their hands before them. Our _cortége_ would not have been able to make its way through this crowd if some officials, doing duty as policemen and armed with long poles, had not at intervals charged the crowd and laid about them indiscriminately.

Sorcerers, covered with rings, necklets, bracelets, and a thousand and one trinkets, rushed towards as to make speeches, but grave, dignified, calm, and majestic, we parsed on without a single halt.

A courier arrives, panting, with a welcome from the King, and is off again like an arrow, to convey our thanks and announce our speedy arrival.

At length we reach the palace gardens and are free from the mob, for none dare follow us within these sacred precincts. But they take their revenge by shouting in a most frenzied manner, and making a regular din with their drums and horns.

The palace consists of a group of large huts and sheds, for various purposes. One circular hut, with a conical roof, served as an armoury, and in it were displayed all the arms made in the country, which is very rich in iron and copper, and, in some places, lead; others were used as magazines, where were stored, in perfect order, the provisions necessary for the crowd of servants of all grades and both sexes in the employ of Munza. Farther on, a cluster of buildings, surrounded by splendid trees, formed the private residence of the King. The officers sent to meet us had received orders to show us over the palace, whilst their master, detained at market, according to their account, got ready to receive us. They introduced us into a gallery, more than eighty yards long, the roof of which was up-held by five rows of pillars. The apartments of the King opened on to this gallery, and in one large room was an erection covered with skins and mats, and flanked by posts; this was the royal bed. From the sleeping apartment we passed to several rooms devoted to the King's wardrobe, where were a number of elaborate costumes, which Munza alone wears, for the mode of dress amongst his subjects is unalterable. Suspended from the framework were hats, plumes of feathers, furs of every kind, tails of the giraffe, necklets made of the teeth of more than a hundred lions, and other ornaments, each more curious than its predecessor.

When we left these buildings, we were shown, but not allowed to enter, another group of about a hundred huts, surrounded by strong palisades. Here live the wives of Munza, eighty in number, and each possessing a separate residence. But the King's seraglio is not confined to these eighty individuals, dubbed with the title of royal wives. His father's wives also belong to him, since, according to African custom, on the death of a king his wives become the property of his successor.

As Miss Poles never could resist the temptation of making remarks about everything, she at this juncture declared in a very loud tone of voice "that it was perfectly shocking for any man to have so many wives." To sooth her I observed that as far as our information went, the women in question also performed the duties of cooks.

"You must remember," I said, "that the King eats in secret, apart from indiscreet curiosity, and none except his wives are allowed to touch his food."

"Well!" exclaimed Miss Poles, "and what of that? your explanation, so far from being satisfactory, gives me a still worse opinion of Mr. Munza. Fancy degrading a wife to the position of a cook! It is monstrous, and only worthy of a barbarian."

"You forget, Miss Poles," said Delange, "that in two-thirds of the households both in Paris and London, the wife not only does the cooking but also scrubs the floors."

"Quite so, but that is when people cannot afford to keep a servant, which is not the case with this Mr. Munza."

Miss Poles pronounced the words "Mr. Munza" with a degree of contempt which must have annihilated that monarch if he had heard them.

This conversation was, fortunately, interrupted by the deafening noise of the horns and drums, announcing that the King had returned from the market and regained his palace. We saw him in the distance, accompanied by his guards and followed by his subjects, who saluted his ears with the cry, "Ee, Ee, tchupy, tchupy, Ee, Munza, Ee," which answers to the English, "Hip, hip, hurrah!"

We were now shown into the audience chamber.