CHAPTER XXXIV.

In truth, if Munza is the greatest potentate in these regions, he is also the most civilized of savages. He seated himself on a bench, and, without displaying any excessive curiosity, glanced at the various objects displayed for the purpose of attracting his attention and affording him pleasure. As soon as his eyes fell on a watch, a compass, a telescope, or, in fact, any one of the things laid out for his inspection, Delange took it up, and, approaching the King, endeavoured, through the medium of Nassar, to explain to him its mechanism, and make him understand its use. Nevertheless, we were bound to confess that he listened to our interpreter with a very absent air; his glances, instead of being devoted to things, were directed more than perhaps they ought to have been, towards persons, and it was very evident that Madame de Guéran was the object in view. Sufficiently master of himself to avoid looking at her too fixedly, he never ceased to cast, as on the previous evening, rapid and side-long glances at her.

There is no shutting one's eyes to the fact that the beauty of our fair companion has made a deep impression on Munza. In spite of his savage nature, he is certainly by instinct, if not by innate sentiment, alive to the charm of beauty.

He understands that her face, her hair, her hands, and her figure are superior to all his surroundings, and to all that he has ever seen. He is lost in wonder, he is under a charm, and if he dared, and were not restrained by his pride, this pagan would prostrate himself before this new idol.

All this, I need scarcely say, makes us very uneasy, for what would become of us if Munza were to entertain a serious passion for our beloved Sultana?

The situation is by no means new; on the contrary, it is historical, as the following adventure which befell Baker, and which I will endeavour to recall, will show.

That traveller was at a few days' journey from Lake Albert, in the midst of a black tribe ruled over by the chief Kamrasi. Lady Baker, prostrated by fever, was most anxious to go on for the purpose of reaching a more healthy district.

Baker, for his part, thought that he was on the eve of attaining the end towards which he had been struggling for so long—a few steps more, a few additional efforts, and the source of the Nile, as far as his ideas went, would be discovered.

But Kamrasi took no heed of the fever which was consuming the wife, nor of the scientific enthusiasm of the husband. In spite of his promises and his engagements, he persisted in keeping Lady Baker and her husband in his kingdom, and refused them the bearers necessary for the prosecution of their journey. At length, one day, when Baker was urging him to assist them, Kamrasi said—

"I will let you leave me on the sole condition that you leave your wife with me."

The English explorer, in a rage, presented a pistol at the breast of the negro king, who merely replied—

"Why are you angry? What wrong have I done you in asking for your wife? I would give you one of mine with pleasure if you wished it, and I never thought you would hesitate about giving yours up. As a rule, I offer pretty wives to all who come to see me, and it appeared to me to be a very simple matter to make an exchange with you. Do not bear me any ill-will; if my proposition displeases you, I will not renew it."

He kept his word; but Kamrasi was a very amiable native, of a much more facile temperament than the terrible King of the Monbuttoos.

We may, therefore, find ourselves in a very embarrassing, if not perilous, position, should, as we begin to think, this African despot, with his ardent passions, accustomed to satisfy his every whim and fancy, be attracted by the first white woman he has ever seen, and the loveliest creature he has ever dreamt of.

The question before us, however, was how best to entertain our guest, to excite his curiosity, and rouse him when he showed any sign of forgetting himself in the contemplation of Madame de Guéran.

De Morin had at first recourse to lucifer matches; when he thought that the King was becoming too deeply absorbed he took out of his pocket his silver fusee-box and lighted a match. But the operation, which had served us in good stead amongst other tribes, very soon palled upon Munza.

From matches we passed to refreshments; a bottle of champagne, the solitary remnant of Parisian luxuries, was produced and opened in honour of the King.

The noise, the popping of the cork, the outflow of the froth, and the sparkling of the wine produced a certain amount of impression on him; but it did not last long, and, with an astonishing genius for imitation, he, without the least awkwardness, clinked against our cups the silver goblet we had presented to him, and he drank as he saw us doing.

Then de Morin, bent upon using every possible means to engage his attention, took down his fowling-piece, and aiming at a splendid parrot which was sitting in a neighbouring palm-tree, brought it to the ground.

The King, on hearing the report, very naturally sprang up, but he speedily recovered his composure, and, as his frightened subjects were shouting in alarm and rushing towards our palisade, he hastened out to reassure them and tell them to be quiet.

When he rejoined us, our flags, waving in the wind, attracted his attention, and, after looking at them for a moment, he called Nassar, and said—

"What is the use of those things?"

Nassar, prompted by us, explained that they were flags, and that each nation had a different one.

"Then," said Munza, "you do not belong to the same nation as the other white man did? His flag was not like these."

We endeavoured to make him understand that the territory peopled by white men was of immense extent, and divided into several kingdoms, Schweinfurth having come from the east and we from the west.

Delange, taking advantage of the opportunity, told Munza that he ought to have known our flag, seeing that he had already received at his court a man belonging to the same nation as ourselves.

"No, I have never seen but one man, the leaf-eater," was the reply, "and he had not a flag like these."

The Monbuttoos had nick-named Schweinfurth the leaf-eater, because, as a botanist, he had spent his leisure moments in making a collection of rare plants, which, they assumed, were eaten by him.

Notwithstanding his evident wish to remain with us longer, Munza's pride induced him to bring his visit to a close. He left us, after taking a long, stealthy look at Madame de Guéran.

Our escort again presented arms, and our drummers, adding their uproar to that made by the trumpets of the Monbuttoos, allowed him to make, in theatrical parlance, an effective exit.

The information collected by Nassar soon convinced us that the King had spoken in all good faith when he said that he had not received any white man at his court subsequently to the visit paid him by Schweinfurth.

As our interpreter had imagined, the Baron de Guéran must have passed through Munza's dominions without stopping, so as to reach without delay the province governed by Degberra.

In this latter district alone, therefore, can we get any reliable information. But how are we to get there without the consent of the King? How, even, ask at once for that permission, without displeasing our host, who heaps favours upon us and condescends to visit us?

Alas, these visits, which are day by day becoming more frequent, convince us, to our great sorrow, that the African monarch has really fallen in love with our dear companion, and will certainly not allow us to depart.

We had never calculated, I confess, upon complications of this sort; we had reckoned on the natural difficulties of our route, on possible attacks by the natives, the desertion of our escort, fatigue, sickness, discouragement, hunger—we had admitted to ourselves that any or all these obstacles might, perhaps, stand in the way of our success; but it had never entered into our heads to suppose that the love of an African sovereign for our beloved Sultana would bar our onward progress.

We had, as we thought, foreseen everything, and had made all due allowance for accidents of all kinds, whether provoked by the hostility of the elements or of man, and for all obstacles proceeding from Nature herself, ever ready to say to the over-bold—"Thus far, and no further;" but we had never taken into consideration those human passions which, nevertheless, spring into being and burst forth under the burning skies of Africa just as radiantly as they do in our own more temperate clime.

A thousand and one rumours confirmed our suspicions, and heightened our fears. Munza, according to common report, was no longer the somewhat indolent sovereign, passing his life in the contemplation of his treasures, in compelling the admiration of his subjects, dressing himself up in fantastic costumes, and dancing before his court.

He now made preparations for war on a large scale, collecting and stowing away in his armoury weapons of all kinds, his temper was becoming uncertain, he was restless, and occasionally gave way to violent paroxysms of rage.

How will all this end? None of us dare hazard even a guess.

June 20.—I fear that Miss Poles has been up to her little pranks again. Just as I sat down to write Nassar hurried to me, begging me to go to her assistance as quickly as possible.