o and from the royal abodes. I lost no time in moving
all my property, turning out the original occupants--in selecting the
best hut for myself, giving the rest to my three officers--and ordering
my men to build barracks for themselves, in street form, from my hut to
the main road. There was one thing only left to be done; the sanitary
orders of Uganda required every man to build himself a house of
parliament, such being the neat and cleanly nature of the Waganda--a
pattern to all other negro tribes.

15th.--As nobody could obtain an interview with the king yesterday, I
went to the palace to-day, and fired three shots--a signal which was at
once answered from within by a double discharge of a gun I had just lent
him on his returning my rifle. In a little while, as soon as he had
time to dress, the king, walking like a lion, sallied forth, leading his
white dog, and beckoned me to follow him to the state hut, the court of
which was filled with squatting men as usual, well dressed, and keeping
perfect order. He planted himself on his throne, and begged me to sit by
his side. Then took place the usual scene of a court levee, as described
in Chapter X., with the specialty, in this instance, that the son of the
chief executioner--one of the highest officers of state--was led off
for execution, for some omission or informality in his n'yanzigs, or
salutes.

At this levee sundry Wakungu of rank complained that the Wanyambo
plundered their houses at night, and rough-handled their women, without
any respect for their greatness, and, when caught, said they were Bana's
men. Bombay, who was present, heard the complaint, and declared these
were Suwarora's men, who made use of the proximity of my camp to cover
their own transgressions. Then Suwarora's deputation, who were also
present, cringed forward, n'yanzigging like Waganda, and denied the
accusation, when the king gave all warning that he would find out the
truth by placing guards on the look-out at night.

Till this time the king had not heard one word about the defeat of the
party sent for Petherick. His kingdom might have been lost, and he would
have been no wiser; when the officer who led Mabruki came forward and
told him all that had happened, stating, in addition to what I heard
before, that they took eighty men with them, and went into battle three
times successfully. Dismissing business, however, the king turned to me,
and said he never saw anything so wonderful as my