had promised
me, one of twelve and the other a little older, were brought in and made
to squat in front of us. The elder, who was in the prime of youth and
beauty, very large of limb, dark in colour, cried considerably; whilst
the younger one, though very fair, had a snubby nose and everted lips,
and laughed as if she thought the change in her destiny very good fun. I
had now to make my selection, and took the smaller one, promising her to
Bombay as soon as we arrived on the coast, where, he said, she would
be considered a Hubshi or Abyssinian. But when the queen saw what I had
done, she gave me the other as well, saying the little one was too young
to go alone, and, if separated, she would take fright and run away. Then
with a gracious bow I walked of with my two fine specimens of natural
history, though I would rather have had princes, that I might have taken
them home to be instructed in England; but the queen, as soon as we had
cleared the palace, sent word to say she must have another parting look
at her son with his wives. Still laughing, she said, "That will do; you
look beautiful; now go away home"; and off we trotted, the elder sobbing
bitterly, the younger laughing.

As soon as we reached home, my first inquiry was concerning their
histories, of which they appeared to know but very little. The elder,
whom I named Meri (plantains), was obtained by Sunna, the late king, as
a wife, from Nkole; and though she was a mere Kahala, or girl, when the
old king died, he was so attached to her he gave her twenty cows, in
order that she might fatten up on milk after her native fashion; but on
Sunna's death, when the establishment of women was divided, Meri fell
to N'yamasore's (the queen's) lot. The lesser one, who still retains the
name of Kahala, said she was seized in Unyoro by the Waganda, who took
her to N'yamasore, but what became of her father and mother she could
not say.

It was now dinner-time, and as the usual sweet potatoes and goat's flesh
were put upon my box-table, I asked them to dine with me, and we became
great friends, for they were assured they would finally get good houses
and gardens at Zanzibar; but nothing would induce either of them to
touch food that had been cooked with butter. A dish of plantains and
goat-flesh was then prepared; but though Kahala wished to eat it,
Meri rejected the goat's flesh, and would not allow Kahala to taste it
either; and thus began a series of domestic difficulties. On