ay. On arrival at camp, the king, quite shocked with himself for having
deserted me, asked me if I did not hear his guns fire. He had sent
twenty officers to scour the country, looking for me everywhere. He had
been on the lake the whole day himself, and was now amusing his officers
with a little archery practice, even using the bow himself, and making
them shoot by turns. A lucky shot brought forth immense applause, all
jumping and n'yanzigging with delight, whether it was done by their own
bows or the king's.

A shield was the mark, stuck up at only thirty paces; still they were
such bad shots that they hardly ever hit it. Now tired of this slow
sport, and to show his superior prowess, the king ordered sixteen
shields to be placed before him, one in front of the other, and with
one shot from Whitworth pierced the whole of them, the bullet passing
through the bosses of nearly every one. "Ah!" says the king, strutting
about with gigantic strides, and brandishing the rifle over his head
before all his men, "what is the use of spears and bows? I shall never
fight with anything but guns in the future." These Wakungu, having only
just then returned from plundering Unyoro, had never before seen their
king in a chair, or anybody sitting, as I was, by his side; and it
being foreign to their notions, as well as, perhaps, unpleasant to
their feelings, to find a stranger sitting higher than themselves, they
complained against this outrage to custom, and induced the king to order
my dethronement. The result was, as my iron stool was objectionable, I
stood for a moment to see that I thoroughly understood their meaning;
and then showing them my back, walked straightway home to make a grass
throne, and dodge them that way.

There was nothing for dinner last night, nothing again this morning,
yet no one would go in to report this fact, as rain was falling, and the
king was shut up with his women. Presently the thought struck me that
the rifle, which was always infallible in gaining me admittance at the
palace, might be of the same service now. I therefore shot a dove close
to the royal abode, and, as I expected, roused the king at once,
who sent his pages to know what the firing was about. When told the
truth--that I had been trying to shoot a dish of doves for breakfast,
as I could get neither meat nor drink from his kitchen--the head boy,
rather guessing than understanding what was told him, distorted my
message, and said to the ki