aps, on a dirty mat with a female scratching
his head! Ali-Ninpha was a prudent gentleman, and knew the difference
between the private and public lives of his illustrious countrymen!

In the afternoon our interpreters returned to camp with Mohamedoo's
son, accompanied by a dozen women carrying platters of boiled rice,
calabashes filled with delicate sauce, and abundance of _ture_, or
vegetable butter. A beautiful horse was also despatched for my
triumphal entry into town.

The food was swallowed with an appetite corresponding to our recent
penitential fare; the tents were struck; and the caravan was forthwith
advanced towards Tamisso. All the noise we could conveniently make, by
way of _music_, was, of course, duly attempted. Interpreters and
guides went ahead, discharging guns. Half a dozen tom-toms were struck
with uncommon rapidity and vigor, while the unctuous women set up a
chorus of melody that would not have disgraced a band of "Ethiopian
Minstrels."

Half-way to the town our turbulent mob was met by a troop of musicians
sent out by the chief to greet us with song and harp. I was quickly
surrounded by the singers, who chanted the most fulsome praise of the
opulent Mongo, while a court-fool or buffoon insisted on leading my
horse, and occasionally wiping my face with his filthy handkerchief!

Presently we reached the gates, thronged by pressing crowds of curious
burghers. Men, women, and children, had all come abroad to see the
immense _Furtoo_, or white man, and appeared as much charmed by the
spectacle as if I had been a banished patriot. I was forced to
dismount at the low wicket, but here the _empressement_ of my
inquisitive hosts became so great, that the "nation's guest" was
forced to pause until some amiable bailiffs modified the amazement of
their fellow-citizens by staves and whips.

I lost no time in the lull, while relieved from the mob, to pass
onward to "the palace" of Mohamedoo, which, like all royal residences
in Africa, consisted of a mud-walled quadrangular inclosure, with a
small gate, a large court, and a quantity of _adobe_ huts, surrounded
by shady verandahs. The furniture, mats, and couches were of cane,
while wooden platters, brass kettles, and common wash-basins, were
spread out in every direction for show and service.

On a coach, covered with several splendid leopard skins, reclined
Mohamedoo, awaiting my arrival with as much stateliness as if he had
been a scion of civilized royal