ff with white ribbon; then came the royal bier, which consisted of a
platform borne by twelve men attired wholly in white--the mourning
colour--and draped with white silk, heavily fringed with gold bullion,
which swept the ground. Upon this platform was placed the royal throne
of ivory heavily mounted in gold; and upon the throne, and securely
fastened to it, was seated the body of Bimbane, fully attired in her
robes of state, and crowned with a gold coronet set with uncut diamonds
and ornamented with the crimson wings of the orilu, which only a monarch
might wear. Then came Anuti, alone, in his full uniform, closely
followed by the nobles and chiefs of the nation--among whom the new king
had insisted that I should take my place. Slowly and with solemn step
we descended the broad flight of stone steps until we reached the
spacious quadrangle at their foot, and here our attendants led forward
our steeds and we mounted, Prince, with his glossy black coat, being
conspicuous among the array of zebras which constituted the mounts of
the rest.

As the bier reached the quadrangle, a trumpet blast rang out, and the
royal bodyguard arranged itself into three sides of a hollow square,
into which the bier passed, when, with the royal standard-bearer riding
in front, the banners of the guard immediately following him, and the
trumpeters between them and the mounted troops blowing long, wailing
blasts at regular intervals, the cortege proceeded slowly and solemnly
along the road, the bier, surrounded by the bodyguard, being followed by
Anuti and the rest of us, while the inhabitants in general brought up
the rear.

In this fashion the funeral cortege passed along the main road through
the city to the scene of the cremation, the march occupying just two
hours. We reached the funeral pyre as the last rays of the sun were
gilding the tops of the trees which hemmed in the valley, when the
bodyguard formed a hollow square round the pyre, with Anuti and the
nobles inside it, while the inhabitants ranged themselves upon the
adjacent hillside to witness, for the first time in their lives, the
spectacle of a royal cremation. About a hundred priests, arrayed in
long white robes, were gathered about the pyre when we reached it; and
as soon as the bier, with its dead occupant, had been deposited upon the
summit of the pyre, the arch-priest began the funeral service, which
lasted about a quarter of an hour. By the time that this was over