the produce and manufactures of other countries, to
exchange with his ivory.

The king evidently wished to detain them, in order that they might
assist him in putting down an insurrection which his two brothers had
raised against him. At last they determined to send Bombay on to
ascertain whether boats were really waiting for them.

Kamrasi was as eager to obtain gifts as any of the other chiefs, and,
having heard of their chronometer, which they had been observed using,
he was especially desirous to possess it, believing it to be some magic
instrument, and the means by which the travellers guided themselves
about the country. Speke told him that it was not his guide, but a
time-keeper, made for the purpose of knowing at what time to eat his
dinner. He told him it was the only one he possessed, but that, if he
would wait with patience, he would send him up one on his arrival at
Gani. He was too eager to possess the wonderful instrument to consent
to delay, and at last Speke, to satisfy him, placed it on the ground and
said it was his. He said he should like to buy another, and was
surprised to hear that it would cost five hundred cows. This increased
the surprise of the whole party, who could not believe that any person
in his senses would give five hundred cows for the mere gratification of
seeing at what time his dinner should be eaten.

Kamrasi was a thorough tyrant, and, at the same time, an arrant coward.
He kept up a perfect system of espionage, by which he knew everything
going forward in the country. His guards, in order that they might be
attached to his person, were allowed to plunder at will the rest of his
unfortunate subjects, who, if they offended him, were put to death
without mercy. If an officer failed to give him information, he was
executed or placed in the shoe, an instrument of torture not unlike the
stocks. It consists of a heavy log of wood, with an oblong slit through
it; the feet are placed in this slit, and a peg is then driven through
the log between the ankles, so as to hold them tightly. Frequently the
executioner drives the peg against the ankles, when the pain is so
excessive that the victim generally dies from exhaustion.

After the travellers had moved into better quarters, they were told that
Kamrasi intended to pay them a visit. The room was accordingly prepared
for his reception--hung around with mats, horns, and skins of animals,
and a large box, covered with a red blan