The King had allotted to us, for the purposes of our camp, a large
vacant space a little over two hundred yards from his own residence.
And we had scarcely settled down, when, on the morning of the
thirtieth of May, an officer presented himself to our interpreters
with the information that his royal master would receive us that same
day.
As we wished to appear before the African monarch in full splendour,
we all devoted ourselves at once to the mysteries of the toilet.
Since we left Khartoum we had not had any special reason for getting
ourselves up regardless of expense, and it was, therefore, with a
certain amount of satisfaction and a slight admixture of self-complacency,
that we opened our portmanteaus, for the purpose of
extracting therefrom the garments reserved for special occasions.
De Morin and I selected hunting tunics with carved buttons, white
waistcoats, velvet caps, and splendid riding boots. Round our waists
we wore leathern belts, which held our hunting knives, loaded
revolvers, and a box of cartridges, and these, with our carbines
slung across our shoulders, completed our costume.
The Doctor adopted a semi-official "get-up" calculated to take the
fancy of the blacks; a blue coat with large brass buttons, grey
trousers, patent leather boots, a sword by his side, and a minature
pistol in each waistcoat pocket.
Madame de Guéran also thought it advisable to change her walking
costume for a fancy dress, half-European, half-Oriental, very much
after the fashion of the one which had gained for her the title of
the Parisian Sultana. When she burst upon us thus transformed, with
an air of surprise at seeing herself look so enchanting, and with an
eager, smiling look, we hastened to compliment her upon her
appearance.
"Take care," she said, laughingly. "Your compliments verge upon
insult. They seem to imply that I need the adjunct of dress, and
that, only this morning, when in my travel-stained, sun-scorched
clothes, I was scarcely to be tolerated."
Just as we were about to protest against this view of the matter,
Miss Poles interposed, by saying—
"My dear Baroness, these gentlemen have not said anything really
disparaging. Nature, you see, requires to be aided; the more generous
she displays herself towards us, the more are we bound to do
something for her. A little bit of dress completes us, as it were,
and imparts to us additional lustre."
Miss Poles herself, instead of putting on a new dress, had fixed in
her hair an enormous bunch of red flowers, thrown a yellow shawl over
her shoulders, and put on a pair of ten-buttoned, blue kid gloves.
According to her own mode of expression, she had completed nature by
appearing as a rainbow. It was, perhaps, an act of imprudence to let
her go near Munza, but, of course, the moment it was decided that
Madame de Guéran should visit the King, her companion was bound to
follow suit.
Seriously speaking, I must record that we had frequently discussed
the propriety of allowing the Baroness to be present at the audience
vouchsafed by the African monarch. We could not know by intuition
what sight was in store for us amongst these savages, or, under the
pretext of doing us honour, what class of entertainment they would
offer us. But, in the common interest, and in order to attain the
object we had in view, we should not have been justified in
displaying an excess of reserve or prudery, even when our companion
was in question. Proud, as all negroes are, and susceptible, like all
despots, to affront, Munza, who had for some time past been aware,
from the reports of his emissaries, that we had a white woman with
us, would have been naturally annoyed at her absence if she had
stayed away on the day when he condescended to give audience to
foreigners. The wound thus inflicted upon his _amour-propre_ might,
from the very first moment, compromise us and cause us the greatest
anxiety, and we therefore came to the conclusion not even to mention
our scruples to Madame de Guéran.
Besides, we were quite capable of hiding from her anything that might
offend her eye, and, in spite of our desire to ingratiate ourselves
with the African potentate, if he took it into his head to honour us
with any _fêtes_ after the fashion of those indulged in by the
Bongos, we should know perfectly well how to withdraw our fair leader
to a considerable distance from his residence.
As soon as we had finished our toilet operations, we reviewed the
escort. We had decided that the bearers should be left in camp, and
that the Nubian and Dinka soldiers, our attendants and personal
servants alone should accompany us.
The guide, Nassar, on this occasion, had found means to make the
famous boots we had given him shine like a mirror, and our two Arab
interpreters, who had put on clean bûrnus, were glitteringly white.
Our female Soudan brigade, with their flowing tunics, hair well
greased, shiny skins and bright eyes, looked magnificent, and the
Nubians, with their bodies covered with their most highly-prized
amulets, in fighting array, and carbine in hand, were calculated to
give a very flattering idea of the civilization of the northern
tribes.
About two o'clock in the afternoon, another of Munza's officers came
to fetch us, and we left our encampment in the following order. Half
our escort, under the command of Nassar, marched in front. We
followed, Madame de Guéran carried in her palanquin, Delange, de
Morin, and I on horseback, followed by Joseph, dressed in black with
a white tie, clean-shaved, smooth, and smiling. The other half of our
escort, led by the interpreters, brought up the rear.
An immense crowd collected from all sides to see us, dancing,
shouting, and expressing their admiration after the Monbuttoo
fashion, by opening their mouths very wide and putting the palms of
their hands before them. Our _cortége_ would not have been able to
make its way through this crowd if some officials, doing duty as
policemen and armed with long poles, had not at intervals charged the
crowd and laid about them indiscriminately.
Sorcerers, covered with rings, necklets, bracelets, and a thousand
and one trinkets, rushed towards as to make speeches, but grave,
dignified, calm, and majestic, we parsed on without a single halt.
A courier arrives, panting, with a welcome from the King, and is off
again like an arrow, to convey our thanks and announce our speedy
arrival.
At length we reach the palace gardens and are free from the mob, for
none dare follow us within these sacred precincts. But they take
their revenge by shouting in a most frenzied manner, and making a
regular din with their drums and horns.
The palace consists of a group of large huts and sheds, for various
purposes. One circular hut, with a conical roof, served as an
armoury, and in it were displayed all the arms made in the country,
which is very rich in iron and copper, and, in some places, lead;
others were used as magazines, where were stored, in perfect order,
the provisions necessary for the crowd of servants of all grades and
both sexes in the employ of Munza. Farther on, a cluster of
buildings, surrounded by splendid trees, formed the private residence
of the King. The officers sent to meet us had received orders to show
us over the palace, whilst their master, detained at market,
according to their account, got ready to receive us. They introduced
us into a gallery, more than eighty yards long, the roof of which was
up-held by five rows of pillars. The apartments of the King opened on
to this gallery, and in one large room was an erection covered with
skins and mats, and flanked by posts; this was the royal bed. From
the sleeping apartment we passed to several rooms devoted to the
King's wardrobe, where were a number of elaborate costumes, which
Munza alone wears, for the mode of dress amongst his subjects is
unalterable. Suspended from the framework were hats, plumes of
feathers, furs of every kind, tails of the giraffe, necklets made of
the teeth of more than a hundred lions, and other ornaments, each
more curious than its predecessor.
When we left these buildings, we were shown, but not allowed to
enter, another group of about a hundred huts, surrounded by strong
palisades. Here live the wives of Munza, eighty in number, and each
possessing a separate residence. But the King's seraglio is not
confined to these eighty individuals, dubbed with the title of royal
wives. His father's wives also belong to him, since, according to
African custom, on the death of a king his wives become the property
of his successor.
As Miss Poles never could resist the temptation of making remarks
about everything, she at this juncture declared in a very loud tone
of voice "that it was perfectly shocking for any man to have so many
wives." To sooth her I observed that as far as our information went,
the women in question also performed the duties of cooks.
"You must remember," I said, "that the King eats in secret, apart
from indiscreet curiosity, and none except his wives are allowed to
touch his food."
"Well!" exclaimed Miss Poles, "and what of that? your explanation, so
far from being satisfactory, gives me a still worse opinion of Mr.
Munza. Fancy degrading a wife to the position of a cook! It is
monstrous, and only worthy of a barbarian."
"You forget, Miss Poles," said Delange, "that in two-thirds of the
households both in Paris and London, the wife not only does the
cooking but also scrubs the floors."
"Quite so, but that is when people cannot afford to keep a servant,
which is not the case with this Mr. Munza."
Miss Poles pronounced the words "Mr. Munza" with a degree of contempt
which must have annihilated that monarch if he had heard them.
This conversation was, fortunately, interrupted by the deafening
noise of the horns and drums, announcing that the King had returned
from the market and regained his palace. We saw him in the distance,
accompanied by his guards and followed by his subjects, who saluted
his ears with the cry, "Ee, Ee, tchupy, tchupy, Ee, Munza, Ee," which
answers to the English, "Hip, hip, hurrah!"
We were now shown into the audience chamber.