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Entering as before, I found him standing on a red blanket, leaning against the right portal of the hut, talking and laughing, handkerchief in hand, to a hundred or more of his admiring wives, who, all squatting on the ground outside, in two groups, were dressed in mew mbugus.
After he had passed the limits of plantain-eating men, he came upon men who lived upon meat alone, who never wore mbugus, but either cloth or skins, and instead of the spear they used the double-edged sime.
To put a stop to this vile practice was now beyond my power; the king allowed it, and his men were the first in every house, taking goats, fowls, skins, mbugus, cowries, beads, drums, spears, tobacco, pombe, in short, everything they could lay their hands on in the most ruthless manner.
The king, in his red coat and wideawake, conducted the arrangements, ordering all to their proper places the women, in certain boats, the Wakungu and Wanguana in others, whilst I sat in the same boat with him at his feet, three women holding mbugus of pombe behind.
Instead of being led to the palace, they were guided to the house of the refractory officer, when they were ordered to rush in and spare nothing, men, women, children, mbugus, or cowries, all alike. Speke's men, firing their guns, did as they were ordered. One of the inmates was speared, but the rest were taken, and brought in triumph to his camp.
Bombay, tricked on the plea of their taking him by a short cut to the palace, suddenly found himself with all the men opposite the fenced gardens that had to be taken the establishment of the recusant officer, and the boys, knowing how eager all blacks are to loot, said, "Now, then, at the houses; seize all you can, sparing nothing men, women, or children, mbugus or cowries, all alike for it is the order of the king;" and in an instant my men surrounded the place, fired their guns, and rushed upon the inmates.
In the courtyard fronting them, were hundreds of men and women dressed in smart mbugus the males wearing for turbans, strings of abrus-seeds wound round their heads, with polished boars' tusks stuck in in a jaunty manner. These were the people who, drunk as fifers, were keeping up such a continual row to frighten the devil away.
It was a small, newly-built hut, just large enough for my bed, with a corner for one servant; so I turned all my men away, save one ate my dinner, and hoped to have a quiet cool night of it, when suddenly Maula flounced in with all his boys, lighting a fire, and they spread their mbugus for the night.
Mtesa appeared quite confused with the various wonders as he handled them, made silly remarks, and pondered over them like a perfect child, until it was quite dark. Torches were then lit, and guns, pistols, powder, boxes, tools, beads the whole collection, in short were tossed together topsy-turvy, bundled into mbugus, and carried away by the pages.
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