The English explorer, in a rage, presented a pistol at the breast of the negro king, who merely replied—
"Why are you angry? What wrong have I done you in asking for your wife? I would give you one of mine with pleasure if you wished it, and I never thought you would hesitate about giving yours up. As a rule, I offer pretty wives to all who come to see me, and it appeared to me to be a very simple matter to make an exchange with you. Do not bear me any ill-will; if my proposition displeases you, I will not renew it."
He kept his word; but Kamrasi was a very amiable native, of a much more facile temperament than the terrible King of the Monbuttoos.
We may, therefore, find ourselves in a very embarrassing, if not perilous, position, should, as we begin to think, this African despot, with his ardent passions, accustomed to satisfy his every whim and fancy, be attracted by the first white woman he has ever seen, and the loveliest creature he has ever dreamt of.
The question before us, however, was how best to entertain our guest, to excite his curiosity, and rouse him when he showed any sign of forgetting himself in the contemplation of Madame de Guéran.
De Morin had at first recourse to lucifer matches; when he thought that the King was becoming too deeply absorbed he took out of his pocket his silver fusee-box and lighted a match. But the operation, which had served us in good stead amongst other tribes, very soon palled upon Munza.
From matches we passed to refreshments; a bottle of champagne, the solitary remnant of Parisian luxuries, was produced and opened in honour of the King.
The noise, the popping of the cork, the outflow of the froth, and the sparkling of the wine produced a certain amount of impression on him; but it did not last long, and, with an astonishing genius for imitation, he, without the least awkwardness, clinked against our cups the silver goblet we had presented to him, and he drank as he saw us doing.
Then de Morin, bent upon using every possible means to engage his attention, took down his fowling-piece, and aiming at a splendid parrot which was sitting in a neighbouring palm-tree, brought it to the ground.
The King, on hearing the report, very naturally sprang up, but he speedily recovered his composure, and, as his frightened subjects were shouting in alarm and rushing towards our palisade, he hastened out to reassure them and tell them to be quiet.