The formal presentation was to take place the next day, in the king's palace, and in the mean time the strangers were to be allowed to rest. The presents intended for the king were deposited in the zeriba prepared for the Doctor, to which the entire party was immediately conducted by the kahotah, who now showed himself for the first time.
UGUNDA BOY.
Several attendants were sent by the king to wait upon the Doctor and his young friends. Abdul said the best use to be made of them was to lodge them in one of the huts, and require as little service as possible from them. Their real office was to see and report upon everything that the strangers had and did, and particularly to tell what they possessed which could be of use to the king. Consequently, whatever the Doctor had which he did not wish to be called on to present to his majesty was kept carefully out of sight; and though the attendants repeatedly intimated that they would like to examine the contents of certain boxes and bales, they were not accommodated.
The zeriba prepared for the Doctor was on the side of a hill fronting the one on which the palace stood. It was the same which was occupied by Stanley, Long, and others, and is supposed to be in readiness at any time for the reception of distinguished visitors. There were a dozen or more huts inside a palisade: one, larger than the rest, was the special residence of the Doctor, and two others close by had been hastily thrown together for the boys. The other huts were for the dragoman, servants, and escort; and the attendants, who had been sent to keep watch, were instructed to order more huts erected if necessary. The construction of a house in Central Africa is an affair of only an hour or two, and the number could be multiplied indefinitely till all the space was occupied.
VIEW OF M'TESA'S PALACE FROM DOCTOR BRONSON'S ZERIBA.