14 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

after her death, one of his sisters seemed to take

her place as his confidential adviser, but he felt his

wife's loss very deeply. One day I gave the king a

smoking-cap, which had been made and embroidered

by my sister ; he was highly pleased, and showed it

to his wives as a specimen of English ladies' work. A few days afterwards, I saw a copy of it, made by

one of his wives out of the native bark cloth, the

embroidery being imitated by bead-work. It was

very well done, and showed great ingenuity and

skill. The bead and wicker-work of the Waganda

is of a very superior order, as is also their grass-

plaiting. I have a drinking- tube, given me by

Mtesa ; the spiral portion is wonderfully regular,

and it is also curious to note that they use the

" crown knot," which can be seen at the end of the

tube.

In my interviews with Mtesa, I always en-

deavoured to induce him to talk on general subjects,

and was often successful

; indeed, many of my after-

noon visits lasted for two and three hours. His

interest in religious conversations has already been

mentioned, so that here I will merely say that at

nearly all our interviews the subject was introduced.

Sometimes I would talk to him about England,

sometimes about medical matters. I had with me

some large anatomical plates, and he was never

tired of looking at them. He soon understood them

himself, and then he would explain them to his