104 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

view with Mtesa. From an early hour numbers of natives, dressed in the picturesque costume of the country, had been seen hurrying past our compound towards the palace. About eight o'clock Simbuzi and another chief, Seriite by name, attended by a few soldiers, came to fetch us, and we set off dressed in our best, accompanied by some of our servants bearing the presents for the king. About 150 yards through a narrow lane with gardens on either side, brought us into a magnificent road some eighty yards wide, leading straight up to the palace, which stood on the top of a hill about three-quarters of a mile distant. At the farther end of this road, outside the palace gates, was a vast crowd of natives, as noisy and inquisitive as any London mob, but much better behaved. As we drew near the palace enclosure, a sliding door was thrown open and a file of soldiers, dressed in white uniforms and armed with guns, came out to meet us, and then, turning round, marched before us. The palace itself is approached through a number of courts, separated from each other by high fences with sliding doors between, and, in each of these courts, two files of soldiers were drawn up, who presented arms as we approached. On entering the last court a number of drummers beat a most deafening salute, and a bugle rang out the call to dinner. Hat in hand, we entered the hall of the palace, a fine room about seventy feet long. All the great chiefs of the