FAREWELL TO UGANDA. 269 tribe lying on the borders of Usoga : two of the principal chiefs, Sakibobo and Chambalango, together with my friend Simbuzi and a number of other chiefs, had gone into that country with a large army.

Immediately after the arrival of our companions Felkin began treating the king, and paid him frequent professional visits. Mtesa had been laid by for fifteen months with a complication of diseases, and was a terrible contrast to the active, athletic man he was when first I saw him : long confinement to his house and want of exercise, together with constant suffering, had greatly reduced him, and he looked years older than he did in 1877. Some curious scenes took place at first owing to the unwillingness of the chiefs to allow a European doctor to prescribe for their king, and the foremost among those who opposed it was one Kauta, the head cook, a worthless sycophant, who did all in his power to thwart us. A large portion of every bottle of medicine made up for his majesty had to be swallowed by the chiefs who were present when Felkin paid him his professional visits, and also by any of us who might have accompanied him ; but after a time, when no harm happened to any one from drinking the medicine, this practice was gradually dropped. The Arab and half-breed traders, however, were very much vexed at the influence which Felkin's successful treatment of Mtesa gave him and us over the monarch, and they redoubled