16 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

whether I could persuade him to replenish our

larder, which, unfortunately for us, resembled

Mother Hubbard's cupboard. He told me that it

was a great deal of trouble to him to provide us

with food, but that he would do so once for all.

Thereupon he gave an order, which I did not under-

stand, to one of his wives, who went away and

presently returned followed by eighteen young women bearing loads of bananas ; they were dressed

in native bark cloth, and were, to say the least, by

no means bad-looking. They put their burdens

down on the ground, and then sat in a semicircle

round the door. " There, doctori,'' said the king,

"Will that do?" "For a day or two," I replied,

"but it is not very much." "But you are very

ungrateful," replied Mtesa ; " I mean you to have

the whole lot of them, and then the women will be

able to feed you ; I cannot." A present of eighteen

dusky beauties was rather staggering, but I recovered

from my astonishment, and declined the flattering

proposal with as much grace as I could summon, and

thereby exposed myself to the danger of being

treated as Orpheus of old was by the Amazons.

Mtesa's wives did not like the trouble of getting

food for us, and all began to clamour their dis-

approval, and a cloud appeared on the king's face.

" Why not take them," he inquired, " haven't you any women in your country ? " " Yes," I answered,

" but they are like us ; we allow only one wife, and