Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/399

A BOWL OF PUNCH. 371 this was the usual crown of the sdvereigns of Kazonndé. From his waist hung two skirts of coodoo-hidc, stiff as blacksmiths' aprons, and embroîdered wîth pearls. The tattooings on hîs breast were so numerous that his pedigree, which they declared, mîght seem to reach back to tîme immémorial. His wrists and arms were encased in copper bracelets, thickly encrusted with beads ; he wore a pair of top-boots, a présent from Alvez some twenty years ago ; in his left hand he carried a great stick surmounted by a silver knob ; in his right a fly-flapper with a handle studded with pearls ; over his head was carried an old umbrella with as many patches as a Harlequin's coat, whilst from his neck hung Cousin Benedict*s magnîfying- glass, and on his nose were the spectacles which had been stolen from Bat s pocket. Such was the appearance of the potentate beneath whose sway the country trembled for a hundred miles round. By virtue of his sovereignty Moené Loonga claimed to be of celestial origin ; and any subject who should hâve the audacity to raise a question on this point would hâve been despatched forthwith to another world. AU his actions, his eating and drinking, were supposed to be per- formed by divine impulse. He certainly drank like no other mortal ; his officers and ministers, confirmed tipplers as they were, appeared sober mon in comparison with him- self, and he secmed never to be doing anything but im- bibing strong pombé, and over-proof spirit with which Alvez kept him liberally supplicd. In his harem Moené Loonga had wives of ail âges from forty to fourteen, most of whom accompanied him on his vîsit to the lakonL Mocna, the chief wife, who was called the queen, was the eldest of them ail, and, like the rcst, was of royal blood. She was a vixenish-looking womaii, very gaily attired ; she wore a kind of bright tartan ovcr a skirt of woven grass, embroidered with pearls ; round her throat was a profusion of necklaces, and her hair was mounted up in tiers that topplcd high above her head, making her resemble some hideous monster. The yoiiaç^^t fi b 2