"He was particularly desirous to obtain fire-arms, and we gave him a double-barrelled sporting gun of the Remington system, loading at the breech, and capable of being fired very rapidly. Then we gave him a rifle, with a case of explosive balls, which he immediately proceeded to test by firing one of them into a tree, where it exploded with great force and threw splinters of wood in every direction. [Illustration: THE KING'S MUSICIANS.] "A music-box was wound and set in operation. The king was familiar with music-boxes, as they had been brought by previous travellers. His wives showed the greatest delight at the sound which the instrument produced, and two or three of his little daughters could hardly remain quiet while the tunes were being played. "We couldn't show the magic lantern, as it was in the daytime, but we brought out the telephone, and stretched about a hundred yards of wire from one side of the open space to the other. When the connections had been made and everything was ready, we asked his majesty to make an experiment with the strange machine. "Doctor Bronson and Abdul went with the king to one end of the line, while Fred and I stood by the prime-minister at the other, with Ali to serve as our interpreter. [Illustration: VISITORS IN THE ZERIBA.] "Under the directions of the Doctor, M'tesa spoke through the instrument, and immediately received a response from our end of the wire. The voice of the minister seemed to be close to his ear, and he looked around, with an angry expression on his face, as if he believed there was some trick about it. "The kahotah was so far off that he could only be heard by shouting, and then the king spoke again through the telephone. "The kahotah responded immediately. To say the king was astonished is to express very mildly his mental condition. "In some doubt as to what was going on, he called one of his daughters, a little girl about eight or nine years old, who spoke Arabic fluently, and sent her to our end of the line. Evidently he thought it possible that the minister might be in collusion with us, and therefore he called the girl, as he knew she had not seen us till that morning, and had not spoken a word to any of our party. "She talked with her father both in their native language and in Arabic. As soon as they began speaking Doctor Bronson walked away a few yards from the king's side, so as not to overhear the conversation; and Fred and I walked away from the little girl in the same manner. "They talked there for nearly half an hour, and then the king asked if we could do the same thing at a greater distance. "We told him we could talk that way farther than he could possibly travel in a whole day. "'Can you talk from my palace to your zeriba?' "'Certainly,' the Doctor answered. 'We will do so to-morrow, if it is your majesty's pleasure.'