St. Landry democrat., 1879-03-15
King CetygyayO.
NARRATIVE OF VISIT TO TIE ZULU
COUNTRY-INTERVIEW WITH THE
AFRICAN CHIEF.

Mauritius, has spent many years i'll
Madagascar, and penetrated the Zulu
country in Africa, in company with ne
phew of Tsifani, king of Madagascar,
in the autumn of 1870. At Delagoa bay
they met kremaio, a younger brother
of Chief Cetywayo. He was naturally
bland and princely in his bearing, and
wore wide belt of panther's skin, that
was fairly covered with jewels. rough
and irregular in size and shape, bat large
and of the purest water. I1d spoke
tluently the language of the Magasci, in
which Tsifani's nephew addressed him.
Two OF his officers, who wore white
linen yisors, with linen sknll-caps to
which wells were attached which cover
ed the neck, presented the visitors with
leather drinking-vessels, in which they
poured cordial from canvas,covercd
TASKS. The TASKS were attached to
their belts, and contained the cordial
that they call wayumba. Only officers
high in rank had the privilege of carrying
and dispensing wayumba, W hlcll is made
ofspirits they call yeaur ca species OF
white rum), ripe juice strongly fermented
gum that tastes mildly of turpentine,
and cocoanut milk.
From Delagoa bay the visitors were
taken in fiat kind Of wagon drawn by
three fine horses, to spot about seven
miles in the interior named ksen-si-ta
Kan. country seat of the chief,' or
the kings country residence" 1t
was a fairy-like scene" the gentleman
said. An immense circle of palms and
expresses girded leveled plain. Slaves
in snowy livery were sprinkIing the
bright green sward with sponges or
mop-like instruments that answered the
purpose of spOnges, as they were stepped
in vessels of water, and squeezed in
sprinkIing the grass. The trees sur
rounding the great sward We're gaudily
dotted with ornaments like Chinese
lanterns. They were globular lamps
constructed of pure gold wire and a
species of thick parchment irreguIarly
| fold tapers or candles, and after they
| were lighted the heavy Gordon of trees
was a wonderfully beautiful scene. In
| the center of the sward large tent,
sexagon in shape, was pitched. In front
| a guard of four sentinels aud a petty
officer marched to and fro without in
PERMISSION. At intervals an order was
| given, and the guard wheeled to right or
| left and made the Circuit of the tent.
kremaio, Chief Cetywayo's: brother
| who accompanied the visitors, advanced
as they approached the royal atent,
placed his hand across his forehead, and
then aIoft. At these gestures the guard
| of sentinels were ordered to halt, front
and present arms. They did so by drop
ping on one knee, placing their arms,
European rifles, in the p0sItion known
as point and then thrusting them for
ward horizontally. From that position
| they did not rise until Prince kremaio
| TO- |, n tu ,arf,n
another order in a curt, loud and mono
syllable manner, like all his orders, and
the troops resumed their former posi-
! ton. Sitting on low, yari-cOlored
benches or upon the grass, or walking
in pairs or groups around the sward,
were Zulu mobiles and officers in their
flowing white bonnets and jeweled uni
forms, some wearing tidy jackets, some
with clumsy TUNES, and many with
slovenly, shapeless cloaks OF red mate
rial
AS soon as Kremaio was perceived
approaching the officers fastened to
form in line, and with bowed heads and
uplifted right arms paid obeissance to
| their chieftan's brother.
| The interior of the tent was carpeted
with the skins of panthers, lions, tigers
and other wild animals. There were
| Slotcslue pdiItAuSs tttdCHtu ~ tHt
the sides of the tent in rude frames
of solid gold. The Chief Cetywayo
was reclining, apparently after liberal
drafts of wayumba. His couch was
about half foot from the ground, but
overspread with heavy skins, highly
perfumed' and rich coverings woven
| from costly and rare materials, and
lavishly encrusted with diamonds and
various precious stones. A thick cur
| tain of material like camels hair
shaWls separated the apartment in
which the king lay from an inner sec
ton of the tent. A heavy block of rich
wood, with its edges studded with gems,
served as table, and upon it were laid
books in French and English, and
swinging aloft was an immense lamp of
solid, gold of crude workmanship, but
looking all the richer in it's barbaric shape
and massiyeness.
1.-The king arose to receive King
Tsifani's nephew with uplifted arms,
| that he slowly lowered and rested on
the shoulders Of the young Ma gasci
noble. The Zulu chieftain, despite his
blackness, had at that period sin gular-
" handsome and expressive face. His
| arms and legs being wonderfully hard
and finely developed. He spoke Eng
| lish slowly and with much caution, as
| if it would offend his pride to make a
grammatical or idiomatic error He relat-
ed his journey some years before to Bour
bon island, south of Mauritius and east
of Madagascar, when he visited, incogni
| to, a friend, a French merchant named
AdOlph LIE Roy, who was also consular
agent for Italy. Through him he pro-
cured many articles OF European manu-
| facture for his palaces. He expressed
himself eager to converse in French, that
he understood better than English.
"When his mobiles entered theroyal tent
! at the call of a peculiar drnm, they knelt
| on one knee, with bowed head and up
lifted arms: In recognition OF this the
king raised his face upwards. and ups
lifted one arm. His action was in ador-
| elton of the sun-theirs in homage to
their chief. Then htghly=seasoned IN;
cooked meal, hard sweet crackers, and
lunch speedily disposed Of and the mobiles
summarialiy dismissed, Then an off,
cial conversation ensned between Getty
| waya and Tsifani's nephew. e was
| the nature Of it, Then tile 'eiliet drew
aside the ricn curtain which divided the
tent into compartments, ~ ~" noihtlhg
to q massive casket of gold, invited
Tsifani's nephew, Yatsinif, to remove a
] little slab at one end of il: He did so,
| and the immense vessel of gold was
found to be filed with every variety Of
| precious stones. He was then, with a
princely wave of the arm, requested to
| 'help HIMSELF But, with chivarous
lf-denial, Yatsinif did not avail him
self to any great extent of the oppor1-