Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-11-14
THE CAPTIVE ZULU KING.
cetewayO, an Enormous Man Measuring
Sixty inches Round the Chest.

wayO on his voyage to Simon's bay, |
says: " In the surf-boat Cetewayo had |
his first experience of sea-sickness,
and if he wanted to be shot when |
caught by Major Marter, it is certain
that he wished that he were dead ten |
minutes after embarking. All the
dignity with which Cetewayo had |
borne his captivity gave way as he saw
the sea and realized his fate, while the
antics of the whole party in the surf |
boat are said to have been ludicrous.
Nothing could persuade them to sit
down quietly, and when they moved |
they did so crawling on all fours.
"Cetewayo was placed on deck, in
asmuch as the builders of the Natal |
never contemplated carrying pas
senger who would require that four
wives should sleep in his cabin with |
him In the kraal his majesty occu-
pied central mattress, and his four
wives and an intombi (young girl) had |
mattresses around him. Every thing
in the way of personal comfort that
he asked for has been given him.
During the voyage of the Natal there
was one rough night, and the king had |
a very bad time Of it, but he gener-
ally kept up his spirits, and conveyed |
in his cheerful moods his impressions
of new sights. The first morning
when there was no land in view, he,
after looking around, held up his
hands in intense astonishment; but,
like all natives, he does not permit
himself to appear to be much SUR
prised at anything. At home he was
rather a considerable beer drinker,
but he thinks our beer very inferior
stuff and palms that off on his wives,
while he is quite ready to do his share
Of the fire water in the shape Of gin
I" He has rather a wild way Of tax
ing 20 European food, aud as a pre-
liminary to substantial feed Of beef
the other day he devoured a pot and
half Of. jam. He was good enough to
come out of his shell during the time
his photograph was being taken, and
the smiling face he put on, as his pho
tograph will show, proves that he is
not altogether unacquainted with the
ways of the world. When his wives
we're eingphotographed nothing could
induce them to leave off giggling or to
sit still until Catewayo sternly com
mahded them to do so, and then at
once they were motionless as statutes.
1t was evident that they had not for
gotten the temper of the king and the
way he once reigned in Aululand.
When he was afterward asked to sit
Tor another photograph, he declined
doing so on the ground that he was
not going to make fool of himself
twice in one day. He would not sit
with his wives, because, he said, hav-
ing his photograph, they could easily
cut the group Of women in two to put
him in the centre, and he suggested
that if other photographers wanted his
likeness they could photo his followers
as often as they liked, and the pictures
would sell just as well, for the white
man would buy any thing.
THE photo will show Cetewayo to
be an enormous man, Of little under
six feet high handsome, oyerfed
specimen Of humanity, with nothing
repulsive whatever about him. a
tape measure around the chest would
probably show sixty inches, and each
thigh half that number of inches
and this should convey what an i'm
mense fellow the king is. Yet he is
not ungainly in figure, and there is an
unmistakable dignity about him,
which, together with his fits of socia.
bility, have drawn toward him the
good feeling Of his escort. He is not
unappreciatiye, either, of tho duties
of his rank, and mention these Incl
dents to indicate in some degree what
the Zulu court was like, and that,
barbaric as it was, it must have had
dignity Of its own. For instance, on
saturday last the medical officer in
charge introduced his superior officer
to the king, when the latter reported
that the medical attendance during
the voyage was all that could be de-
sired. The whole party eYinee a very
earnest wish for clothes, and Oete
wayo was In great delight on wearing
a suit sent him by the commodore,
and strutted about quite proudly with
a black hat which he had managed to
squeeze over his head ring.
He has lately developed a wonder
full taste for scribbling. and in few
months, under the careful tuition Of
Major Hoolo, would probably become
a polite letter writer Indeed, Major
Poole has the king, eycepting the
sulks, which ara exceedingly inconve-
nient, perfectly under control, and the
attempts at letter writing are All In
finite source Of amusement The
wives of the king, Nh Nh" are his fellow
coptives, are four in number, and are
tall, hthe, shapely women of about
twenty years af age. The photographs
are not just to them. for their attrac-
tions seem to be in their vivacity and
their good tempers. Like their lord
and master, they are anxious about
their drpss. On Sunday OetewayoI
was taken on tour OF inspection
of her majesty's ship Boadicoa,
which visit seems to have given
him terrible shock, Such a visit
year ago might have saved England
some millions Of money"