The record-union., 1899-08-25
LoBENGULA'S VIEWS.
The MatabeIe Warrior, Now in
London, Says He Is Happy.

IN my own country L was one day
the Kings favorite son, and the next
a common 'colored man. 1ogged by the
Transvaal Government for walking on
a sidewalk in Pretoria without having
first asked permission
The words were uttered in soft,
liquid voice, and accompanied by a
smile, showing two rows of white teeth
which even a prince might envy,
My own country is good but IN The
land of the umlunga Cwhite mani I am
quite jabula'' happy).
Again the smile, and again the gleam
of dazzling teeth, and there remained
on the expressive face of Prince Loben-
gula a look which might have been
either a smoldering of resentful bitter
ness or a philosophical and half -primi-
tive contentment
The towering Matabele warrior. in his
picturesque war garb, stared silently
into space for a second, and then
laughed.
What does it matter?" asked the
son of one of our most powerful enc
mics conquered in late times. II might
one day have ruled in South Africa as
King. When my father fell I lived in
tending oxen on the roadside for the
Dutch. In London I am iubula" than
py).
The repetition was made abruptly,
as if the change of subject afforded
Prince Lobengula a theme upon which
he would rather dwell than upon the
loss of his country.
Suddenly, with the inevitable smile,
he made the remark:
IF my father had known the size
of Great Queens land he would not
have fought He thought England a
little floating island"
The question as to whether the
Kings advisers had not given him Some
idea of the v2stness of England and
the British population made Prince
Lobengula's eyes travel, with another
flash of white teeth toward the ceiling.
Devils talk" - he said quietly. He
wouldn't believe it. When I arrived in
England, my first thought was that
the whole world was full of white men,
and that they had all come to London
to meet me.
when l got used to the people, the
chief thing that bothered me was the
houses. They were so black and 50
IIiS H. we DullQ DGltSI III lIy y,
close to the ground, so that if a hut Iali
it hasn't far to go.
Later on, when I tried to find out
where all the white men in London
slept, I understood better Now -
Clearly the problem of London's over
traffic had given the prince as much
worry as it affords the London c. c.,
for he shook his head with a look of
bewilderment.
II think" he said, "some day all
the people in the great city will sleep
under the land because there is no
room on top"
The princes soft, dreamy voice had
no suggestion of humor in it. Any
other solution of the difficulty he f1out-
ed as devils talk What else could
people do when the land became too full
to hold them but resort to state Of
underground existence?
It is Lobengula's firm conviction that
London is destined beyond all question
of doubt to become a vast city buried in
the bowels of the earth, for want Of
space to remain above ground.
The prince talks gracefully and fas-
cinatingly, whether on the subject of
his own country and the present
strained outlook of affairs in South
Africa, or some aspect of the great
white man at home which has occurred
to him.
His quaint English, picked up before
his fathers downfall, is dignified and
elegant, while his air is a mixture of
lordly magnificence and childish SIM
plicity that is full of charm.
He displays in his dress an almost
inordinate love for jewelry. a trait
which since the arrival of the Matabele
nobleman in London several women
have discovered and encouraged by
presents which he proudly crowds upon
his person when dressed in full war
paint-almost the only vanity in which
he indulgeS.-I.n I.nndon Daily Mail.