by a huge ill-made umbrella, made obeisance to Casembe, and sat down on his right and left: various bands of musicians did the same.

"When called upon," says Livingstone, "I rose and bowed, and an old counsellor with his ears cropped gave the chief as full an account as he could of the English in general and my antecedents in particular. Casembe then assured me that I was welcome to his country, to go where I liked, and do what I chose. We then went (two boys carrying his train behind him) to an inner apartment, where the articles of my present were examined in detail."

A number of human skulls adorned the entrance to his courtyard; and great numbers of his principal men having their ears cropped, and some with their hands lopped off, showed his barbarous way of making his ministers attentive and faithful. When Casembe usurped power five years ago, his country was densely peopled; but he was so severe in his punishments— cropping the ears, lopping off the hands, mutilating in other ways, and selling the children into slavery for slight offences-that his subjects gradually dispersed. themselves among the neighbouring tribes beyond his power. This is the common remedy for tyranny in countries like these, where fugitives are never returned.

The present Casembe is very poor. When he had people who killed elephants, which abound in these parts, he was too stingy to share the profits of the sale of the ivory with his subordinates. The elephant hunters have either left him, or neglect hunting, so he has now no tusks to sell to the Arab traders who come from Tanganyika.

If Casembe dreams of any man two or three times he puts the man to death, as one who is practising

secret arts against his life. His people are equally cruel when their superstitious fears are awakened, if it be true that a child who is seen to turn from one side to the other in sleep is killed, as unlucky. Not only in Casembe's country, but in many other parts of Africa, the same fate awaits a child who happens to cut the upper front teeth before the lower. They say of any child who has any of these unlucky failings, "He is an Arab child;" and should any Arab be within reach they give the child to him, for to keep it themselves they believe would infallibly bring ill-luck and dire misfortune.

Most of the trade with the tribes in the interior of Africa is in the hands of the Arabs who supply the natives with cloth and other manufactures, and take in exchange slaves and ivory. The slave-trade is the parent of the greatest miseries that human beings have to endure. An African chief desirous of getting slaves for the merchants must either seize his own subjects on frivolous pretences and sell them into slavery, or else make war on some neighbouring nation and sell the captives.

The horrors of the slave-trade are not seen in their worst aspect in the country where the slaves are ultimately sold and made to work, but in the passage of the slaves from their native land to the scene of their labours. The Arabs having collected their slaves far in the interior of Africa, march them in gangs towards the coast, and for the sake of security put a collar round the neck, pass a rope from collar to collar, and tie their hands behind the back. Those who show a disposition to rebel, or escape, have to carry a heavy log, called a taming-stick.

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"We passed a woman," says Livingstone, tied by

the neck to a tree, and dead. The people of the country explained that she had been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, and her master had determined that she should not become the property of any one else if she recovered after resting a time. I may mention here that we saw others tied up in a similar manner, and one lying in the path, shot or stabbed, for she was in a pool of blood." One object of such terrible cruelty is doubtless to inspire the survivors with dread, and so spur them on to endure the hardships of the march, for they have often hundreds of miles to go on the scantiest of food. It is a relief to know that the English Government have taken steps for abolishing or greatly diminishing this accursed traffic.

FIRS

QUEEN ELIZABETH AT HOME.

IRST in the morning she spent some time at her devotions; then she betook herself to the dispatch of her civil affairs, reading letters, ordering answers, considering what should be brought before the council, and consulting with her ministers. When she had thus wearied herself, she would walk in a shady garden or pleasant gallery, without any other attendance than that of a few learned men. Then she took her coach, and passed in the sight of the people to the neighbouring groves and fields, and sometimes would hunt or hawk.1 There was scarce a day but she employed some part of it in reading and study; sometimes before she entered upon her state affairs,2 sometimes after them.

She slept little, seldom drank wine, was sparing in her diet, and a religious observer of fasts. She sometimes dined alone, but more commonly had with her

some of her friends. Her guests no doubt highly appreciated the honour, but they could hardly have enjoyed much pleasure in her company, for we are told the ceremonial of her court rivalled that of the East: no person of whatever rank ventured to address her otherwise than kneeling, and this attitude was preserved by all her ministers during their audiences. of business, with the exception of Burleigh, in whose favour, when aged and infirm, she dispensed with its observance. As the Queen passed through the several apartments of her palace from the chapel to dinner, wherever she turned her eyes the courtiers threw themselves on their knees. The officers and ladies, whose business it was to arrange the dishes and give tastes of them to the yeomen of the guard by whom they were brought in, did not presume to approach the royal table without repeated prostrations and genuflexions and every mark of reverence.

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After dinner she would recreate herself with a game of chess, dancing, or singing. She would often play at cards for small stakes, and if at any time she happened to win, would be sure to demand the money. Some lady always slept in her chamber, and besides her guards, there was always a gentleman of good quality and some others up in the next chamber, to wake her if anything extraordinary happened.

She loved a prudent and moderate habit in her private apartment, and conversation with her own servants; but when she appeared in public she was ever richly adorned with the most valuable clothes, set off with much gold and many priceless jewels; and on such occasions she always wore high shoes, that she might seem taller than indeed she was. The first day of the parliament she would appear in a robe em

broidered with pearls, a royal crown on her head, the golden ball in her left hand, and the sceptre in her right; and as she never failed then of the loud acclamations of her people, so she was ever pleased thereat, and went along in a kind of triumph, with all the ensigns of majesty. In the latter part of her reign she used on these occasions a gilded state-coach; but in the early part of it she rode on horseback, seated on a pillion 8 behind the lord chancellor.

In the furniture of her palaces she ever delighted in magnificence and an extraordinary splendour. She adorned the galleries with pictures by the best artists; the walls she covered with rich tapestries. She was a true lover of jewels, pearls, all sorts of precious stones, gold and silver plate, rich beds, fine couches and chariots, Persian and Indian carpets, statues, medals, &c., which she would purchase at great prices.

When she made any public feasts, her tables were magnificently served: there were besides many sidetables adorned with rich plate. At these times many of the nobility waited on her at table. She made the greatest displays of her regal magnificence when foreign ambassadors were present. At these times she would also have vocal and instrumental music during dinner; and after dinner, dancing.

Elizabeth loved to be called the "Mother of her People." She resolved never to let another share her throne, being determined that England should have but "one mistress, and no master." But though she declined to marry, a courtship was her greatest delight ; for if the truth must be told, this great queen was an excessively vain woman, with an inordinate love of admiration. She was, however, for the most part, laudably watchful over the morals of her court, and