say, was as fine a young man as ever I looked upon. He was very
handsome, and looked as I now saw him the very picture of a
captain of the banditti of the romances. I begged him to tell me
his tale, and, in compliance, he gave me the following
narrative:--

"Shortly after you left Kaze for England, my old father, the late
chief Fundi Kira, died, and by his desire I became lawful chief;
for, though the son of a slave girl, and not of Fundi Kira's
wife, such is the law of inheritance--a constitutional policy
established to prevent any chance of intrigues between the sons
born in legitimate wedlock. Well, after assuming the title of
chief, I gave presents of ivory to all the Arabs with a liberal
hand, but most so to Musa, which caused great jealousy amongst
the other merchants. Then after this I established a property tax
on all merchandise that entered my country. Fundi Kira had never
done so, but I did not think that any reason why I should not,
especially as the Arabs were the only people who lived in my
country exempt from taxation. This measure, however, exasperated
the Arabs, and induced them to send me hostile messages, to the
effect that, if I ever meddled with them, they would dethrone me,
and place Mkisiwa, another illegitimate son, on the throne in my
stead. This," Manua Sera continued, "I could not stand; the
merchants were living on sufferance only in my country. I told
them so, and defied them to interfere with my orders, for I was
not a 'woman,' to be treated with contempt; and this got up a
quarrel. Mkisiwa, seizing at the opportunity of the prize held
out to him by the Arabs as his supporters, then commenced a
system of bribery. Words led to blows; we had a long and tough
fight; I killed many of their number, and they killed mine.