REMINISCENCES OF CETEWAYO.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1665, 21 April 1884, Page 2

REMINISCENCES OF CETEWAYO.

By Mr Wiiiteley : an Interview by ... Telephone, : k "So my old friend is dead!" said Mr Wliitely this morning (February 11) through the telephone which, enables all of the, 30,000 subscrihers tortile Union Telephone Exchange ■ to-'hold a conversation from any part of Lon,don with the ocoiip'ant. of the Telephonic chamber of the '' fall Mall Gazette,' c " Dead, really... this time; for he was" dead before, and came to life again, much to Mr Gladstone's delight, if I remember rightly. Astonishing what admiration these two great men had for each other. My old guest at Melbury road was a noble savage, who was-very proud of having met the Prime Minister. 'He was a grand; kind gentleman,' was his variation upon the G.O.M. ; and in this; as in other things, , the Zulu : improved upon the Englishman* " No, thank you, I was not thinking ot his appetite. That he picked up in London. He did not bring it with him from Africa, . When he- first arrived his-daily ration of 3 Jib of beef contented' him'. 1 " Before he left his regular allowance had risen to 7|lb per diem,. Ho.greatly admired llngM beef. HovV much he would liaye eaten ..at Jast if. lie had stayed.much longer no One knows, But this huge mass of fresh meat looks larger than it was in reality, because of the way in which it was frizzled in cooking. Cetewayo was Very particular about his cooking. The beef had to bo cut in steaks two inches thick, and cooked until it- was as hard and as dry as toast ; then it was eaten by itself. Cetewayo always made a separate course of each article of food. He would have beef as one course, sweet potatoes as the next then beans, melted butter, and so forth. In drink he was particularly fond of champagne, although he had no objection to whisky. ; You know how eloquently he., discoursed to a temperance deputation about the curse of intopicants, and' his earnest desire to, keep them outside of Zululands. If his desire to keep rum outside Zululand was halt as keen as his desire to put champagne inside the corporation of one particular Zulu whom I knew well, Cetewayo must indeed have been one of the most zealous Maine Law men on record. When he left this country he had added two English words to his nativo vocabulary. One was 'good-night,' and the other was 'fizz.' and of the two he most loved fizz. I well remember the night of the day upon which Cetewayo received oilicial intimation of his restoration. It was a great day with him, and he was in unusually good spirits, When lie came home nothing could restrain his boisterous satisfaction. We allowed him a little more- liberty than usual, for, after all, discrowned kings in exile have only one day in which they hear that they are to be restored to their throne. He was allowed to eat and to drink pretty much a3 he liked, and- he availed himself of the privilege. Wo . : had a snlall party at Melbury . road in honor of the event, and the quantity of food and drink that the Zulus got through was almost incredible. It was fizz and beef and beef and fizz all the night through. At last, when it was far past,tho King's usual bedtime, I insisted that he must retire, but as a ■climax to the day's festivity I made the King a present of a ro?guii'm of , champagne. . His Majesty, it seemed to most of us, had already a very complete outfit in the shape of liquor, and the magnum was to be reserved till next day. Cetewayo's eyes were fascinated by the magnum, ' Why not drink it now?" he .asked through-his interpreter., 'You have had,enough; wo will keep it for you till to-morrow.' ' But if you leave it hero they will got up in the night and drink it, 1 pointing to bis attendant chiefs, one of whom commanded at Rorke's Drift and-the other at. Isandlana. It was in vain that we protested. We would put it out of their reach. ' Let me take care of it,' said the king. " But you will drink it,' we- -said, ' and you havo already--had.;enough. 1 'No, no,' he persisted. 'I will take good care of it. But I must take ifc-with me to my bedroom; it is'not safe elsewhere.' So at last, after making him promise in the most solemn fashion a Zulu could that he would not draw the cork, we allowed lain to carry it on with him to his bedroom. He went out of the room hugging the magnuin as if it were a precitus child. A few minutes ■afterwards, as I went upstairs, I saw the big blue bottle standing outside Cetewayo's door drained to the last drop, The temptation had been too much for him, How he found room for the four'quarto of champagne after all his libalions I cannot imagine. Next day, it is not surprising to learnpHis Majesty had a bad cold and could not appear, - ■ • : " It is some consolation to mo to reflect, now that the King's eventful life is oyer, that probably no period was happier than that during which he was under my case at Melbury road. The Government were in some doubt as to what to do with their savage guest 1 when the happy thought struck Kimberley that I, who provide formal! " men, might provide for Cetewayo. 'I am- sure,' said he, ' that in your, hands we shall not get stuck too much.' Of course I undertook the contract, aa I would to-day undertake to provide for ■the Grand Llama, the Mahdi.or the President of .the! Latter Day Saints if only I got the order. I recognise no such thing as a difficulty, and the .* sundry' departraiepfc—one of the sixty into which business at Westbourne Grove , is subdivided—would not feel itself overtaxed if it were to bo called upon to provide for all tho crowned visitants in London. I took the house at' No. 18 Melbury road, furnished it .complete, and fitted up Cetewayo jtp .his ■ entire satisfaction. He used to receive visitors in a suit of fine blue cloth| behind which there was just discernible a flannel shirt and a bright-colored necktie. He sat on a couch or throne in a. prettily-furnished drawing-room, while his chiefs sat on chairs in the corner of the room and his servants squatted on the floor, We tookcaro ot him as if he had been a child. We anticipated all bis wants. He was delighted with everything I did for him, and he had only one fault to find