Wilson to be the future King of the Boollams.  Previous to this, a deputation had been sent requesting my presence.  I accordingly attended in full dress, along with Mr. S——.  The Regent’s speech, as literally translated by my interpreter, and immediately after noted down by me, was as follows:—­

“’We have now met, headmen and brethren, to perform a great duty, and to exercise a great privilege.  It becomes our duty to elect a successor to our vacant throne, “the cry” (i.e. the mourning) being about to close.  We have now no king; if we look to his hearth, there is no one there; if we call upon our king, no one answers; thus are we, as children without a father; as a family without a head; whom then shall we choose to sit in the seat of our late venerable king?  Who shall walk in the footsteps of him, whose sayings were the sayings of wisdom, and out of whose mouth proceeded justice:  whom, I say, shall we elect, but his own son[14], who listened to him when alive, and who will not forget him now that he is dead?

“’You have long known this person; and you know that he will not bring disgrace upon your choice; but that he will do those things which a King of the Boollams ought to do; that he will discourage wickedness, encourage the righteous, and do justice to all men; I therefore propose that John Macaulay Wilson be elected King of the Boollams.’[15] The speaker of the above was an old man, highly respected by all classes, named, ‘Nain Banna.’  It becomes his duty, immediately on the king’s death, to assume the government as Regent; he is, however, on that account ineligible for the throne.

“After some conversation among the chiefs, consisting principally of tributes of praise to the late king, it was formerly announced to me, ’that John Macaulay Wilson was elected King of the Boollams:—­that he held the Boollam Country in the palm of his hand:—­and that the scales of justice hung upon his finger,’ I was also entreated to report to his Excellency the Governor of Sierra Leone, the choice they had made, and their hopes that it would meet with his approbation.  The people expecting that I should address them, I rose, and by my interpreter, said, ’that I should not fail to report to my master, His Excellency the Governor of Sierra Leone, the good order and unanimity which had prevailed in the assembly; that I had no doubt but His Excellency would approve of the object of their choice that day; that from what I had heard of their new king, I had no doubt, but that he would justify the confidence they had placed in him; and I trusted that the same good sense and attention to the true interests of their country, which they had shewn that day, would guide all their future deliberations.  In conclusion, I begged leave to congratulate them, on having chosen such a ruler; and to congratulate their king, on the distinction that day conferred upon him.’

  “The day closed as usual with every manner of licentiousness.