THE KETTLE PARADE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22353, 29 August 1934, Page 10

THE KETTLE PARADE

NATIVE AFRICAN RULERS Attendants carrying a score of tin kettles waited upon three African native rulers who disembarked at Plymouth recently. At the head of the strange cavalcade wore the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir ot Gwanghi, and the Emir of Kano, who, with 15 ministers and servants, were on a visit to England for the first time. In the tin kettles was special water, with which the party washed their hands and faces before unrolling their prayer mats and making their solemn obeisances five times a Say. The dusky rulers, attired in flowing coloured robes, have alse arrived with supplies of gaud, which they were allowed to use in cold weather instead of water. Tlie Sultan of Sokoto, who rules over 1,500,000 people in North-West Nigeria, is also the spiritual head of the Mohammedans in the Western Sudan. He and the two emirs were on a private visit, and were presented to their KingEmperor, after which they saw the sights of London.

The Sultan does not speak English, but through an interpreter he made this statement:—" Before we came on this voyage we were like blind men. Already our eyes have been opened." One member of the party said that this “Wag their first sen voyage and they were all seasick, but they thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Sir Ofori Atta, paramount chief of the Gold Coast, who i a leading a delegation to place grievances before their KingEmperor, also arrived in the liner, wearing a golden crown, golden sandals, and thick velvet robes. He was followed by his nine-year-old sword-bearer, who, by tradition never leaves his side. The visitors were welcomed in London by Bear-Admiral Bromley, representing the Colonial Office, ami many Africans residing in London gathered to gf'eet the ruler of over a million and a-hulf souls in Nigeria.