ten o'clock
They all agreed that death was the result of poison , self-administered ; and indeed there seemed to be no room for any other conclusion , for when the corpse was discovered a tiny flask was found tightly grasped in the right hand , the odour clinging to which , and to the lips of the dead woman , proclaimed beyond all question that it had contained bicari , a decoction prepared from the root of the combuti plant , and one of the most deadly toxics known to the Africans of the interior . The fact of the queen 's death being fully established , Anuti gave orders that the body should be prepared in the usual way for public cremation on the following day , after which the chamber was to be closed and sealed , and a guard of honour mounted before it . In the meantime , while these orders were being carried out , we all adjourned to the council chamber , where we were soon afterward joined by several other nobles and chiefs , who had been hastily summoned ; and a council was held at which it was decided that , for expediency 's sake , Anuti should at once take up his abode at the palace , and that he should be proclaimed king that same evening . Mounted messengers were accordingly sent forth into the city , summoning the people to assemble before the palace at an hour corresponding to ten o'clock ; and at that hour the ceremony of proclamation was duly performed . The scene was one of considerable barbaric splendour , chiefly by reason of the magnificent dresses worn by the various personages who took part in it . It happened that all the nobles and chiefs who were really of paramount importance were dwellers in the city . It was consequently possible for every one of them to be present ; and as they all held high rank either in the army or what may be called the civil service , and wore the full-dress uniform of their rank upon this occasion , the display of golden armour and weapons , richly embroidered robes and banners , and jewelled and feathered head-dresses glittering in the somewhat smoky light of thousands of blazing torches presented a spectacle which I shall never forget .