The Captain Had Had Enough Of It, He Said, But The Engineer Stuck To
The Job With A Courage I Profoundly Admire, And He Saw It Through
And Then Retired To His Cabin; Sand-And-Canvassed Himself First, And
Then Soaked And Saturated Himself In Florida Water.
The flesh
gladdened the hearts of the crew and lower-deck passengers and also
of the inhabitants of Lembarene, who got dashes of it on our arrival
there.
Hippo flesh is not to be despised by black man or white; I
have enjoyed it far more than the stringy beef or vapid goat's flesh
one gets down here.
I stayed on board the Eclaireur all night; for it was dark when we
reached Lembarene, too dark to go round to Kangwe; and next morning,
after taking a farewell of her - I hope not a final one, for she is a
most luxurious little vessel for the Coast, and the feeding on board
is excellent and the society varied and charming - I went round to
Kangwe.
I remained some time in the Lembarene district and saw and learnt
many things; I owe most of what I learnt to M. and Mme. Jacot, who
knew a great deal about both the natives and the district, and I owe
much of what I saw to having acquired the art of managing by myself
a native canoe. This "recklessness" of mine I am sure did not merit
the severe criticism it has been subjected to, for my performances
gave immense amusement to others (I can hear Lembarene's shrieks of
laughter now) and to myself they gave great pleasure.
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