Head Man, Cook, And Monrovia
Boy Have The Upper Fire, And The Labourer Has The Middle One - He
Being An Outcast For Medical Reasons.
They are all steaming away
and smoking comfortably.
I form the noble resolution to keep awake, and rouse up any
gentleman who may catch on fire during the night, and see to wood
being put on the fires, so elaborately settle myself on my wooden
chop-box, wherein I have got all the lucifers which are not in the
soap-box. Owing to there not being a piece of ground the size of a
sixpenny piece level in this place, the arrangement of my box camp
takes time, but at last it is done to my complete satisfaction,
close to a tree trunk, and I think, as I wrap myself up in my two
wet blankets and lean against my tree, what a good thing it is to
know how to make one's self comfortable in a place like this. This
tree stem is perfection, just the right angle to be restful to one's
back, and one can rely all the time on Nature hereabouts not to let
one get thoroughly effete from luxurious comfort, so I lazily watch
and listen to Xenia and Kefalla at their fire hard by.
They begin talking to each other on their different tribal
societies; Kefalla is a Vey, Xenia a Liberian, so in the interests
of Science I give them two heads of tobacco to stimulate their
conversation. They receive them with tragic grief, having no pipe,
so in the interests of Science I undo my blankets and give them two
out of my portmanteau; then do myself up again and pretend to be
asleep. I am rewarded by getting some interesting details, and form
the opinion that both these worthies, in their pursuit of their
particular ju-jus, have come into contact with white prejudices, and
are now fugitives from religious persecution. I also observe they
have both their own ideas of happiness. Kefalla holds it lies in a
warm shirt, Xenia that it abides in warm trousers; and every half-
hour the former takes his shirt off, and holds it in the fire smoke,
and then puts it hastily on; and Xenia, who is the one and only
trouser wearer in our band, spends fifty per cent. of the night on
one leg struggling to get the other in or out of these garments,
when they are either coming off to be warmed, or going on after
warming.
There seem but few insects here. I have only got two moths to-
night - one pretty one with white wings with little red spots on,
like an old-fashioned petticoat such as an early Victorian-age lady
would have worn - the other a sweet thing in silver.
(Later, i.e., 2.15 A.M.). I have been asleep against that
abominable vegetable of a tree. It had its trunk covered with a
soft cushion of moss, and pretended to be a comfort - a right angle
to lean against, and a softly padded protection to the spine from
wind, and all that sort of thing; whereas the whole mortal time it
was nothing in this wretched world but a water-pipe, to conduct an
extra supply of water down my back.
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