My
Voyage Down Coast In Her Was A Very Pleasant One And Full Of
Instruction, For Mr. Fothergill, Who Was Her Purser, Had In Former
Years Resided In Congo Francais As A Merchant, And To Congo Francais
I Was Bound With An Empty Hold As Regards Local Knowledge Of The
District.
He was one of that class of men, of which you most
frequently find representatives among the merchants, who
Do not
possess the power so many men along here do possess (a power that
always amazes me), of living for a considerable time in a district
without taking any interest in it, keeping their whole attention
concentrated on the point of how long it will be before their time
comes to get out of it. Mr. Fothergill evidently had much knowledge
and experience of the Fernan Vaz district and its natives. He had,
I should say, overdone his experiences with the natives, as far as
personal comfort and pleasure at the time went, having been nearly
killed and considerably chivied by them. Now I do not wish a man,
however much I may deplore his total lack of local knowledge, to go
so far as this. Mr. Fothergill gave his accounts of these incidents
calmly, and in an undecorated way that gave them a power and
convincingness verging on being unpleasant, although useful, to a
person who was going into the district where they had occurred, for
one felt there was no mortal reason why one should not personally
get involved in similar affairs.
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