one man for the brandy bottle; and they wanted it if ever
man did ; for remember that hippo had been dead and in the
warm river-water for more than a week.
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-can-
vassed 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, as the feeding on board is excellent and the
society varied and charming— I went round to Kangwe. M.
and Mme. Jacot received me back most kindly, and they
both looked all the better for my having been away; M.
Haug and a young missionary from Baraka, who had come up
to Lembarene for a change after fever, were busy starting'
to go up to Talagouga in a canoe, which I was very glad of,
because M. Haug, at any rate, would be of immense help
to Mme. and M. Forget, while they were in such bad health ;
only during his absence M. Jacot had enough work for any
five men.
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.
My first attempt was made at Talagouga one very hot
afternoon. M. and Mme. Forget were, I thought, safe
having their siestas, Oranie was with Mme. Gacon. I
knew where Mme. Gacon was for certain; she was with
M- Gacon; and I knew he was up in the sawmill shed,
out of sight of the river, because of the soft thump, thump,
thump of the big water-wheel. There was therefore no one to
keep me out of mischief, and I was too frightened to go into
the forest that afternoon, because on the previous afternoon I
had been stalked as a wild beast by a cannibal savage, and I am
nervous. Besides, and above all, it is quite impossible to see
other people, even if they are only black, naked savages, gliding
about in canoes, without wishing to go and glide about yourself.
So I went down to where the canoes were tied by their noses to
the steep bank, and finding a paddle, a broken one, I unloosed
the smallest canoe. Unfortunately this was fifteen feet or so
long, but I did not know the disadvantage of having, as it
were, a long-tailed canoe then^-I did shortly afterwards.
The promontories running out into the river on each side of
the mission beach give a little stretch of slack water between
the bank and the mill-race-like current of the Ogowe, and I
wisely decided to keep in the slack water, until I had found
out how to steer— most important thing steering. I got into
the bow of the canoe, and shoved off from the bank all right;
then I knelt down— learn how to paddle standing up by and
by— good so far. I rapidly learnt how to steer from the
bow, but I could not get up any pace. Intent on acquiring
pace, I got to the edge of the slack water; and then displaying
more wisdom, I turned round to avoid it, proud as a
peacock, you understand, at having found out how to turn
round. At this moment, the current of the greatest equatorial
river in the world, grabbed my canoe by its tail. We spun
round and round for a few seconds, like a teetotum, I
steering the whole time for all I was worth, and then the
current dragged the canoe ignominiously down river, tail foremost.
Fortunately a big tree was at that time temporarily hanging
against the rock in the river, just below the sawmill beach.
Into that tree the canoe shot with a crash, and I hung on, and
shipping my paddle, pulled the canoe into the slack water