Page:Travels in West Africa, Congo Français, Corisco and Cameroons (IA travelsinwestafr00kingrich).pdf/425

 gallantly. Libreville looks very bright and pleasing—with its red roofs and white walls amongst the surrounding wealth of dark green mango trees; but we soon leave it behind, passing along in front of the low, rolling hills, all densely clad with forests, out to Cape Clara, or Cape Joinville as some maps will have it—the end of the northern shore of the Gaboon estuary. When we get to the Cape we find a pretty fair sea running, and Eveke, whose seamanship I am beginning to view with suspicion, lets her gybe, and I get knocked into the bottom of the boat by the boom, and stay there. There is nothing like entering into the spirit of a thing like this if you mean to enjoy it, and after all that's the wisest thing to do out here, for there's nothing between enjoying it and dying of it. The sun is broiling hot; everything one has got to sit on or catch hold of is as hot as a burning brick, and there is no cabin, nor even locker, on our craft; so I prop myself up against my collecting-box and lazily take stock of the things round me, and write.

My crew are a miscellaneous lot of M'pongwe, black but not comely. One gentleman, however, evidently thinks he is, as he has a beautiful pair of carefully tended whiskers, rare adjuncts to the African. He also has a pair of kerseymere trousers, far too tight for him; but a man with whiskers "all same for one with white man must dress the part, and trousers are scarce in this country. Our cargo consists of two bags of salt, several bags and boxes of sand for ballast, several bottles of water for drinking, a bundle of bedding—a loan from the Doctor, and a deck chair—a loan from Mr. Hudson. Owing to the Lafayette having no deck, the latter is "not required on the voyage," and is folded up. I observe with anxiety that the cargo is not stowed in a manner that would meet with the approval of Captain Murray, and decide to get dunnage and do it in style the first port we call at. Can't possibly shift cargo in this sea. The crew drink the water in such quantities that there will be an oceán tragedy if we get becalmed. We run along close in shore from Cape Clara to Cape Esterias—a fine, sandy, rock-strewn shore, backed by a noble bush—for eight miles. The land falls away then, for Esterias is the southernmost point of Corisco Bay. Close to Cape Esterias