Always they sat placidly side by
side, either in the saloon or on deck, smiling benignly, and conversing
in spaced, comfortable syllables with everybody who happened along. Mrs.
Breemen worked industriously on some kind of feminine gear, and
explained to all and sundry that she travelled "to see de sceenery wid
my hoos-band."
Also in this group was a small wiry German doctor, who had lived for
many years in the far interior of Africa, and was now returning after
his vacation. He was a little man, bright-eyed and keen, with a clear
complexion and hard flesh, in striking and agreeable contrast to most of
his compatriots. The latter were trying to drink all the beer on the
ship; but as she had been stocked for an eighty-day voyage, of which
this was but the second week, they were not making noticeable headway.
However, they did not seem to be easily discouraged. The Herr Doktor was
most polite and attentive, but as we did not talk German nor much
Swahili, and he had neither English nor much French, we had our
difficulties. I have heard Billy in talking to him scatter fragments of
these four languages through a single sentence!
For several days we drifted down a warm flat sea. Then one morning we
came on deck to find ourselves close aboard a number of volcanic
islands. They were composed entirely of red and dark purple lava blocks,
rugged, quite without vegetation save for occasional patches of stringy
green in a gully; and uninhabited except for a lighthouse on one, and a
fishing shanty near the shores of another.
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