wever, were not reached. It pleased them to drift about; to call at
the refreshment room of the station and throw dice for drinks, to prowl
about the town with an independent air. The funds at the disposal of
this party were dwindling. It was therefore proposed to take to the
vile syrup known as _cana_ instead of whisky, and an ingenious logic
was discovered in favour of the plan, apart from the great cheapness of
the cana. As thus: Even at B.A. (did you but know it) you often had
turpentine sold you for whisky; in fact, here, if you asked for whisky,
ten to one that what you received was cana at four times its proper
price. Better ask for cana straight away. This reasoning in favour of an
adopted plan could not be answered except by sudden wealth. These
driftings were mainly spent in wondering what to do next. (The only real
prospect was, to get back to the ship.) If any decision was made, it was
a picturesque one. For instance, the town being abed, we went into a
general stores where there was a light showing the proprietor about to
close. Somewhat to his surprise, and after the first few moments to his
discontent, supper was taken, dog biscuits and cream cheese, washed
down with yellow cana--a more inflammatory distillation even than the
white. And so home.

XX

We did not get away so quickly as had been thought, and as every one
seemed to wish. Heavy skies came on, giving the slack waters a leaden
look. The air, though it was not hot, was close; and the fine dust from
the grain which carpeted all the decks began to sit heavy on the lungs.
Among the business outstanding remained that of stowing 7,500 bags in
the bunker hatch--slower work, clearly, than the loading in bulk which had
until now been the method with the _Bonadventure_. Bicker and Mead, as
they supervised the trimming of hatches that had been filled, wore a
melancholy look, nor was the entry at breakfast of two young men from the
Customs, though pleasant acquaintances, considered a relief. If clouds
disappeared, and left the day like a furnace, there was every facility
for doing nothing at all. Even at evening the cabins were filled with
tepid air and flies: and most of us might be found leaning over the
rails in silence, watching sunset's orange red colour to the prime and
die away again in the sky and the water below it, scarcely marked with
a ripple; and then the moon riding high above our bridge, itself not
unexalted, not ungraceful by its pr