28o THE VOYAGE OF THE 'DISCOVERY' [Aug. 



winter succeeded in getting them together and in rehearsing 

 their various parts through many a cold hour spent in the 

 freezing theatre. 



On August 6, the date fi:xed for this performance, we were 

 in the midst of a cold snap, but although the temperature had 

 fallen below —40°, it was decided that the programme should 

 be carried out as intended. 



' To-night the doors of the Royal Terror Theatre opened at 

 7.30, and as the temperature was — 40° and there was a strong 

 wind, everybody did his best to make a record in reaching it. 

 Even inside the temperature must have been well below zero ; 

 I wonder how the ordinary theatre-goer would appreciate 

 sitting in stalls under such conditions. 



' One was not sorry when the curtain rolled up and disclosed 

 our twelve minstrels with blackened faces sitting in a row with 

 " Massa Johnson " in the centre. A programme with an illus- 

 trated cover informed us that this was the "Dishcover Minstrel 

 Troupe." There is no doubt the sailors dearly love to make 

 up ; on this occasion they had taken an infinity of trouble to 

 prepare themselves ; calicoes of all sorts had been cut up and 

 sewn together to make suits of the most vivid colours and 

 grotesque form ; shirt fronts and enormous collars of elaborate 

 design had been made from paper ; wigs had been manu- 

 factured from tow, in some cases dipped in red ink, and an equal 

 ingenuity had been displayed in producing the enormous boots 

 and buttons which constitute an important part of the nigger 

 minstrel's costume. " Bones " and " Skins " had even gone so 

 far as to provide themselves with movable top-knots which 

 could be worked at effective moments by pulling a string below. 



' As everyone knows, a nigger minstrel performance consists 

 of a number of songs and choruses, between which the ball of 

 conversation is kept rolling amongst the various minstrels in 

 the form of weighty conundrums, which, after numerous futile 

 attempts from others, are usually answered by the propounder 

 himself I don't know why a joke should sound better in 

 nigger language, but I rather think the class of joke made on 

 these occasions does so. 



