THE RED SEA. 45 



all he could, he drank all he could ; then he 

 departed from the table, and took up a remote 

 and inaccessible position in the corner of the 

 smoking-room. He was engaged in growing the 

 beard he customarily wore in the jungle a most 

 fierce outstanding Mohammedan-looking beard 

 that terrified the intrusive into submission. 

 And yet Bwana C. possesses the kindest blue 

 eyes in the world, full of quiet patience, great 

 understanding, and infinite gentleness. His man- 

 ner was abrupt and uncompromising, but he 

 would do anything in the world for one who 

 stood in need of him. From women he fled ; 

 yet Billy won him with infinite patience, and in 

 the event they became the closest of friends. 

 Withal he possessed a pair of the most powerful 

 shoulders I have ever seen on a man of his 

 frame ; and in the depths of his mild blue eyes 

 flickered a flame of resolution that I could well 

 imagine flaring up to something formidable. 

 Slow to make friends, but staunch and loyal ; 

 gentle and forbearing, but fierce and implacable 

 in action ; at once loved and most terribly 

 feared ; shy as a wild animal, but straightforward 

 and undeviating in his human relations ; most 

 remarkably quiet and unassuming, but with tre- 

 mendous vital force in his deep eyes and forward- 



