52 JUNGLE PEACE 



catapult, butting goatlike into the heart of the 

 crowd. A half-dozen fat negresses toppled over, 

 and cassava, tin cups and stray fishes flew about. 

 Even those who lost all their purchases showed 

 no resentment but only a roaring appreciation 

 of the joke. In this rush we were almost 

 upset with the crowd, and we began to look 

 forward with dread to any more strenuous de- 

 fense of our comfort. 



The little French mulatto pharmacist who was 

 responsible for the occasional joyful outbursts 

 of eau, seemed to profit by our presence, for a 

 number of interested onlookers who had pushed 

 into the shop to watch us from behind, when 

 cornered and hailed by the irate owner, stam- 

 meringly asked for some small thing, by the 

 purchase of which they bought their liberty. 

 The regular business of this little shop alone 

 was worthy one's whole attention. A prescrip- 

 tion was being pounded up in a mortar and 

 when the clerk reached out for a scoop and for 

 something to scrape the sides clean, an eight of 

 hearts was the nearest and with this the chemi- 

 cals were mixed. Within the next fifteen min- 

 utes eight or ten different prescriptions, pow- 

 ders and crystals were measured, shaken, mixed 



