THE INDIAN OCEAN 



there was no cape for us to roun'd, that if there 

 were oh! all the other hundred improbabilities 

 peculiar to the situation. Under direction of the 

 mate they deposited their impedimenta beneath a 

 tarpaulin, and took their places in solemn rows 

 amidships across the thwarts of the boat slung 

 overside. The importance of the occasion sat 

 upon them heavily; they were going ashore in 

 Africa to Slay Wild Beasts. They looked upon 

 themselves as of bolder, sterner stuff than the rest 

 of us. 



When the procession first appeared, our cowboy's 

 face for a single instant had flamed with amazed 

 incredulity. Then a mask of expressionless stolidity 

 fell across his features, which in no line thereafter 

 varied one iota. 



"What are they going to do with them?" mur- 

 mured one of the Englishmen, at a loss. 



"I reckon," said the cowboy, "that they look on 

 this as the easiest way to drown them all to onct. " 



Then from behind one of the other boats suddenly 

 appeared a huge German sailor with a hose. The 

 devoted imbeciles in the shore boat were drenched 

 as by a cloudburst. Back and forth and up and 

 down the heavy stream played, while every other 

 human being about the ship shrieked with joy. 

 Did the victims rise up in a body and capture that 



53 



