30 IN AFRICA 



ful lot of hard work. By the time the victor has 

 won, the seat of the trousers of each of the two con- 

 tending heroes has cleaned the deck until it shines 

 the deck, not the trousers. 



In a similar way the deck is benefited by the "are 

 you there" game. Two men are blindfolded, armed 

 with long paper clubs, and then lie at full length 

 on the deck, with left hands clasped. One then says, 



"Are You There?" 



"Are you there?" and when the other answers, "I 

 am," he makes a wild swat at where he thinks the 

 other's head to be. Of course, when the man says "I 

 am," he immediately gets his head as far away from 

 where it was when he spoke as is possible while 

 clasping his opponent's hand. The "Are you there" 

 man makes a wild swing and lands some place with 

 a prodigious thump. He usually strikes the deck 

 and seldom hits the head of the other man. If one 

 of them hits the other's head three times he wins. 



