6 COCOA 



old shed, which may allow the sun's rays to strike 

 down direct on our head, or, worse still, on the back of 

 our neck, through so much of an opening as an almost 

 invisibly narrow crack, or a speck of a nail-hole. 

 There is no leg-pulling in the warning stories of men 

 on the Coast who have had sunstroke, although they 

 were wearing a helmet, because they thoughtlessly 

 stooped down to tie a shoelace or pick something up, 

 thus exposing that most vulnerable part the back of 

 the neck. I personally know of two cases in which this 

 happened ; both men fell down helpless in a second, and 

 one of them, whose neck bore a red patch, such as 

 might have been caused by a hot flatiron, remained 

 unconscious for three days. Remember, too, that the 

 sun is even more dangerous in this part of the world on 

 a dull day than on a bright one. 



Now, too, we should begin to take five grains of 

 quinine a day as a protection against malaria-infected 

 mosquitoes. 



At Freetown we make our first acquaintance with 

 the negro in his native land. But the blacks we meet 

 are by no means strangers to us ; we have spent many 

 an interesting and amusing day amongst crowds of 

 their relations, descendants of West African slaves, 

 when we were staying on sugar plantations in the 

 West Indies and British Guiana. 



A gang of Kruboys come aboard the steamer at 

 Freetown. 



"Who are they?" you ask. "Whither are they 

 bound ? What are they going to do ?" 



In answering those questions I had better begin 

 by telling you that the vast native population of 

 West Africa includes a bewildering number of tribes, 

 each with its own language, habits, and customs. 



