HAED TIMES. 203 



take to the beastly cigarette tobacco those 

 fellows smoke.' 



For some weeks past my friend, with a 

 good nature none but smokers can appreciate, 

 had provided me with tobacco, a supply of 

 the soothino; weed beino- the one thins; I had 

 foro'otten on leavins; home. Xow even his 

 monster pouch was empty, and on inquiry we 

 were horrified to hear that Platon, our inter- 

 preter, had given the last of our stock of 

 native tobacco to the priest at Gebi. So for 

 days there was neither meat nor tobacco in 

 the camp. We had a little tea left, which we 

 used to drmk out of a couple of wooden 

 bowls ; but as our sugar was all finished and 

 it took some time to get used to the salt 

 which the men substituted for it, to say 

 nothing of the fine woody flavour which the 

 tea drew from our cups, even tea drinking 

 was not an unmixed pleasure. 



As for the men, the tobacco famine fell on 



