CHRISTMAS IN CAMP AT KADDAI 349 



of the animals and birds that I collected as my peculiar 

 form of ju-ju. There is little to say of the way we spent the 

 day, save that it was one of delightful rest throughout the 

 camp. In the afternoon the boys held a wrestling match, 

 but dinner at six o'clock in the evening was the great event, 

 and John, realising the importance of the occasion, rose to it 

 with complete success. Here is the bill of fare of the feast 

 he prepared for us : 



Sardines 



Soup 



Fish 



Rissoles 



Brain Fritters 



Cornflour and Jam 



Plum Pudding 



Tea, Whiskey 



We spread the table in front of our huts under the starlight 

 of a still night. Afterwards Jose gave us some old favourite 

 pieces on the gramophone, which sounded very sweet upon 

 the night air and brought to mind memories that made the 

 heart swell. Then the night was ended with pipe and glass 

 and conversation. We talked of the work ahead, with regrets 

 that Talbot would be with us no longer, and we wondered 

 where Gosling and I would be spending our Christmas the 

 next year, and what sort of a feast we should be able to get 

 together. 



In surroundings so different from those in which one is 

 in the habit of picturing Christmas time, it was difficult to 

 realise it was the same day that one always associates with 

 the season of frost and holly and homing. Yet out there by 

 Lake Chad, under the stars, with cattle and sheep and 

 horses tethered by, and the glow of the camp fire on the faces 



