8o THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 



afraid I am now a real old sot. I have been many years 

 on this ship, and can drink as much liquor as any sailor on 

 board, and can chew quids of tobacco too. I often smoke, 

 but I don't seem to manage it as well as the sailors. The 

 drawing in and puffing out of the smoke still bothers me a 

 good deal. The good captain now gives me an able sea- 

 man's daily allowance of grog and tobacco. My only dread 

 is that the captain may grow tired of me, and sell or give 

 me to some landlubber who may tie me up and feed me upon 

 bread and porridge and such Hke poor stuff, and cut off my 

 liquor and tobacco. That would be a terrible calamity, 

 for I don't think I could live without my grog and my 

 quid. Yes, I know I am an old blackguard of a drunken 

 sot. I cannot help it now. I didn't know any better. 

 I was an innocent, simple-minded baboon, and I was taken 

 advantage of. I expect one of these days to die suddenly 

 of fatty degeneration of the heart, or the bursting of one 

 of the diseased and brittle arteries in my brain. I don't 

 think I shall die of dehrium tremens, because I never get 

 enough grog at a time. Once I nearly got the " d.t's." 

 The captain used to let me loose sometimes, and when he 

 was up on deck, I stole down to his stateroom, and opened 

 a cupboard where I knew he kept his bottle of brandy. 

 It was nearly full. I sneaked off to the quietest corner I 

 could find, pulled the cork out with my teeth, and enjoyed 

 the contents. It was strong stuff, and made my eyes water 

 and my throat tingle. I drank the lot. I didn't have much 

 time to enjoy the feehngs the brandy produced, for it made 

 me drunk so quickly. I went off to sleep, and was dis- 

 covered with the empty bottle by my side. The sailors 

 missed me, and made a search. I was found and carried 

 to the captain. He ordered me to be soaked in a cold bath 

 until I revived. The sailors said I lay in the bath for about 

 an hour before I got conscious, although I had been sleeping 

 many hours before they discovered me. They thought I 



