350 
THE NEW AFRICA 
of courtesy were obliged to swallow, until even etiquette 
made tbe continuance of the feast an impossibility. I must 
confess that I selfishly kept close to the lady who directed the 
fate of a delicious boiled ox tongue garnishing one side of the 
large dish, and manfully held my own until the others suc¬ 
cumbed to the hospitable attentions of our hostesses, when I also 
politely intimated that my capacity had reached its limit. 
Stremboom, who was well acquainted with the forms of extreme 
bon ton, took an unfair advantage of his knowledge and com¬ 
pletely eclipsed us by giving vent to an enormous ‘ belch,’ which 
seemed to have the distinguished approval of our hostesses, who 
appeared somewhat discomfited that we also did not shake out 
a similar mark of our extreme appreciation of their table. 
Although, let me whisper it gently, not to offend sensitive ears, 
full to the schoolboy’s point of ‘ can’t eat any more,’ another more 
serious demand on our capabilities was in store for us, for the 
attentive damsels whisked the remains ofi the meat away, and 
produced several enormous pots of beer that even my qualifica¬ 
tion of having once been a German student fairly blenched at 
in the then condition of my anatomy. Hammar confided 
to me that in his opinion it was simply culpable to tackle 
the beer, but Stremboom held bravely up: he was not 
going to disgrace his Swedish nationality by turning away 
from fluids of an alcoholic nature, no matter under what 
outward, and to him perfectly indifferent, semblance they 
were concealed; and seizing the smaller pot that the 
damsels handed round, he took a draught that imperilled the 
continuity of his garments round the waist, if not the more 
hidden parts of his constructive organisation. After this he 
handed the pot to Hammar, who, with many misgivings, placed 
the vessel to his lips and also did fair justice to the concoction. 
It has always been a marvel to me how these small men manage 
to accommodate such quantities of material, while I, a very giant 
compared at least to men of Stremboom’s calibre, am constrained 
to cry ‘ hold, enough! ’ It was now my turn, for Hammar 
handed me the pot still containing a quart or thereabouts, with 
