146 
THE GOLDEN RIVER. 
rigged up an awning over the tiny deck, and we 
sat eating fresh oranges, our field-glasses ready 
to watch any bird or beast that stirred along 
the bank. By 11.30 we were all hungry, and 
had lunch, whilst Jerman with arms akimbo 
stood with his head on one side, waiting for the 
expected applause when the salad was brought 
in. ‘Never have I 
lunched better, Jerman, 5 
remarked the perjured 
Bird-lover, serenely rele¬ 
gating Claridge’s and 
the Ritz to oblivion. 
And Jerman, delighted, 
rolled off to fetch the 
coffee. 
They were immensely 
fat men, Jerman and the 
Capitan, but where the 
latter was firm and solid, 
the former was soft and 
flabby. Neither of them 
was over fond of bath¬ 
ing, but the Capitan did 
at least shave regularly. 
Jerman contented himself with a shave when 
we were approaching a puerto, and then looked 
so startlingly unfamiliar that it gave us a 
feeling of bewilderment. Pedroso, I think, 
had possibly never had a bath in his life, except 
when he fell into the river years ago, and was 
