Preparations for the March . 
251 
hungry cats are as poor a breed as the pure Eng¬ 
lish, and, though no one feeds them, these domes¬ 
ticated tigerkins swarm. The only happy pets 
are the parrots. Every village swarms with hogs, 
the filthy wealth of the old Saxon proprietor, and 
their habits are disgusting as their forms are ob¬ 
scene. Every Anglo-Indian will understand what 
I mean. 
My memory of “ Congo chop ” is all in its 
favour : I can recommend it even to “ Fin Bee.” 
The people of S a Leone declare that your life is 
safe when you can enjoy native food. Perhaps 
this means that, during the time required to train 
the palate, strangers will have escaped their “ sea¬ 
soning ” fevers and chills. But foreigners will cer¬ 
tainly fare better and, cceteris paribus, outlive their 
brother whites, when they can substitute African 
stews for the roast and boiled goat and cow, likest 
to donkey-meat, for the waxy and insipid potato 
and for heavy pudding and tart, with which their 
jaded stomach is laden, as if it had the digestion 
of north latitude 50°. It is popularly believed 
that the Germans, who come from the land of 
greatest extremes, live longer at the White Mans 
Grave than the English, whereas the Spaniards are 
the most short-lived, one consul per annum being 
the normal rate. Perhaps the greater “ adapta¬ 
bility ” of the Teuton explains the cause. 
The evening began with a game of ball in the 
