was not above the seduction of a glass of foaming stout; but to see the way he demolished prawns was "a caution to snakes." He kept one boy doing nothing else, but stripping these Crustacea of their outer integument for him; and, without salt, he swallowed dozen after dozen with a calm placidity which could only have been begotten of constant practice. Our punning hero of the hat episode vainly tried to emulate him, though his efforts were, from a European point of view, by no means despicable. Still he wasn't "a circumstance" to the ogre, as we had christened the absorbing warrior. After we had finished our repast, the disjecta membra of the feast were next collected, and the chief allowed first to select whatever took his fancy. He manifested a truly noble impartiality in his choice. Beef, ham, butter, bread, sheeps' tongues, potatoes, and marmalade, he mixed up in one vast incongruous, but evidently to him, delicious medley; and then he proceeded to treat us to an exhibition, beside which the fire-eating and sword-swallowing tricks of the Arabs were tame by comparison. After he had gorged himself till we momentarily expected to see an apopletic fit, his roving fancy betrayed a penchant for rats! There were dozens of these rodents running about. The bush swarmed with them. Great, fat, sleek, cunning, impudent rogues, attracted by the refuse from the shellfish, the crumbs, and other "unconsidered trifles," and emboldened by long impunity, they scampered about quite close to us; and the chief, bethinking him that he would not be so near
