boatmen who were conveying me knew perfectly well that I was going away from Sepopo for good, and did not allow many hours to pass before they began to show that they did not care what became of me, and insisted on drawing up at a place where there was no better accommodation than a couple of miserable huts, that had been put up for the use of the fishermen who periodically visited the lagoons. I made my servants carry me on shore, and sent them out to get some fish. They only procured five, of which I gave them four, and had the other broiled for myself.
After dinner I discovered that the boatmen had made up their minds to go no farther that day, although nothing could be more unhealthy or less suitable for a night encampment than the spot where they had pulled up. The two huts were on a reedy island just opposite a swamp; and, to make matters worse, I found that as my boat had been the last to arrive, they had both been appropriated by the crews that had landed before me, so that I was obliged to wait while my servants erected me another. This took them about two hours and a half; and when with the help of the boatmen they had put my baggage inside, they found that they had made it so small that it was with the utmost difficulty that they squeezed me in afterwards and laid me upon my boxes. It was so low that my face actually touched the roof, which was made of the grass that had been washed ashore by the last year’s floods, and, being still damp, emitted a most unpleasant smell, which, combined with the exhalations from the swamp, made the atmosphere intolerably oppressive. Sleep
A a 2
