ABSTRACT
What had once been the orlop or " 'tween-decks" of the Hindoostan had been converted into a courtrOOII1, and here at regular intervals the two officials administered justice after the manner described at Warri. The result was apparent, for, glancing at the bank of steaming mould between the reed-beds at the river's brink and the forest behind, we saw a swarm of sable figures busy with matchet and shovel, or moving to and fro with baskets of earth upon their heads. These for offences many and curious had fallen under the grip of the law, and now were employed excavating a slip-way for the Government launch, a proceeding they by no means enjoyed; but two big-Yoruba privates standing en guard with rifles in their hands saw they did it thoroughly. Now and then I was told a prisoner got away, but so satisfied were the Sapelli tribes-
slender - shafted, and crowned by curving fronds delicate as lacework. Ag'ain we slid into the cool shadows of mighty cotton-trees and hardwoods, or beneath the gig'antic leaves of paw-paws; and here the hot air was filled with a fragrance as of frankincense, myrrh, and all manner of spices. At times the forests fell away, and we rippled on by tall beds of golden reeds, where starry lilies swam in the clear pools between; past islets which, with the crimsons and yellows fringing their base, the raw greens above, and the intense azure behind them, formed visions of vivid colour. And all the time the rush of hot wind followed us, and the clear river frothed beneath the bows, while it was only by watching the shores roll by that the pace we travelled at became strikingly apparent. The flow of an African stream is always deceptive. As a rule, it oozes down, muddy, smooth, and oily, with no ripple on its surface nor gurglillg along the bank. Stagnant water, one would say at a hasty glance; but when with engines panting their hardest, and a fathom of froth beneath her roaring bows, the big oil-tank makes barely five knots against it, 011e begins to understand that things are not always what they seem, and the power of the river is made manifest.
