On The 20th Of May I Reached Gaboon, Now Called Libreville - The
Capital Of Congo Francais, And, Thanks To The
Kindness of Mr.
Hudson, I was allowed a passage on a small steamer then running from
Gaboon to the Ogowe
River, and up it when necessary as far as
navigation by steamer is possible - this steamer is, I deeply regret
to say, now no more. As experiences of this kind contain such
miscellaneous masses of facts, I am forced to commit the literary
crime of giving you my Ogowe set of experiences in the form of
diary.
June 5th, 1895. - Off on Move at 9.30. Passengers, Mr. Hudson, Mr.
Woods, Mr. Huyghens, Pere Steinitz, and I. There are black deck-
passengers galore; I do not know their honourable names, but they
are evidently very much married men, for there is quite a gorgeously
coloured little crowd of ladies to see them off. They salute me as
I pass down the pier, and start inquiries. I say hastily to them:
"Farewell, I'm off up river," for I notice Mr. Fildes bearing down
on me, and I don't want him to drop in on the subject of society
interest. I expect it is settled now, or pretty nearly. There is a
considerable amount of mild uproar among the black contingent, and
the Move firmly clears off before half the good advice and good
wishes for the black husbands are aboard. She is a fine little
vessel; far finer than I expected.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 105 of 705
Words from 28612 to 28861
of 194943
