Meanwhile he saunters about
under an umbrella, and is always missing when wanted for work.
Our companions and body-guards are Bianco and Nero, both bought by Cameron
at L'pool for a suspiciously trifling sum. The former is a small
smooth-haired terrier, who dearly loves to bark and bite, and who shows
evident signs of early training in the cab-line. A dog with all the
manners of a doggess, he eventually found a happy home in the fort, Axim.
The second, a bastard Newfoundland with a dash of the bloodhound, and just
emerging from puppyhood, soon told us the reason why he was sold for a
song. That animal was a born murderer; he could not sight a sheep, a goat,
or a bullock without the strongest desire to pull it down; therefore he
had been sold into slavery, African and old-English fashion, instead of
being hanged. He had fine qualities--obedience, fidelity, affection, a
grand voice, and a ferocious presence. All these good gifts, however, were
marred by an over-development of destructiveness. He survived his journeys
by passing many of his hours in the water, and he was at last 'dashed' to
Dr. Roulston, of Takwa.
We took once more the northern road to Brevia, or 'Stink-fish Town,' and
crossed its tongue of red clay bounded by the bed of the Anjueri stream.
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