And of late years the people have succeeded in launching
large and fast craft built after European models.
The favourite pleasures of the Mpongwe are gross and gorging
"feeds," drinking and smoking. They recall to mind the old woman
who told "Monk Lewis" that if a glass of gin were at one end of
the table, and her immortal soul at the other, she would choose
the gin. They soak with palm-wine every day; they indulge in rum
and absinthe, and the wealthy affect so-called Cognac, with
Champagne and Bordeaux, which, however, they pronounce to be
"cold." I have seen Master Boro, a boy five years old, drain
without winking a wineglassful of brandy. It is not wonderful
that the adults can "stand" but little, and that a few mouthfuls
of well-watered spirit make their voices thick, and paralyze
their weak brains as well as their tongues. The Persians, who
commence drinking late in life, can swallow strong waters by the
tumbler.
Men, women, and children when hardly "cremnobatic," have always
the pipe in mouth. The favourite article is a "dudheen," a well
culotte clay, used and worn till the bowl touches the nose.
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