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. The
poor are driven to a "Kondukwe," a yard of plantain leaf,
hollowed with a wire, and charged at the thicker end. The "holy
herb" would of course grow in the country, and grow well, but it
is imported from the States without trouble, and perhaps with
less expense. Some tribes make a decent snuff of the common trade
article, but I never saw either sex chew--perhaps the most
wholesome, and certainly the most efficacious form. The smoking
of Lyamba, called Dyamba in the southern regions, is confined to
debauchees. M. du Chaillu asserts that this Cannabis sativa is
not found wild, and the people confirm his statement; possibly it
has extended from Hindostan to Zanzibar, and thence across the
continent. Intoxicating hemp is now grown everywhere, especially
in the Nkommi country, and little packages, neatly bound with
banana leaves, sell on the river for ten sous each. It is smoked
either in the "Kondukwe" or in the Ojo. The latter, literally
meaning a torch, is a polished cow-horn, closed at the thick end