chorus of a song, but soon relapsed again into his imbecile condition.

Next day, however, when he sat down refreshed by a night's sleep to
breakfast, I found him a very agreeable fellow. He had no house of his
own yet, not having received his money from home, he confidentially
informed me, but lived about, breakfasting in one house, dining in a
second, and sleeping in a third. "Never mind," he would say, "by and
by it will be my turn; then I will receive you all every day for six
weeks to make it all square."

None of the colonists did any work, but all spent their time lounging
about and visiting each other, trying to make their dull existence
endurable by perpetual smoking and tea and rum drinking. They had
tried, they told me, ostrich-hunting, visiting their native neighbours,
partridge-shooting, horse-racing, etc.; but the partridges were too
tame for them, they could never catch the ostriches, the natives didn't
understand them, and they had finally given up all these so-called
amusements. In each house a peon was kept to take care of the flock
and to cook, and as the sheep appeared to take care of themselves, and
the cooking merely meant roasting a piece of meat on a spit, there was
very little for the hired men to do.

"Why don't you do these things for yourselves?" I innocently asked.

"I fancy it wouldn't quite be the right thing, don't you know," said
Mr. Winchcombe.

"No," said the Captain gravely, "we haven't quite come down to that
yet."