Round the black man's garden . stream stretched I away—an unruffled streak of light—till it melted | into the haze of the northern horizon; the green j foliage and brown gnarled stems and roots of theunending mangroves stood out sharply on an islandin midstream a few hundred yards above us ; whilst , on the left bank, above the factories, mangrovesagain showed a sheet of less brilliant green,gradually fading in the far distance into the grey i of sky and river. \ The hulk just mentioned was a remnant of theolder style of trading, when merchants sent theirown vessels, which, casting anchor in t
Round the black man's garden . stream stretched I away—an unruffled streak of light—till it melted | into the haze of the northern horizon; the green j foliage and brown gnarled stems and roots of theunending mangroves stood out sharply on an islandin midstream a few hundred yards above us ; whilst , on the left bank, above the factories, mangrovesagain showed a sheet of less brilliant green,gradually fading in the far distance into the grey i of sky and river. \ The hulk just mentioned was a remnant of theolder style of trading, when merchants sent theirown vessels, which, casting anchor in the rivers,were covered with mat awnings and generally madecomfortable,—remaining for weeks or months until | their original cargo was exhausted and replaced bybarrels of palm-oil. Later on they took to leaving one ship permanently on the coast, moored to the j shore, dismantled, and turned into a floating house j and fortress ; for in the good old days of the Palm- \ oil Euffian, the vocation of merchants on this coast ^. CAPTAIX BOLER. 301 was anything but a peaceful one. Now goods areall sent out by the regular lines of steamers, and themerchants representatives live in comfortable houseson the dry land. Soon a smart gig put out from the shore, andbrought on board Captain Boler, one of the oldestEnglish residents on the coast, and Major—now SirClaude—Macdonald, the British Hig;h Commissionerfor the Oil-rivers, who had just arrived from Eng-land on a special mission. The former kindlyinvited us to stay with him while we remained atBonny; and finding that we were likely to have towait some days before the arrival of the Nubia,which was to take us to England, we gladly acceptedhis offer. So, packing up our traps, we reluctantlybade farewell to the Benguela, her captain andofficers, and accompanied Captain Boler ashore. His residence was a substantial two - storeyedl3uilding, of which the ground-floor was entirelydevoted to merchandise and coopers workshops, forthe repa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidroundblackma, bookyear1893
