There were scarlet and yellow mimosas, of many
kinds, combining every shade of exquisite green velvety foliage,
alpinias, with pink, waxy flowers and crimson and gold centres,
oleanders, begonias, hibiscus, allamandas, and arum and other lilies.
[Illustration: Tarafal Bay, St. Antonio.]
Mr. Bingham sketched, I took some photographs, Dr. Potter and the
children caught butterflies, and the rest of our party wandered about.
Every five minutes a negro arrived with a portion of our supplies. One
brought a sheep, another a milch-goat for baby, while the rest
contributed, severally, a couple of cocoa-nuts, a papaya, three
mangoes, a few water-cresses, a sack of sweet potatoes, a bottle of
milk, three or four quinces, a bunch of bananas, a little honey,
half-a-dozen cabbages, some veal and pork, and so on; until it
appeared as if every little garden on either side of the three leagues
of stream must have yielded up its entire produce, and we had
accumulated sacks full of cocoa-nuts and potatoes, hundreds of eggs,
and dozens of chickens and ducks. It was very amusing to see the
things arrive. They were brought in by people varying in colour from
dark yellow to the blackest ebony, and ranging in size from fine
stalwart men, over six feet in height, to tiny little blackies of
about three feet six, with curly hair, snowy teeth, and mischievous,
beady eyes.
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