Such is the
African. Many of them came from distant countries, a few were
Zanzibaris, and went home made men.
If any doubt the inability of such men to steer a course through the
wood, let him remember that three months' growth in an African
forest will obliterate the track left by the passage of an army. If
any hold that men are not created so dense and unambitious as has
just been represented, let him look nearer home in our own merchant
service. The able-bodied seaman goes to sea all his life, but he
never gets any nearer navigating the ship--and he a white man.
In coming down to Loango, Joseph had had the recently-made track of
Oscard's rescuing party to guide him day by day. He knew that this
was now completely overgrown. The Simiacine Plateau was once more
lost to all human knowledge.
And up there--alone amidst the clouds--Guy Oscard was, as he himself
tersely put it, "sticking to it." He had stuck to it to such good
effect that the supply of fresh young Simiacine was daily increasing
in bulk. Again, Victor Durnovo seemed to have regained his better
self. He was like a full-blooded horse--tractable enough if kept
hard at work. He was a different man up on the Plateau to what he
was down at Loango. There are some men who deteriorate in the
wilds, while others are better, stronger, finer creatures away from
the luxury of civilisation and the softening influence of female
society.
Pages:
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327