256	JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS
and cousin this p.m. as they like you for their
-friends,
I sent him a glass of whisky and asked for a coco-
nut and some palm nuts which the cook needed for
lard. Presently back came a coconut and a bottle of
palm oil and a note:
Dear Friend: Too many thanks for such a kind
treat this a.m. it was highly appreciated. 1 shall
always regard you as my friend. . . .
The place was very still: it was Sunday and a heavy
Victorian peace settled over Tapee. Even native
dances were forbidden. The prisoners were driven
out to wash tied together by ropes, and a gramophone
from the bungalow where two D.C.s were staying
played hymn-tunes across the hot empty compound:
Hark, the herald angels sing and Nearer, my God,
to Thee. But after a while these gave place to dance
music and American hot songs. I went for a walk;
I was feeling ill and homesick; the Coast seemed as
far away as ever. I felt crazy to be here in the middle
of Liberia when everything I knew intimately was
European. It was like a bad dream. I couldn't
remember why I had come. I wanted to be away at
once, but I simply hadn't the strength, and Dr.
Harley's warning against walking any distance in
the West African climate weighed on my mind. I
had to have these days of rest, and so did the boys,
Mark was dead tired, and even the nerves of Amedoo
and Laminah were strained. I tried to comfort
myself with the thought that it was only six days to
Bassa and if Colonel Davis were to be believed