Besides these lovers of correspondence, there were others who were mad about arithmetic. Samba Demba, Suzanne’s groom, already often mentioned, wanted to know enough arithmetic to matriculate. All through the hour of the siesta, and often also when he was at work, he was muttering the most absurd numbers over to himself; absurd for him, at least, for the negroes who do not live where the cowry serves as currency, cannot conceive the idea of any number beyond a thousand. Samba Demba would read what he called his “matricula” of nine figures and more, to Father Hacquart, with the greatest complacency, whilst Ahmady-Mody, who had patched up the _Aube_, strove in vain to learn _b-a ba, b-e be_, or twice two are four, twice three are six, with his head bent over a big card. The marabout Tierno Abdulaye actually composed and sung Arabic verses. In the midst of it all the voice of Dr. Taburet would be heard from his tent hard by complaining that he could not sleep. All these good fellows, with their eagerness to learn, had a child-like side to their characters. There is no doubt that they would very quickly learn to read, write, and cipher, as the advertisements of elementary schools express it—read without understanding too much, write without knowing what, and calculate without ever being able to apply their arithmetic. Anyhow, however, even this little knowledge will wean them from the pernicious influence of the marabouts. [Illustration: OUR COOLIES AT THEIR TOILETTE.] After sunset the heat became more bearable, and the time for our evening bath arrived. At the northern extremity of our island were a number of pools amongst the rocks, varying in depth according to the tide. Here and there were regular cascades, and we could stand on the sand bottom and get a natural shower-bath. Some of us became perfectly enamoured of this style of bathing. Opinions differ in Africa as to the healthiness of it, however. For my part, I know that bathing in the tepid water, warmed as it was by the heat of the sun, was very refreshing, and of course the cleaner we kept ourselves the better the pores of our skin acted. It may be that stopping long in the water every day was weakening, and some fevers may have been caused by it when it happened to be colder than usual. There are two opinions on this as on every subject, but where is the good of discussing them?—the best plan is to do what you like yourself. In the river near Fort Archinard there were lots of common fish, which used to shoot down the cascades of an evening for the sake of the greater freshness and coolness of the water below. These fish would actually strike us now and then on the shoulders, making us start by the suddenness of the unexpected blows. It was still more unpleasant to know that other denizens of the river, the terrible crocodiles, though further off, were still there.