My first acquaintance with Abdulaye arose from his love of the bottle. In May 1894, when I took command of the flotilla, Abdulaye having found the door of the store-room open, gave way to his propensity, and I found him dead drunk beside a very respectable number of empty bottles. The awakening was anything but pleasant, and Abdulaye never forgets the capers he cut on that occasion. Such is our staff, or I should rather say, these are the native officers of our expedition. Besides this, each of us has his own servant. Mine is Mamé, an intelligent Saracolais, who speaks Songhay, the language of the blacks on the banks of the Niger from Jenné to below Say. He is a very faithful and devoted lad; the point about him is the excessive deliberation of every motion, which gives him something of the appearance of a chameleon. Lucky fault, or rather precious gift, which all who have been served by Sudanese will appreciate. Thanks to it, Mamé has never broken anything of mine. Baudry’s servant’s name is Mussa; his father is head-man of Diamu, a village on the banks of the Senegal. He is the philosopher, the learned man of our military establishment. He reads and writes French pretty correctly, but his studies occupy some of the attention due to his master. If Baudry has employed his talents as a teacher to the full on a most willing pupil, in return his boots have seldom been blacked—or rather greased—in the course of the voyage. Fate decreed that Bluzet should have as servant a son of the blacksmith of Mussa’s father. Fily is his name, and by reason of his parentage he is the confidant and devoted slave of Mussa. Provided he is treated firmly, Fily is an excellent servant, and a cook of the first order (for that country, be it understood), and the cakes we used to call his _nougats aux arachides_, have often been fully appreciated at our table. Lastly, Father Hacquart and Taburet have two boys at their disposal, both answering to the name of Mamadu; to distinguish them one is called Father Mamadu, the other Doctor Mamadu. Add to these a yellow dog, Meyer by name, why so called I cannot say, and the menagerie is complete. We did possess two cats, one an excellent swimmer, in spite of all preconceived notions; but these little animals, who behaved themselves anything but decently on board, disappeared in the course of a very few days. In spite of his denials, I have always suspected Bluzet, a sworn enemy of the feline race, of aiding and abetting their desertion, for they seemed to have a special grudge against him.