Sanders shook his head when he had finished reading, and said it was "rum." [Footnote 1: There is a tremendous amount of free hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid) in manioc.] CHAPTER III. BOSAMBO OF MONROVIA. For many years have the Ochori people formed a sort of grim comic relief to the tragedy of African colonisation. Now it may well be that we shall laugh at the Ochori no more. Nor, in the small hours of the night, when conversation flags in the little circle about the fires in fishing camps, shall the sleepy-eyed be roused to merriment by stories of Ochori meekness. All this has come about by favour of the Liberian Government, though at present the Liberian Government is not aware of the fact. With all due respect to the Republic of Liberia, I say that the Monrovians are naturally liars and thieves. Once upon a time, that dignity might be added to the State, a warship was acquired--if I remember aright it was presented by a disinterested shipowner. The Government appointed three admirals, fourteen captains, and as many officers as the ship would hold, and they all wore gorgeous but ill-fitting uniforms. The Government would have appointed a crew also, but for the fact that the ship was not big enough to hold any larger number of people than its officers totalled. This tiny man-of-war of the black republic went to sea once, the admirals and captains taking it in turn to stoke and steer--a very pleasing and novel sensation, this latter. Coming back into the harbour, one of the admirals said-- "It is my turn to steer now," and took the wheel. The ship struck a rock at the entrance of the harbour and went down. The officers escaped easily enough, for your Monrovian swims like a fish, but their uniforms were spoilt by the sea water. To the suggestion that salvage operations should be attempted to refloat the warship, the Government very wisely said no, they thought not. "We know where she is," said the President--he was sitting on the edge of his desk at Government House, eating sardines with his fingers--"and if we ever want her, it will be comforting to know she is so close to us." Nothing more would have been done in the matter but for the fact that the British Admiralty decided that the wreck was a danger to shipping, and issued orders forthwith for the place where it lay to be buoyed. The Liberian Government demurred on account of expense, but on pressure being applied (I suspect the captain of H.M.S. _Dwarf_, who was a man with a bitter tongue) they agreed, and the bell-buoy was anchored to the submerged steamer. It made a nice rowdy, clanging noise, did that bell, and the people of Monrovia felt they were getting their money's worth.