“That? Oh! it’s one of Whistler’s ‘Nocturnes,’” said somebody.
“Yes, yes. Of course it is. Whistler’s ‘Nocturne.’ How stupid of me to
forget the name.”
It is said that this connoisseur once remarked that the Marquois scale
was most difficult for a beginner on the flute; but that, when once
learned, it was so beautiful as to well repay all trouble.
The peninsula of Sierra Leone is, exclusive of Freetown, divided into
various rural districts, known as the First Eastern, Second Eastern,
Western, and Mountain districts. In addition to these the outlying
territories of British Sherbro, the Isles de Los, and Ki-Konkeh at the
mouth of the Scarcies river, form integral portions of the Colony. The
Mountain district is very picturesque and affords some fine views,
especially in the neighbourhood of Regent, where the Sugar Loaf, a
densely-wooded peak about 3000 feet in height, towers over the little
village. At Leicester Park, 1990 feet high, the Government have lately
purchased a building called the Hospice, which had been constructed by
the Roman Catholic Mission, 1495 feet above the sea, and it is used as
a kind of sanitarium. Living up in these mountains takes one into an
entirely different atmosphere to that of the town, and it is decidedly
more healthy, except during the rainy season, when sometimes for days
together the mountains are shrouded in clouds, and a drenching mist
drives in at every opened door and window. These mountains all abound
in deer and other game, but the cover is so dense that they are rarely
seen; and to endeavour to beat up a ravine or valley is an expensive
operation, as fifty or sixty beaters are required, all of whom want to
be paid unreasonably highly for their services.
The Eastern district may be described as the frontier district of the
peninsula, it being bounded by the Waterloo creek and Ribbi river,
which separate it from Timmanee country. The Timmanees periodically
commit outrages on British subjects, and small wars ensue. These wars
are, however, almost invariably bloodless; as the natives, on the
approach of a disciplined force, at once evacuate their towns and take
refuge in the forest. The towns are then destroyed and the troops and
police return to Freetown, to wait until the natives have repaired the
damage done, and begin their pillaging and murdering afresh.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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