To turn to more congenial topics, I said a little while ago The food was very much below The standard needed to prepare Explorers for the special fare Which all authorities declare Is needful in the tropics. A Frenchman sitting next to us Rejected the asparagus; The turtle soup was often cold, The ices hot, the omelettes old, The coffee worse than I can tell; And Sin (who had a happy knack Of rhyming rapidly and well Like Cyrano de Bergerac) Said “Quant à moi, je n’aime pas Du tout ce pâté de foie gras!” But this fastidious taste Succeeded in a startling way; At Dinner on the following day They gave us Bloater Paste. Well--hearty Pioneers and rough Should not be over nice; I think these lines are quite enough, And hope they will suffice To make the Caterers observe The kind of Person whom they serve.---- * * * * * [Illustration ** Our traveller, drink in hand, sitting on a trunk in front of a tent with an eager dog.] And yet I really must complain About the Company’s Champagne! This most expensive kind of wine In England is a matter Of pride or habit when we dine (Presumably the latter). Beneath an equatorial sky You _must_ consume it or you die; And stern indomitable men Have told me, time and time again, “The nuisance of the tropics is The sheer necessity of fizz.” Consider then the carelessness-- The lack of polish and address, The villainy in short, Of serving what explorers think To be a necessary drink In bottles holding something less Than one Imperial quart, And costing quite a shilling more Than many grocers charge ashore. * * * * * At sea the days go slipping past, Monotonous from first to last-- A trip like any other one In vessels going south. The sun Grew higher and more fiery. We lay and drank, and swore, and played At Trick-my-neighbour in the shade; And you may guess how every sight, However trivial or slight, Was noted in my diary. I have it here--the usual things-- A serpent (not the sort with wings) Came rising from the sea: In length (as far as we could guess) A quarter of a mile or less. The weather was extremely clear The creature dangerously near And plain as it would be. [Illustration ** Our traveller on the foredeck of the ship viewing a sea-serpent with a whale in its mouth.] It had a bifurcated tail, And in its mouth it held a whale.