Cameron, well knowing what _ennui_ in Africa means, would send out a billiard-table and a good lathe: he also proposed a skittle- or bowling-alley, a ground for lawn-tennis under a shed, an ice-machine and one for making soda-water. Each establishment would have its library, a good atlas, a few works of reference, and treatises on mining, machinery, and natural history. The bulk would be the cheap novels (each 4_d_.) in which weary men delight. In addition to the 'Mining Journal,' the 'Illustrated,' and the comics, local and country papers should be sent out; exiles care more for the 'Little Pedlington Courant' than for the 'journal of the City,' the 'Times.' Gardening should be encouraged. The vegetables would be occros (_hibiscus_) and brinjalls, lettuce, tomatoes, and marrow; yam and sweet potatoes, pumpkins, peppers and cucumbers, whose seeds yield a fine-flavoured salad-oil not sold in London. The fruits are grapes and pine-apples, limes and oranges, mangoes and melons, papaws and a long list of native growth. Nor should flowers be neglected, especially the pink and the rose. The land, fenced in for privacy, would produce in abundance holeus-millet, rice, and lucern for beasts. There would be a breeding-ground for black cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and a poultry-yard protected against wild cats. The routine-day would be as follows: At 5.15 A.M. first bell, and notice to 'turn out;' at 5.40 the 'little breakfast' of tea or coffee, bread-and-butter, or toast, ham and eggs. The five working-hours of morning (6-11 A.M.) to be followed by a substantial _dejeuner a la fourchette_ at 11.30. Each would have a pint of beer or claret, and be allowed one bottle of whisky a week. Mr. Ross, the miner, preferred breakfast at 8 A.M., dinner at 1 P.M., and 'tea' at 5 P.M.; but these hours leave scant room for work. The warning-bell, at 12.45 P.M., after 1 hr. 45 min. rest, would prepare the men to fall in, and return to work at 1 P.M.; and the afternoon-spell would last till 5.30. Thus the working-day contains 9 hrs. 30 min. Dinner would be served at any time after 6 P.M., and the allowance of liquor be that of the breakfast. An occasional holiday to Axim should be allowed, in order to correct the monotony of jungle-life. CHAPTER XXI. TO TUMENTO, THE 'GREAT CENTRAL DEPOT.'