酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Land of Footprints-Part8_Stewart Edward White(1873-1946)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
together by vines, made up the "deep impenetrable jungle" of our



childhood imagining. Here were rustlings, sudden scurryings,

half-caught glimpses, once or twice a crash as some greater



animal made off. Here and there through the thicket wandered well

beaten trails, wide, but low, so that to follow them one would



have to bend double. These were the paths of rhinoceroses. The

air smelt warm and moist and earthy, like the odour of a



greenhouse.

We skirted this jungle until it gave way to let the plain down to



the river. Then, in an open grove of acacias, and fairly on the

river's bank, we pitched our tents.



These acacia trees were very noble big chaps, with many branches

and a thick shade. In their season they are wonderfully blossomed



with white, with yellow, sometimes even with vivid red flowers.

Beneath them was only a small matter of ferns to clear away.



Before us the sodded bank rounded off ten feet the river itself.

At this point far up in its youth it was a friendly river. Its



noble width ran over shallows of yellow sand or of small pebbles.

Save for unexpected deep holes one could wade across it anywhere.



Yet it was very wide, with still reaches of water, with islands

of gigantic papyrus, with sand bars dividing the current, and



with always the vista for a greater or lesser distance down

through the jungle along its banks. From our canvas chairs we



could look through on one side to the arid country, and on the

other to this tropical wonderland.



Yes, at this point in its youth it was indeed a friendly river in

every sense of the word. There are three reasons, ordinarily, why



one cannot bathe in the African rivers. In the first place, they

are nearly all disagreeably muddy; in the second place, cold



water in a tropicalclimate causes horrible congestions; in the

third place they swarm with crocodiles and hippos. But this river



was as yet unpolluted by the alluvial soil of the lower

countries; the sun on its shallows had warmed its waters almost



to blood heat; and the beasts found no congenial haunts in these

clear shoals. Almost before our tents were up the men were



splashing. And always my mental image of that river's beautiful

expanse must include round black heads floating like gourds where



the water ran smoothest.

Our tents stood all in a row facing the stream, the great trees



at their backs. Down in the grove the men had pitched their

little white shelters. Happily they settled down to ease.



Settling down to ease, in the case of the African porter,

consists in discarding as many clothes as possible. While on the



march he wears everything he owns; whether from pride or a desire

to simplifytransportation I am unable to say. He is supplied by



his employer with a blanket and jersey. As supplementals he can

generally produce a half dozen white man's ill-assorted garments:



an old shooting coat, a ragged pair of khaki breeches, a kitchen

tablecloth for a skirt, or something of the sort. If he can raise



an overcoat he is happy, especially if it happen to be a long,

thick WINTER overcoat. The possessor of such a garment will wear



it conscientiously throughout the longest journey and during the

hottest noons. But when he relaxes in camp, he puts away all



these prideful possessions and turns out in the savage simplicity

of his red blanket. Draped negligently, sometimes very



negligently, in what may be termed semi-toga fashion, he stalks

about or squats before his little fire in all the glory of a



regained savagery. The contrast of the red with his red bronze or

black skin, the freedom and grace of his movements, the upright



carriage of his fine figure, and the flickering savagery playing

in his eyes are very effective.



Our men occupied their leisure variously and happily. A great

deal of time they spent before their tiny fires roasting meat and



talking. This talk was almost invariably of specific personal

experiences. They bathed frequently and with pleasure. They



slept. Between times they fashioned ingenious affairs of ornament

or use: bows and arrows, throwing clubs, snuff-boxes of the tips



of antelope horns, bound prettily with bright wire, wooden swords

beautifully carved in exact imitation of the white man's service



weapon, and a hundred other such affairs. At this particular time

also they were much occupied in making sandals against the



thorns. These were flat soles of rawhide, the edges pounded to




文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号