A LANDING IN WEST AFRICA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3144, 20 November 1922, Page 2

A LANDING IN WEST AFRICA.

Landing at one of eur West African colonies is an experience that remains long in the memory of the victim, writes a contributor to the Daily Chronicle. The staemer usually comes to anchor Nn the early hours of the morning, and at 6 a.m. the surf boats can be seen wending their precarious way to the vessel. Closely following the Customs boat. neat and white-painted, come the score or more merchants' boats, some oared, others paddled, the crews consisting of native "boys," unhampered by anything in the way of clothes other than a narrow loin-cloth and all working to the rhythm of some fantastic chant. Arrived alongside, boys with letters clamber up the steep sides of the steamer like so many monkeys, amid incessant chattering from the crews swinging up and down like shells on the heavy swell. Having passed the word to your bos'n. bidden farewell to friends, seen your baggage over the side, "remembered" the steward, and perchance, had one last iced "peg." you take your place in the • "mammy-chair." a crude box contrivance fitted with scats, and slung from one of the ship's derricks. A word from the officer, the winch rattles, and with a jerk that almost deposits- you on to the deck again, you are hauled aloft, and swung over the side with the surf boat in which you are destined to travel rolling and heaving in the swell at an alarming distance below. A sligbi. pause, and down you go clinging to the stays of the "chair." dust above the boat, however, the magician at the winch stays your mad progress, and eager hands »re outstretched to guide you quietly to the boat. A gabble of directions from the "boys." one or two misfires, and the "chair" plunges down to come to rest with a thud on the bottom of the surfboat. Your bos'n pushes off from the ship's side, and you are on your way to the beach to the accompaniment of the same cacaphonious chanting, and you take a last glimpse of the vessel towering above, with friends peering over the side waving farewell. Some distance ahead a white wall of foaming water denotes the entrance to the surf, and ere you have become accustomed to the unusual roll of the boat, the "boys," at a signal from the leader or "headman" striding aft manipulating the oar, pause from their efforts, and with raised paddles await a favorable moment to enter and negotiate the surf. Upon a shout from the headman, paddles are again furiously at work, ami you are skimming towards the. beach at a tremendous pace, inwardly marvelling at the dexterity of the "boys" in handling the boat in such uneasy waters. A mountain of sea is behind you. and a. swamping at best, seems inevitable, but amid the hoarse shouts of the crew, the same wave swings you high and furiously to the safety of the shallows of the bench. Carried on the shoulders of two brawny sous of Kthiope you are deposited on the dazzling beach ready to satisfy the usual Customs formalities before you depart for your desiuation.

No more bare backs! This is one of the surprise decisions- of the Fashions Exhibition, which was opened lately by the [/Sidy Mayoress of London. London has not waited for Paris to decide. but. taking the matter into its' own hands, is now creating fashions, of which the evening gown with a back is the most striking. This exhibition is the first opportunity given to English and foreign buyers to discover the genius of London specialists in women's wear. There is' little doubt that the now evening gowns will be welcomed by almost all English women, to whom the Paris mode of backless frocks is rarely becoming.