At Dakar. Till noon:
207 miles.
We reached here something after 5.0am. I, of course, was
where all respectable people should be at that hour, but the slowing down of
the ship roused me. I looked through my porthole and had my first view of
Africa.
Just opposite was the small rocky island guarding the
entrance to Dakar harbour: beyond was the low sandy African coast reaching far
far away into the distance till sea, sky and coast line all merged into one
another indistinguishably. It was a grey cloudy morning, but a brightness in
the east showed where the sun was peeking through the clouds and a faint patch
of sunlight water stretched from the distance to the ship.
We sailed slowly into the harbour and dropped anchor. Meanwhile
I returned to bed, appearing again at breakfast time!
After breakfast we were fascinated and amused by the diving
boys of Dakar (Photo 17) who came out in canoes and would dive most cleverly
for coins (or almost anything else) thrown into the water. They balance their unsteady
canoes with great skill and dive off almost without rocking the canoe.
They seize the coin in their hand and then use their mouth
as a purse for their collection, periodically returning to their canoe to
deposit their “earnings”. Sometimes they put the coin in their mouths before
rising to the surface, giving the appearance of having caught it in their mouths.
There is much friendly rivalry and taunting between the competing canoes which
the boys enjoy as much as their spectators lining the ships sides on each deck.
We are delayed here longer than we expected for some necessary
repairs to our engines.
We are now in a tropical ship. The transformation is
practically complete: the ships officers and (European) crew are now entirely
in white so the change is now official. Our party is in white and all the ships
fittings pertaining to the tropics have now appeared.
Electric fans are going everywhere in the saloons etc, (each
cabin has a fan also) white cotton covers have appeared on chairs, sofas etc.
Bright curtains have replaced the darker and heavier blue ones with which we
started – and iced drinks are in evidence.
The portholes in the lower parts of the ship are fitted with
special “scoops” to catch the air current made by the ships advance – and divert
it into the rooms. The top (boat) deck is covered by double awning and most of
the passengers are resplendent in in white or khaki with their “lids” on (i.e.
with helmets). From now on we must wear our helmets whenever we go out from 2
hours after sunrise to 2 hours before sunset, whether it is cloudy or clear.
We have really begun African life today.
We saw great numbers of porpoises this evening leaping some
feet into the air from the sea and falling or diving back with a loud “splosh”.
These huge fish were most fascinating to watch and could easily keep up with
the ships speed – indeed one or two could have out-run her. I attempted to
photograph a group of three as they leaped in the air. They seemed to just be
enjoying themselves: quite 20 could be counted within a few seconds, seemingly
playing hide and seek among the waves.
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