Then he heaped broken bricks from the debris of the church on the place, lest a hyæna should undo his work...."
PART III
"...break through laws divine and human,
And think them cobwebs spread for little man."
J. DRYDEN.
CHAPTER I
"Abercorn," said Ross, lighting his third consecutive cigar, "was laid out some quarter of a century ago by a far-sighted and optimistic official on the lines of Paris. There are boulevards and 'rond points'; avenues of thuja and eucalyptus; terraces and squares. And at the present moment there are five dwelling-houses, a block of government offices, a jail and post office, one European and three native stores.
The settlement is served by two railway systems, one distant four hundred miles to the north, the other six hundred to the south.
I suppose it is what you writers call 'an outpost of civilisation,' but civilised it seemed to me after six weeks of ulendo through the bush! and urban, to the point of decadence, it must have looked to Archie emerging from the virginal bosom of the 'fly' belt.
Red Dog, Manitoba; Bloggsville, Wisconsin; Smitsdorp, Transvaal; from what I hear these spots breathe a red-blooded life dear to cinematograph producers, without being remarkable either for comfort or refinement.
How different these tiny Boma towns of North-Eastern Rhodesia that have only existed a decade or two! You are at once struck by the absence of red dust, corrugated iron, spittoons. Books may be found in every house, water colours or etchings too; comfortable arm-chairs and cushions; nice china and plate; occasionally a piano. The standard of comfort is above the average of an English country rectory. And the issues that confront the population are often as vital.