The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-27

astride a pole with mattress beneath them, fought each other with pillows un- til one was knocked on the mattress. There were about 40 contestants for this prize and an Englishman won it.
 Then there was the human cock fight, in which two men with their arms tied over their knees and fastened there by a stick attempted to crowd each other out of ring on the floor by means of their toes, and also the contest to see who could eat a biscuit or drink bot tie of soda water in the shortest time, and then run the length of the deck
 For these games both old and young entered and South African legislators and colonels vied with tourists, gold miners and engineers to see who was best. There were also cricket matches where the balls were caught by nets put up at the sides of the deck, and concerts and dances night after night.
 Etiquette and Fashion.
 The man or woman who goes to South Africa with no more baggage than he can carry in his or her hat will feel much out of place There Is more dressing on those steamers than on the biggest ships which cross the Atlantic. On the way from the Cape of Good Hope to Madeira there was not a man In the hrst-class who did not put on Tuxedo or steel pen coat and a stiff boiled shirt for din ner each night, and most of the ladies wore low necks and short sleeves. This custom prevails on all the steamers, and on both sides of the continent There is full dress at all the dances and con certs, and the party in the saloon during the evening looks more like that of a Washington parlor than like the rough and tumble crowd which one always nndS on the big Atlantic liners.
 As to the meals on the ships they are excellent. I had good board even on the small Mediterranean coastal steamers and on the vessels along the east coast. The eating on the ships from the Cape to London is about as good as on the Att lantic and there are four or five meals a day Here for instance is my schedule for one day. At 7:30 a. m., the boy en- tered my cabin with tea and a cracker which I ate in bed. At S:50 l had a good breakfast in the dining saloon, at a luncheon with soup and dessert, at 4 o'clock tea in the saloon and at 6:3O dinner. The latter meal lasted an hour or more and. in addition. there was d supper late in the evening.
 Steamships Which Go Around Africa.
 ' cannot imagine better health trip than sea voyage around Africa. There are several lines which go down one
  is a German African line by which one starts at Hamburg and can go either east or west. If he chooses the western route he calls at Las PalmaSs in the Canaries and then goes on to Cape Town, the voyage there taking 23 or s4 days. Leaving the Cape of Good Hope the ship rext calls a Port Elizabeth, the Liverpool of South Africa, and then goes on to East London and Durban, the capital of Natal. The two next stoppages are in Portu- guese East Africa, and then come Mozam- hiuue, Chinde and Oar es Salaam the capital of German East Africa. From there the ships go on to Zanzibar, Tanga, ard Mombasa, and thence north to Alden and on up the Red sea and Suez canal to the Mediterranean. They go from Pert Said to Naples, and thence out back through the Strait of Gibraltar to Ham, burg. The whole trip, including board, costs just about S40O first class, with the stewards fees added, and it takes about two months to make it.
 It one wishes to visit the ports of West Africa, the Woernan line, sailing from Hamburg will take him along the Gulf of Guinea and down to the Kongo, and 1t has also ships to SWakopmund, in Ger man Southwest Africa. There are some vessels sailing regularly from Antwerp to the Kongo and others which go to G.- braltar and around the coast of Morocco The trip to the Kongo takes 19 days anG the steamers leave for there every three weeks. They land at Matadi. where onS can catch the railroad past the rapids ol | the Kongo to Stanleypool.
 l There is also a Portuguese steamer | which goes from Lisbon three times e l month for Loanda, Benguela, and ths