A Tipsy Village
Livingston, in a recent journey in Africa, fell in with the Manganja savages, as low as any he had ever met with, except Bushmen; yet they cultivate large tracts of land for grain, which they convert into beer! It is not very intoxicating, but when they consume large quantities, they do become a little elevated. When a family brews, a large number of friends and neighbours are invited to drink, and bring their hoes with them; and they let off the excitement by hoeing their friend’s field. At other times they consume large quantities of beer, like regular topers, at home. Dr. Livingston in one village found all the people tipsy together: the men tried to induce the women to run away for shame, but the ladies, too, were “a little overcome,” and laughed at the idea of their running. The village-doctor, however, arranged matters by bringing a large pot of the liquid, with the intention of reducing the travellers to the general level.
Odd things have been said of Gin. Burke, in one of his spirituel flights, exclaimed, “Let the thunders of the pulpit descend upon drunkenness, I for one stand up for gin.” This is a sort of paraphrase on Pope’s couplet:
“This calls the church to deprecate our sin,
And hurls the thunder of our laws on gin.”