Old men, women, and children were placed at the disposal of the contractors by the native authorities, to dig up and remove the soil; and these poor wretches, crushed with hard work, and driven with the lash by drunken overseers--who commanded them with a pistol in hand--under a burning sun, inhaled the noxious vapors arising from the upturned soil, and died like flies.

It was a terrible sight, and one that Pierre could not forget.
But Herzog, with his cajoling sweetness, protested against this exaggerated picture.

Delarue had arrived during the dog-days--a bad time.

And then, it was necessary for the work to be carried on without delay.

Besides, a few Moors, more or less--what did it matter?
Negroes, all but monkeys! Marechal, who had listened silently until then, interrupted the conversation, to defend the monkeys in the name of Littre.