Paul and Bob went into town, followed by a throng of young negroes who fought for the privilege of getting closest to them.  They found the stores small and mostly unpainted, and the houses principally shambling and squatty, most of them having thatched roofs.  The streets were narrow, crooked, and dirty, but there were areas about some of the more pretentious dwelling-places which were really entrancing in the wealth of their tropical plants and stately palms.  On the whole, the stone garrison, setting a little remote from the town proper, was the largest and best-constructed building, although this looked old and somber. Freetown, the capital of the little British colony of Sierra Leone, is all on low ground, and the air is moist and extremely humid, even unhealthful for those not accustomed to it.