Balaclava--Alarming Sacrifice of our
Stock--A last Glimpse of Sebastopol--Home! 188

Conclusion 197

ADVENTURES OF MRS. SEACOLE
IN MANY LANDS.

CHAPTER I.

MY BIRTH AND PARENTAGE--EARLY TASTES AND
TRAVELS--MARRIAGE, AND WIDOWHOOD.

I was born in the town of Kingston, in the island of Jamaica, some
time in the present century. As a female, and a widow, I may be well
excused giving the precise date of this important event. But I do not
mind confessing that the century and myself were both young together,
and that we have grown side by side into age and consequence. I am a
Creole, and have good Scotch blood coursing in my veins. My father was
a soldier, of an old Scotch family; and to him I often trace my
affection for a camp-life, and my sympathy with what I have heard my
friends call "the pomp, pride, and circumstance of glorious war." Many
people have also traced to my Scotch blood that energy and activity
which are not always found in the Creole race, and which have carried
me to so many varied scenes: and perhaps they are right. I have often
heard the term "lazy Creole" applied to my country people; but I am
sure I do not know what it is to be indolent. All my life long I have
followed the impulse which led me to be up and doing; and so far from
resting idle anywhere, I have never wanted inclination to rove, nor
will powerful enough to find a way to carry out my wishes. That these
qualities have led me into many countries, and brought me into some
strange and amusing adventures, the reader, if he or she has the
patience to get through this book, will see. Some people, indeed, have
called me quite a female Ulysses. I believe that they intended it as a
compliment; but from my experience of the Greeks, I do not consider it
a very flattering one.

It is not my intention to dwell at any length upon the recollections
of my childhood. My mother kept a boarding-house in Kingston, and was,
like very many of the Creole women, an admirable doctress; in high
repute with the officers of both services, and their wives, who were
from time to time stationed at Kingston. It was very natural that I
should inherit her tastes; and so I had from early youth a yearning
for medical knowledge and practice which has never deserted me. When I
was a very young child I was taken by an old lady, who brought me up
in her household among her own