ses to recall her to life; but, alas! her destiny was decided!

It required absolute force to tear me from the precious remains which
I pressed against my heart, and to draw me into a neighbouring room,
where my son was. While I pressed him convulsively to my breast,
I wished to weep; but my eyes were tearless, and I was insensible to
the caresses even of my poor child.

The strongest constitution cannot resist the fatigue of fifty days
of constant watching and uneasiness; and the state of annihilation in
which I was, both physically and morally, after despair had taken the
place of the glimmering hope which sustained us to the last moment,
was such that I fell into a state of insensibility, which ended
in a profound sleep. I awoke on the following day with my son in my
arms. But how frightful was my state on awaking. All that was horrible
in my position presented itself to my imagination. Alas! she was no
more; my adorable companion, that beloved angel and consolatrix,
who had, on my account, abandoned all--parents, friends, and the
pleasures of a capital--to shut herself up with me in a deserted
wilderness, where she was exposed to a thousand dangers, and had but
me to support her. She was no more; and fatal destiny had torn her
from me, to sink me for ever in desolation and grief.

The funeral took place on the following day, and was attended by
every inhabitant of Jala-Jala. Her body was deposited near the altar
in the humble church which I had caused to be erected, and before
which altar she had so often poured forth prayers for my happiness.

For a long time mourning and consternation reigned in Jala-Jala. All
my Indians showed the deepest sympathy for the loss which they had
suffered. Anna was, during her life, beloved even to idolatry, and
after her death she was most sincerely lamented.

For several days I continued in a thorough depression, unable to attend
to anything, except to the cares which my son, then my only remaining
consolation, required. Three weeks elapsed before I quitted the room in
which my poor wife had expired. I then received a note from Josephine,
in which she stated that her illness had grown worse. The note ended
with these words: "Come, my dear Paul; come to me: we shall weep
together. I feel that your presence will afford some consolation."

I did not hesitate to comply with the request of dear Josephine, for
whom I entertained an affection as if for my own sister. My presence
migh