handize he had sent to Galam the
preceding year had been entirely consumed by fire. "Now," cried my
unhappy father, "my ruin is complete! Nothing more wretched can touch
us. You see, my dear children, that Fortune has not ceased persecuting
us. We have nothing more to expect from her, since the only resource
which remained has been destroyed."

This new misfortune, which we little expected, plunged all our family in
the deepest distress. "What misfortunes! what mortifications!" cried I;
"it is time to quit this land of wretchedness! Leave it then, return to
France; there only we will be able to forget all our misfortunes. And
you, cruel enemies of my father, whom we have to reproach for all the
misery we have experienced in these lands, may you, in punishment for
all the evil you have done us, be tortured with the keenest remorse!"

It cost all the philosophy of my father to quiet our minds after the
fatal event. He comforted us by saying, that Heaven alone was just, and
that it was our duty to rely upon it. Some days after, our friends from
Senegal came to pay us a visit, and testified for us the greatest
sorrow. They agreed among themselves to engage all the Europeans in the
colony in a voluntary subscription in our behalf; but my father opposed
it by saying, he could not receive assistance from those who were so
truly his friends. The generous M. Dard, director of the French school,
was not the last nor least who took an interest in us. As soon as he
heard of the unfortunate news, he cordially offered my father all the
money he had, and even endeavoured to get provisions for us from the
government stores, but he failed. After the visit of my father's
friends, we were not so unhappy, and yet enjoyed some tranquillity in
our humble cottage. He bought a barrel of wine, and two of flour, to
support us during the rainy season or winter, a period so fatal to
Europeans who inhabit the torrid zone.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE PICARD FAMILY, TORMENTED BY THE MUSQUITOES, THE SERPENTS, AND
TIGERS, DETERMINE TO REMOVE THEIR COTTAGE TO THE BANKS OF THE
RIVER--THE POULTRY IS DISCOVERED BY THE WILD BEASTS--MISERABLE
EXISTENCE OF THAT FAMILY--HUMILIATIONS WHICH IT SUFFERED--THEIR
COTTAGE IS OVERTURNED BY A TEMPEST--THE LABOURING NEGROES FORM A
SCHEME TO DESERT.

It was yet but about the beginning of June 1819, and already the humid
winds of the south announced the approach of the bad season, or winter.
The whirlwinds of the nor