there were others
standing outside the town in the midst of magnificent gardens.

Before we left, a number of natives ventured to us in small boats
with fruit, fish, and other trifles. Their boats were constructed
of the trunks of four small trees, tightly bound together with thin
ropes made of the fibres of the cocoa-tree; a long piece of wood
served as an oar. The waves broke so completely over them that I
imagined every instant that both boats and men were irretrievably
lost.

The good people were almost in a state of nature, and seemed to
bestow all their care on their heads, which were covered with pieces
of cloth, turbans, cloth or straw caps, or very high and peaked
straw hats. The more respectable--among whom may be reckoned the
boatmen who brought the passengers and mails--were, however, in many
cases, very tastily dressed. They had on neat jackets, and large
long pieces of cloth wrapped round their bodies; both the cloths and
jackets were white, with a border of blue stripes. On their heads
they wore tightly fitting white caps, with a long flap hanging down
as far as their shoulders. These caps, too, had a blue border. The
complexion of the natives was a dark brown or coffee colour.

Late in the evening, a native woman came on board with her two
children. She had paid second-class fare, and was shown a small
dark berth not far from the first cabin places. Her younger child
had, unfortunately, a bad cough, which prevented some rich English
lady, who had likewise a child with her, from sleeping. Perhaps the
exaggerated tenderness which this lady manifested for her little son
caused her to believe that the cough might be catching; but, be that
as it may, the first thing she did on the following morning, was to
beg that the captain would transfer mother and children to the deck,
which the noble-hearted humane captain immediately did, neither the
lady nor himself caring in the least whether the poor mother had or
had not, even a warm coverlid to protect her sick child from the
night cold and the frequent heavy showers.

Would that this rich English lady's child had only been ill, and
exposed with her to the foggy night air, that she might herself have
experienced what it is to be thus harshly treated! A person of any
heart must almost feel ashamed at belonging to a class of beings who
allow themselves to be far surpassed in humanity and kindness by
those who are termed savages; no savages would have