see the
town, and finally cheer our exhausted systems with Podbury's rum punch.
Neither the Bishop nor Podbury has invited us, or knows we are here at
all; but that is a sort of detail which counts for nothing in foreign
parts.

Dominica is very beautiful, with the same beauty as many other islands
already mentioned. Great wooded hills rise, peak upon peak, to the
clouds, and between them lie deep gorges and fertile ravines. The
margins of the sea are fringed with palms; Roseau itself lies glimmering
upon the shore, with white walls and red and grey roofs. Inland, winding
out under low cliffs behind the town, flows forth the river over a rocky
bed to the sea. This stream produces some very noble scenery towards the
interior, and is rather a large volume of water for such a small island.
As a result Dominica is extremely damp at seasons of much rain, and
grows, among other things, frogs of majestic size.

By kind permission of the Captain, I was allowed to avail myself of the
mail-boat at all ports; and now, tumbling into this vessel, the Doctor
and I soon reached dry land.

[Illustration: "THE DOCTOR WAS FUSSING ABOUT."]

"Let us bolt straight off to the Cathedral," he said; "ten to one the
Bishop's there; if not, we can go on to his house."

Roseau appeared to be rather a languishing little town. The stony
streets were all overgrown with grass; the place generally lacked any
air of enterprise; the negro children, who swarmed everywhere, were more
than usually destitute of attire.

Upon reaching the Bishop's place of business, we found to our dismay
that a funeral was going on. The Cathedral doors were wide open, a crowd
was gathered within, and over a flower-laden bier stood the Bishop,
singing away, and as fully occupied as a man could be.

I noticed that the Doctor was fussing about, trying to catch his
friend's eye. I therefore said:

"Don't; it isn't decent. You can't expect even a bishop to be genial and
effusive at a time like this. Consider the survivors."

"He sees me!" whispered my brother.

"Sees you; yes, not being blind he couldn't help it. Everybody in the
Cathedral sees you; and they very naturally resent the sight. Come away;
you're making the Bishop nervous."

It really was most annoying. There he stood, so close that we could
almost touch him, and yet separated from us by a gulf only to be bridged
by the end of his burial service.

The Doctor became illogical and childish about it. When