in began to
resume his bad habits, and of course the mate followed his example. The
voyage was comparatively short, so they took care not to lose their
senses altogether, and were tolerably sober when we came in sight of the
Mauritius.

I had never seen anything more beautiful than the scenery of Port Louis
harbour. High above the town rises La Pouce, or the thumb mountain,
clothed with trees to its very top. It forms one of an amphitheatre of
queer-shaped mountains, at the foot of which nestles comfortably the
capital of the island. To the left, seen over a range of hills, rises
"Pieter Bot," a mountain so called from a Dutchman who, in a spirit of
adventure or pot valour, attempted to ascend its summit, and was dashed
to pieces. The compliment paid him was of a doubtful character, as
"Bot" means silly, a _sobriquet_ he obtained probably in consequence of
his failure. Some English officers, cleverer than silly Pieter, by
means of a line thrown over the summit, by which a ladder was drawn up,
managed to reach it, and moreover, to the great disgust of the French
inhabitants, to place the Union Jack there. The difficulty of the feat
exists in consequence of the upper portion overhanging that immediately
below it, as a man's head does his neck. I had been reading the account
of the ascent in a book I had with me, and therefore looked at silly
Pieter with considerable interest, and thought how much I should like
also to get to the top of his pate. The harbour is small, and the
entrance is defended by heavy batteries. As we sailed in, with the
pretty little town before us, and the finger-like mountains rising in a
semicircle behind it, we had on our right the mountain of Morne
Fortunee, where is the signal station at which the famous ship-seer, who
could see ships nearly a hundred miles off, was stationed. He saw them,
it was supposed, reflected in the clouds. When the island belonged to
the French, he used to give notice in the war time of the whereabouts of
the English cruisers.

As I stood on the deck watching the shore, my heart beat with anxiety to
get there, that I might visit my grandfather, and commence my inquiries
for Alfred. I had little expectation of being able to accomplish my
wish. I went, however, to the captain, expecting to be told that the
duties of the ship required my attendance on board. What was my
surprise, therefore, to find him bland and courteous in the extreme.

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