4 THE VOYAGE. 



like to the heel of a boot floating in hot oil, 

 which we are informed by the polite waiter is 

 ' bef steek a la Anglais ' the whole washed 

 down with copious libations of intensely sour 

 claret iced to the freezing-point. 



The next thing in the programme is the ex- 

 ploration of the town, during which all sorts of 

 things are purchased at fabulous prices, that 

 can never, by any possibility, be required. Such 

 unusual exercise in a hilly place, exposed to the 

 scorching heat of the sun, soon begets a feverish 

 thirst, necessitating copious draughts of iced- 

 water dashed with cognac, unlimited cobblers, 

 or more cold sour poison. Raw vegetables, acid 

 wine, cobblers, cognac, cocoanut, and other 

 ' comestibles ' soon produce disagreeable ad- 

 monitory twinges : dread of yellow-fever immedi- 

 ately suggests itself bang goes the signal-gun ! 

 A hasty scamper for the boats dispelling further 

 alarm, all rush on board, there to compare notes, 

 groan over their pains and stupidity, and go 

 through precisely the same performance at the 

 next place of landing. 



At St. Thomas we exchanged the commo- 

 dious steamer ' Parana ' for the ' Trent,' much 

 more famous for getting into trouble than for 

 getting out of it. The run from the island 



