DEPARTURE OF MR. M c LEOD AND HIS FAMILY. 233 



was not the only one who rejoiced in the sight of 

 a large plum-pudding, to the merits of which 

 practical testimony was borne by the children 

 and ourselves at dinner. Nor did we forget to 

 drink the health of our fair countrywoman Mrs. 

 Maxwell*, who had so kindly afforded us this 

 luxurious meal. 



Mr. M c Leod, during his absence, had not been 

 exempted from his share of privation, having 

 been for days together without food ; yet, nothing 

 daunted by hardships, which he treated as the 

 ordinary incidents of the service, he and his 

 family, with two men, left us on their cold and 

 comfortless journey, on the 14th of February, 

 about noon. Nothing but a conviction of the 

 importance of this measure, as regarded our 

 future plans, should have induced me to consent 

 to this exposure of children to the severities of 

 so cold a month ; but, as every precaution was 

 adopted to prevent ill consequences, I entertained 

 the hope of their getting safely to their des- 

 tination. 



The unexpected disasters with which the un- 

 happy beings to the westward had been visited 

 made me more than commonly anxious for my 

 former companion, Maufelly, who, with a small 



The wife of Capt. Maxwell, with whom we crossed the 

 Atlantic. 



