CAPTAIN TUCKEY’S NARRATIVE, 13 
PORTO PRAYA. 
In the afternoon I went on shore, accompanied by several 
of the gentlemen, to wait on the Captain-general of the 
islands, who now resided at Porto Praya. On entering the 
gateway of the town, for gate there was none, we were con- 
ducted by a negro, to a white-washed house, of tolerably 
decent external appearance, when contrasted with the 
miserable hovels that surround it, and on being announced 
by a ragged centinel, were ushered up a ladder into a large 
apartment, the rafters, floor, and wainscot of which were as 
rough as they came from the sawpit ; without paint, or other 
decoration, save some daubed prints of the Virgin and 
Saints. Here we found the General at dinner with a large 
company, among whom were half a dozen greasy monks, 
wrapped in frize (the thermometer at 84°), whose jolly 
figures and cheerful countenances denoted any thing but 
abstinence and penance. ‘The General’s lady, a comely 
European Portuguese, drest 4 l’Anglaise, was the only 
female at table, and sat on the right hand of her husband. 
Not having had any arrivals from Portugal for four months, 
the General was very inquisitive as to the political appear- 
ances in Kurope, and as he spoke tolerable French, I was 
able to satisfy him. 
