308 PUBLIC PARK. 



At this house were part of the crew of the whale- 

 ship IsTauticon, of Nantucket, which ship was lost a 

 few months previous at, or near, the Seychelle Islands. 

 All seamen's boarding-houses in Port Louis are 

 bound by law to afford a seaman two weeks' board, 

 at the expiration of which time they can expel him 

 from the house, if they feel so inclined ; but it gene- 

 rally happens that they ship before the fortnight 

 expires, and pay their board with part of the advance 

 money they receive from their new employers. The 

 usual charge for board is a guinea a week. 



Connected with the Home is a floating bethel, 

 moored close by the landing stair. 



Another feature of the city is the park. Some of 

 our boys from the rural districts having visited it, 

 and found several fountains on its grounds, gave so 

 animated a description of its beauties as made me 

 eager to visit it. I went, saw, and was neither over- 

 whelmed by astonishment nor pleasure ; the walks 

 were well enough, so were the fountains, but the 

 trees appeared uncared for ; and the grass, what little 

 there was, was parched by the heat of the sun to a 

 straw color. This park was about two hundred feet 

 in width, and several hundred yards in length. The 

 peculiar attraction of this place is that it is the resort 

 of the children of the European residents, and from 

 their presence one argues the existence of white 

 women in the neighborhood ; but where they seclude 

 themselves I cannot perceive, for if the very small 

 number of white ladies whom I saw in Mauritius 

 were the maternal relatives of all the children I saw 

 in the park, verily the climate of Port Louis must 

 conduce greatly to the fecundity of our race. 



