144 BIDING. 



outward and homeward without carrying 

 away a spar so little danger was there 

 in a life at sea. Poor fellow! he at 

 last got killed by the natives in the 

 Straits of Malacca, when going on shore 

 for wood. 



Advancing to manhood, it is not to be 

 supposed that I was free from those little 

 indiscretions to which youth is prone, nor 

 is it necessary to particularize them. It may 

 be enough to acknowledge that, in the lan- 

 guage of the present day, I might be 

 considered rather a fast young man. 

 Being, as it were, the representative of 

 my father, who held a respectable po- 

 sition in the town, and having the 

 management or superintendence of an ex- 

 tensive concern confided to me, I had a 

 liberal allowance, and a good horse to ride ; 

 this was the more necessary, as I had to 

 visit the different stages where the horses 

 stood. Such out-door exercise proved 

 beneficial to my health, so that I began 



