NEW CALEDONIA. 331 



the Government House very well, and the town also, which 

 looked a poor place, very small, with little wooden houses. 

 We stopped at half-past three p.m., and dropped anchor in 

 ten fathoms ; immediately after, we were visited by the 

 Health officer. We then saluted tlie French flag witli 

 twenty-one guns, which was returned by the battery. 

 Captain Mathieu, tlie aide-de-camp of His Excellency M. 

 Guillain, a captain in the navy. Governor of the colony, 

 came on board the ' Curacjoa,' to invite the Commodore to 

 dinner that day at Government House, which he accepted, 

 and had great reason to be pleased with the manner in 

 which he was received. 



During our stay, our relations the whole time with the 

 French officials were of the most pleasing kind, and we 

 carried away with us the most agreeable recollections of 

 our visit to Port-de-France. There we made the acquaintance 

 of Count Adam Kulczycki, the Government astronomer, a 

 Polish gentleman, as obliging as highly informed, and 

 whom I had tlie satisfaction of finding was acquainted with 

 my fiiend, Jules Eemy, the companion of some of my 

 former wanderings, whom he liad known at Tahiti. 



On October 1, the day after our arrival at Port-de- 

 France, the Governor came on board the ' Cura^oa ' in full 

 dress, to pay his official visit, and received on leaving it a 

 salute of seventeen guns. To our great surprise, the land 

 battery, contrary to our English practice, returned tlie 

 salute, it not being usual to return personal salutes. 



In company witli the Commodore, Captain Parkin. 



