144 LAND SIGHTED. [1693. 



Moment ; but it was carry'd, it was our duty to make our 

 utmost efforts to the end. This made us recollect our 

 Courage, and some prepar'd to Swim at such time as the Ship 

 should be swallow'd up.^ 



Whilst we were under this Dilemma of Life and Death 

 the Sun began to brighten the Horizon, and the rage of the 

 Wind ceas'd. The Sky clear'd up, and the Light as a Mes- 

 senger of good News, made us to perceive a large Capc^ 

 which belong'd to Isle Blaurice. This sight caus'd no small 

 Joy among us^ and as everyone disengag'd himself from his 



1 In original the paragraph proceed.? to some length, which lias been 

 omitted by the translator: — " Nousne perdimes done jamais tout-a-fait 

 courage, & quelques-uns meme se preparoient a nager, quand la barque 

 seroit engloutie, pour prier & benir Dieu quelques moniens encore. Si 

 I'abatement extreme oil nous nous tronvions, etoit cause par le grand 

 travail, par Tinanition. par des sollicitations a uu sommeil impossible, 

 par les frayeurs redoublees qui nous environnoient, il etoit sans doute 

 beaucoup augniente par les secrets reproches que les uns se faisoient de 

 s'etre ainsi temerairement exposez, & les autres d'avoir ete trop faciles 

 a se laisser persuader. Neamoins, on dissimula toutes ces pensees-la, & 

 on s'exhorta les uns les autres en toute douceur & charite fraternelle." 



2 This headland was probably the Morne Brabant^ a fine mountain, 

 1,809 feet, which juts out very conspicuously at the south-west extremity 

 of Mauritius. Mr. Pridham gives the following description of the 

 landmarks to reach Port Louis in the north-west part of the isle: — 

 " The circuit which was once made was very considerable, vessels being 

 used to bear away nearly one hundred leagues, or as high as Rodriguez, 

 as the wind and currents come from the east. The skill of later navi- 

 gators has considerably contracted this cletovr, but it is still a hundred 

 miles by the windward passage, whereas a short cut by the JMorne 

 Brabant (which is a conspicuous landmark to vessels approaching the 

 island on that side) is only a third the distance. An officer of H.M.S. 

 Thunderer states that it is not only the shortest, but the safest, course 

 to adopt during the season of the south-easters, which always vary to 

 the southward." (Mauritius and its Dependencies, by Charles Pridham, 

 1846, p. 255.) 



It may be considered worthy of note, and interesting from a literary 

 point of view, to draw attention to some lines in Southey's Thalaha, as 

 they se(!m to have been taken from this description of Leguat. Curi- 

 ously enough, the copy of Leguat, from which the present transcript 

 has been made, was formerly the property of Robert Southey, and 



