l695-] DANGEROUS CITRONS. 175 



Blood, and for my part, I can affirm with a great deal of Sin- 

 cerity, that I was terribly Sick : For a Month together I felt 

 sharp pains in my Belly, and ever every day towards Night, 

 I had a fit of a Fever ,^ a Distemper altogether unknown in 

 this part of the World. My Companions were all sick like- 

 wise, and in this bad condition we made Signals to demand 

 Eelief, but in vain. When our Purveyors came, we related 

 to them what had happen'd to us, and shew'd them the Eel's 

 Head, but they only said they had never seen the like : 

 These sort of People take but little notice of any thing. At 

 length we began to come to our selves again, fully resolved 

 to eat no more of that sort of Eel, for it never came into our 

 Heads that it was a Serpent : Nevertheless we were ready to 

 leap out of our Skins, when the Governor sent us a Salt- 

 Hind,^ and certain dangerous Citrons,^ which always do 

 harm ; he had his Pieasons for it, I suppose, for lie did not 

 think tit to assassinate or poyson us openly. 



As we had no likelihood to get rid speedily of our unhappy 

 Confinement, we thought it but Prudence to manage"* our 

 Rice, which the Sea-Officers had left us, cautiously : We eat 

 of it but twice a Week, and when we did it was a feast to us. 

 After we had reduc'd it to Meal, we mix'd about two pounds 

 of it with a certain sort of Gourd^ well enough tasted, which 

 some of our Correspondents in the Island had sent us pri- 

 vately in exchange for our Hatts : We had a kind of Game 



^ 111 orig. : " accident d'aiitant plus notable que la fievre est une maladie 

 iucounue dans ces pais-la." INlauritius was considered healthy prior to 

 the terrible epidemic fever of 1866, which almost decimated the in- 

 habitants. This peculiar fever is now endemic in the low parts of the 

 island. 



2 In orig. : " de la Biche-en-rut.'' 



3 Possibly the Vontac, Strychnos Vontac, or Vangassaye, Citrus Van- 

 (jassaye (?) ; the citrons, oranges, and shaddocks of the island are whole- 

 some enough. 



^ In orig.; " de menager," to husband, to economise their supj^ly of rice. 

 ^ Cucurhita pvteria : in orig. Citrouilles ; perhaps the Creole patole, 

 or snake-gourd {Trichosantes anguina). 



