132 VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. chap. v. 



mistress, prepared under her direction coffee for the com- 

 pany, which was served soon after dinner. 



After coffee, the company adjourned to a large adjoining- 

 room, the walls of which were covered with French paper, 

 representing scenes in the different campaigns of Napoleon. 

 Here I had the opportunity of conversing with several of the 

 officers who spoke English or French, and whom I had pre- 

 viously seen at my house. Music, consisting of a clarionet 

 and drum, with other amusements, were now introduced, and 

 dancing followed. At an early hour, the marshal made 

 another speech in the name of the Queen, after which her 

 Majesty's health was drunk in a small glass of liquor; when 

 the marshal rose to retire, and was followed by the rest of the 

 company. In the front court he gave me a cordial farewell 

 salutation, and, entering his palanquin, was borne away, 

 followed by the other officers. I reached home about nine 

 o'clock, and, after a cup of tea, retired to rest, much inter- 

 ested in the novel scene I had witnessed. 



On the succeeding day I received a packet of newspapers 

 and letters from Mauritius, conveying the mournful in- 

 telligence of the continued ravages of the cholera there. In 

 these accounts it was estimated that upwards of 3000 persons 

 had been carried off in Port Louis alone, while the disease 

 was still extending with fearful severity in some of the pro- 

 vinces. My grief was extreme on learning that Mrs. Kelsey, 

 to whom I had written a letter of condolence by the last ship, 

 had followed her honoured husband to the grave within a 

 few days of his interment, and that of her two beloved 

 children. Their family from the time of my arrival had 

 appeared one of the healthiest and happiest in the place. 

 They had been amongst my most attached friends there. To 

 Mr. Kelsey I had confided the transmission of my letters to 

 and from England, with all the little matters connected with 

 my own comfort and safety ; and I felt deeply bound to him 



