CHAP. XVI. STORM ON THE OCEAN. 447 



Mauritius and some of the officers of Government on board 

 the commodore's ship, where I met a gentleman recently 

 from Bourbon, from whom I obtained much valuable infor- 

 mation. I likewise met repeatedly with Mr. Layard from the 

 Cape, who, for purposes of science, was voyaging with the com- 

 modore. During my stay I also shared the hospitality of 

 Major-Greneral Hay, commander of the forces at Mauritius, 

 and found myself again a guest at Cerne, with the Honour- 

 able Judge Surtees, and Mr. William L'Estrange. Mr. 

 Dowland, acting colonial secret;iry, also offered me the hos- 

 pitality of his country residence, until at length the "England" 

 steamer arrived at Port Louis ; and on board this fine vessel, 

 commanded by Captain Dvmdas, I embarked for England on 

 the 13th of January, 1857. 



It was the season of cyclones, or hm-ricanes, and these 

 atmospheric disturbances are as frequent and as violent in 

 the neighbom'hood of Mauritius as in any other part of the 

 world. A few days after we had left the island, we ex- 

 perienced as severe a gale and as high a sea as I remember 

 ever to have witnessed, either off Cape Horn or the Cape of 

 Gfood Hope. We could only show canvass enough to keep 

 the ship steady, and yet were driven along at a fearful rate, 

 while the sea broke in cascades, first over one side of the 

 bulwarks and then the other ; and rolling like a torrent fore 

 and aft, as the ship rose or sunk vnih the waves, swept away 

 everything that was not secured by fastenings. Our captain 

 regarded it as the tail of a hurricane, more especially as the 

 wind changed rapidly to opposite quarters. After the second 

 day, however, the weather became moderate, and we pursued 

 our voyage without inconvenience. 



Two days afterwards, viz. on the 21st of January, while 

 sitting in the captain's state-room, waiting for him to mark 

 our position on the chart, I took from his shelves a book in 

 which I soon became interested. When we had looked at the 



