536 



found il in India, and for twenty years after my return to Eng- 

 land, where I trod the walk of private life; while my friend, with 

 an ample fortune, and abilities equal to his station, filled a seat in 

 parliament, became a director and chairman of the East India 

 company, and purchased one of the finest estates in Hertfordshire, 

 where he lived many years a blessing to all around him. To him 

 1 was entirely indebted for my appointment to Baroche, and con- 

 sequently for the independence I now enjoy. From the first hour 

 { saw him until the day of his death, at the venerable age of four- 

 score, he was indeed my friend! A heart overflowing with a grate- 

 ful recollection of departed worth, has caused a little deviation 

 from the story of the brahmin, to which I now return. 



The lady sitting at the head of my friend's table when I made 

 my bashful entry, was a widow at the time he married her. Her 

 first husband died when she Avas very young, leaving two children, 

 a son and daughter. The latter remained with her mother, the 

 former was sent to England for education, and at the age of six- 

 teen embarked for Bombay with the appointment of a writer, some 

 years prior to my arrival there. The ships of that season all 

 reached the island in safety, except the one in which this young 

 gentleman sailed, which at length was deemed a missing ship, and 

 her safety despaired of. A mother could not so easily give up 

 hope ; her usual evening walk was on a sandy beach, forming a 

 bay on the western side of the island, in full view of the ocean. 

 Maternal anxiety frequently cast a longing eye to that quarter 

 where the ships from Europe generally appeared. The shore of 

 that bay was also the place where most of the Hindoos erected the 

 funeral pile and burnt their dead. This ceremony is attended by 



