122 ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ 
on starvation terms by her account of herself and by 
her looks, in the absence of the family. Altogether we 
had a most lovely walk, and Pourtalés enjoyed it as 
much as I did. We returned to the ship by half-past 
nine o’clock with an appetite for breakfast. 
TO MRS. THOMAS G. CARY 
Government House, Barbadoes [December 29] 
Ir happens we are staying with Governor Rawson, 
... at one of the most charming of tropical country 
houses, a wilderness of enormous rooms with balconies 
and jalousies, and breezes blowing through in every 
direction. Our host is the most cordial, affectionate 
man with charming tastes, quite engrossed with his 
collections, which are arranged in a great central hall 
of the house with an eye to artistic effect, and with 
his fernery where one can sit in the shadows and see 
the ferns kept moist by the play of the fountain on 
them in a soft mist, and by his gardens where we 
recognize old Brazilian friends — the crimson Poin- 
settia (the “Star of the North,” as they call it here) 
and palms and blooming garden shrubs which I have 
never seen since the first South American journey. 
All this is very pleasant, and we enjoy it while we may. 
At Sea, January 12, 1872 
My letters will be dull enough, for since we left Bar- 
badoes there is nothing to record but an uneventful 
voyage, very rough during the first part for a week or 
so, but very pleasant and calm for the last five or six 
