

SALT-MARSH. 



165 



man who had rested at noon at St. Luzia; on 

 my answering in the affirmative, he said that lie 

 was at the commandant's at the time, and that 

 there were several debates about the mode of pro- 

 ceeding respecting me and mine — that my deter- 

 mination not to give up my passport had caused 

 some demur, and that among other suppositions 

 of who I might be, one w r iseacre said, there was 

 no knowing whether I was not one of Bonaparte's 

 ministers, and what might be my diabolical plans. 

 Indeed I was often amused with the strange 

 ideas which the country-people entertained of dis- 

 tant nations, of which they had heard the names, 

 and perhaps some further particulars ; these were 

 altered in such a manner by their misapprehen- 

 sion, that it was oftentimes difficult to discover 

 what the real circumstances were which had 

 been related to them. 



We traversed another salt-marsh this after- 

 noon. The marsh I have mentioned as having 

 crossed on the 4th of this month, was the only 

 one of that description which I met with. The 

 others I have spoken of, and those which I shall 

 have occasion to mention, are dry, and the soil 

 upon them in summer is hard ; it is dark coloured, 

 and produces no grass, but upon the skirts of the 

 marshes are seen several sea-side plants, and the 

 water that oozes from them is quite salt. 



Our road the next morning lay through brush- 

 wood for three leagues over heavy sand, and 



m 3 



