24 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC 



or what is the same thing, gone away, the pleasure is enhanced 

 — imagination cannot conjure up any thing half so pleasant. 



As I answered the questions, my arm resting on Brunner's, 

 we walked towards the imperial chapel, which fronts the quay. 

 1 observed that my friend was attired ^ le citoyen, and at once 

 inferred that a change had taken place in his pursuits. 

 You have doffed your regimentals?" 



*'0h yes ! — true,'^ he replied, "I followed your advice in 

 that ; you told me, you may remember, 



" The charm of life that's lost in love, 

 Is never found in fame !" 



and I considered that, with some other things you said, very 

 seriously, and in consequence, changed the muster roll into a 

 leger.^' 



<^And got married in consequence of the change?" 



^^If you discovered that by my countenance, you deserve 

 credit as a physiognomist. I have indeed found ' a Leah my 

 recompense to be' — but more of that anon." 



I must congratulate you at any rate — for a man of the 

 world would never marry in Brazil without making himself 

 wealthy, because happiness is seldom the companion of a fo- 

 reign wife and poverty." 



"Thank you — thank you — I am much better — I mean, 1 

 am much more useful in the world now than I was as a sol- 

 dier ; but you shall have an opportunity of judging for yourself. 

 Do you observe any change in the appearance of the '^Praga 

 de San Jose" or " Largo do Pago ?" 



The fountain seems to be just as much frequented, and I do 

 not perceive that the chattering of the negroes is less ; nor have 

 they lost any skill in balancing their water-kegs. If we may 

 judge from the heavy burdens they carry upon it, negroes care 

 less for the head than we do. How is it, that pressure does 

 not spread the arch of the skull and make it assume an unna- 

 tural shape, as in the case of Indians of certain tribes ! Some 

 of the slaves here carry almost constantly, the weight of fifteen 

 or sixteen gallons of water on the head nearly all day long, 

 moving so steadily under it, that keg and man appear to be 



