B6 
MESURIL. 
liave carried on this species of traffic, otherwise they could not 
for so Jong a period have kept the natives in an ignorance thus 
suitable to their purposes. I was informed that, in the interior, the 
traders are still able to purchase for about the value of two dollars, 
in the above articles, either a slave, or an elephant's tooth from 
sixty to eighty pounds weight. This fair was superintended by a 
guard of the Portuguese native troops, under the direction of an 
Arab, whose grandfather came from Egypt, and, having rendered 
some important services to the government, had the command of 
a district given him with the title of Prince of Patta, which latter is 
still continued by the natives to his descendant, though the post 
he now occupies is merely equal to that of a common sergeant. 
On the 1st of September preparations were made for the de- 
parture of the Racehorse and Staunch, and on the 2d they left the 
harbour, when I returned to the Marian, after having had the 
unpleasant task of parting from Captain Fisher, whose kind atten- 
tions during my stay with him had made the residence on board 
a ship singularly agreeable. 
On the following day. the Governor very obligingly made me 
an offer of rooms either on the Island or at Mesuril, which latter 
I accepted, and on the evening of the 5th I went over and took 
up my abode there. The dawn of day, which is in all countries 
exhilarating, was here peculiarly delightful ; the refreshing cool- 
ness of the air^ the still calmness of the water, and the unclouded 
serenity of the sky, opposed to the oppressive heat, heavy at- 
mosphere, and hot winds that often prevail after mid-day in this 
climate, produce from contrast a sensation of pleasure not easily to 
be conceived by those who have never visited a tropical country. 
