RETURN TO BISSAO. 333 
to inform me of the arrival of a French schooner at Bissao. 
I was lonsf undecided what to do ; at last I followed the advice 
of Boukari, who, judging me incapable of again travelling on 
foot, thought it our best way to return to Bissao. On the 
25th of November, our vessel anchored before that settlement ; 
M. de Mattos received me with the joy he would have felt on 
again seeing a son whom he liad given up for lost. Two 
French ships from Senegal were lying before his house ; I 
thought myself on the point of returning at last to my coun- 
trymen, but in a few days my hopes were cruelly blasted ; 
one of these vessels sailed for the Rio Pungo, the other for 
the Cape de Verd Islands. I had long endured my afflictions 
with patience, but this sudden disappointment brought on 
such a violent paroxysm of fever, that I found myself on the 
very brink of the grave. A mistake saved my life ; I asked 
for ipecacuanha, and the governor sent me a strong emetic ; 
leaving the decision of my fate to Providence, I swallowed 
this medicine and recovered. The arrival of M. Baudin's 
schooner from Goree, also contributed to the re-establishment 
of my health. I was ready to embark on the 3d of January 
1819. 
The settlement of Bissao, situated in eleven degrees 
eighteen minutes north latitude, is placed at the south-western 
extremity of a large island, formed by the river Geba near 
its efflux into the ocean. The ground on which this settle- 
ment is built, although low and surrounded by stagnant watei% 
