6 
" TURTLE -TURNING. " 
son with his master ; but though he was considerably 
blacker than the natives there, and very probably came 
originally from the same stock, he told me that he did 
not understand a word of their language — a curious 
instance of negro affectation. These Delagoa men were 
the first genuine Africans I had made acquaintance 
with — bright-witted apparently, slim, and very ugly, 
with a wild avaricious look, eating and drinking any- 
thing you chose to offer them, and scrambling for the 
fag-ends of your cigars — all in strong contrast to the 
gentle Hindoo. What surprised me was, that near 
their conical grass huts they kept pigs, which are rarely 
seen near an Indian village. The breed was a very 
good short-nosed black kind. Two vessels in the har- 
bour, manned by East Indians, were pronounced by 
the " Prince of Wales," and others who boarded them, 
to be fitted up for slaves ; but the Portuguese governor 
assured us that no slaver had visited Delagoa since the 
last English man-of-war was there a year ago. This 
did not remove our suspicions, for the flat-roofed houses 
in the bazaar had every appearance of being receptacles 
for slaves. 
On the night of the 1st August the Admiral indulged 
us all by landing on the uninhabited coral island of 
Europa. He was the first to " turn a turtle," and in 
low water capsized and sat upon the animal all alone, 
while a jolly middie, named O'Kouke, ran for help. 
The beast was so strong that he was carrying the 
" light weight" out to sea by the use of his flappers, 
which acted to some purpose on the making tide, and 
on the Admirals legs in particular. The doubtful 
struggle lasted an hour and a half, when some sailors 
came up and towed the vanquished turtle ashore — 
