244 
CONVENT. 
and so united as to form a kind of labyrinth from which the fish, 
having once entered, cannot disentangle themselves. 
A dark night prevented our seeing the scenery in the neigh- 
bourhood of the convent of Benangonan. We landed on a kind of 
pier near a mound of stone, on which was erected a huge cross in front 
of a court that led to the convent. The guide who accompanied us 
having made known to its inmates that we were travelling under the 
protection of the Government, obtained for us immediate admittance. 
We were received by an Augustine friar, who led us into the 
refectory of the convent, and informed us that the Superior was 
absent, but would soon return. The convent, like most others in 
Luconia, was capable of lodging a great number of monks, but ap- 
peared to contain only two Augustine fathers. Our host, seemingly 
about forty years of age, something below the middling height, and 
rather corpulent, conversed with us in Latin, and finding one of the 
party was a medical man, begged his advice for a complaint which 
he endeavoured to express by laying his hand on his stomach, and 
exclaiming repeatedly, “ fames habeo .” As his plump figure, ruddy 
complexion, and laughing eyes, seemed to forbid the supposition of 
real disease, we w r ere disposed to believe that he had some other 
object in view than obtaining medical advice. When he found, 
however, that “ fames habeo ’ did not render his complaint intelli- 
gible, he went into other symptoms, and when he had obtained a 
prescription was satisfied. 
In about half an hour after our arrival, the Superior came in. He 
was a tall majestic figure, and entering enveloped in his cowl and 
leaning on his staff, presented an admirable subject for the pencil. 
When freed of his cloak, he exhibited a countenance of intelligence 
and feeling. He welcomed us cordially, and immediately gave 
directions for our supper and beds. He had been, he said, on a 
visit to the Indians of his neighbourhood, some of whom were 
dying, and others dangerously ill of an epidemic disease that had 
been some time prevalent on the island, and peculiarly fatal to the 
natives inhabiting the shores of the lake. One of the alleged 
