MADAGASCAR SHEEP. 
71 
addition to the ordinary diet on board ship. After 
dinner I went with the Captain to visit an island 
near, upon which he kept his live stock, such as pigs, 
sheep, and tortoises ; the two latter had been pro- 
cured from the west side of the island of Madagas- 
car; the sheep were strange looking animals, more 
like goats than sheep, of all colours, and with fat 
tails, like the Cape sheep. Their cost at Madagascar 
had been a tumbler full of powder a piece ; a bullock 
would have cost ten bottles full, and other things 
could have been procured at proportionable prices. 
The principal articles in request among the Mada- 
gases, were said to be powder, brass headed trunk 
nails, muskets, gun-flints, clear claret bottles, look- 
ing-glasses, and cutlery. 
The greater part of the day was very cold and 
showery, and I remained quietly on board, reading 
some old English papers. Wylie was as happy as he 
could be. It was true he did not understand a 
word spoken by those around him (for not a soul on 
board spoke English but the Captain), but he had 
as much to eat as he desired ; and to do him justice, 
I believe he made the most of the opportunity. 
On the other hand, his capacity for eating enter- 
tained the Frenchmen, with the exception, perhaps, 
of his first meal on board, and then, I believe, that 
the immense number of biscuits he devoured, and 
the amazing rapidity with which they disappeared, 
not only astounded, but absolutely alarmed them. 
Fish were caught in great numbers from the ship’s 
