A CULTIVATED MIND DERANGED. 
173 
My attention was attracted to one of the passengers, who, 
upon my inquiring for Spanish books, offered me one of Spanish 
comedy; there was something polished in his manners, yet 
something wayward, which very much excited my interest. His 
clothes were good, still, in his helplessness, they had become 
extremely filthy. He commenced conversation, but soon stopped 
for a moment, as if trying to recollect himself; and said he be¬ 
lieved he had entirely lost his mind, that his ideas were so 
incoherent, he feared he could not make himself understood.. He 
first inquired where the ship was bound; I informed him, and 
asked him how he came on board. He did not know, but said 
he was informed that he was to be sent home; he did not know 
why, nor from whom he received the information. He wished 
me to converse with him, and try to set him right; he gave me 
the keys to his trunks, and wished me to open them. I found 
them stored with clothing of the best quality, together with a 
well selected library of books, mathematical instruments, and 
materials for drawing: everything indicating a man of refine¬ 
ment and education. In his writing desk I found a patriotic 
poem, composed and read by him, on board the ship in which 
he sailed for California: on the anniversary of our national 
independence. I also found a daguerreotype ; the sight of this 
seemed to awaken pleasing emotions. It contained the portraits 
of a lady and child; these he recognized as his wife and little daugh¬ 
ter. By the sight of these, he was at first overcome; his wife 
appeared natural to him, but he had not the most distant idea of 
the age of his little daughter; he wondered if it was of a sufifb 
cient age, when he left home, to call him father, and whether it 
would remember and greet him when he returned. He now 
realized, most painfully, the gloom that hung like a pall over 
his memory. The sight of the articles as I would take them out, 
seemed to call up others, by association. The sight of rifle and 
pistol-balls reminded him that he had, somewhere, a rifle and 
revolver, where, he did not know. I requested him to run back 
in his memory, if possible, to the time when he first became de¬ 
ranged. He said that he was attacked with the fever at Beni¬ 
cia, and carried on board a ship that was then lying at anchor. 
There were several sick on board, and during his sickness, one 
was brought and placed on a table in front of his berth. He 
