146 
MADAGASCAR. 
whilst many lives were sacrificed both on land 
and in the harbour to the irresistible fury 
of the gale. So fierce was the power of the 
wind on this particular occasion, that a group 
of pines were observed to bend almost double 
and to maintain a constant series of bowings 
nearly to the ground, which were curiously sug¬ 
gestive of the noddings of a set of hearse plumes. 
When the hurricane has spent itself, the trees 
regain their former uprightness, the flowers rear 
their heads, songs burst forth from the groves, 
and sounds of life again fill the streets; but, 
alas ! the damage and loss wrought by a single 
cyclone are sufficient to ruin often very wealthy 
planters of sugar or coffee in such colonies as 
Mauritius or Reunion, and to throw the whole 
community back and cripple its resources for 
many years to come. Every man has one event, 
which he regards as the event of his career. 
On one occasion in discussing the subject of 
“ cyclones ” with my “ hurricane” friend referred 
to on page 19, he related to me what he always 
considered the event of his life. His story was 
briefly as follows :— 
He had taken ship in a northern port of 
Madagascar for the Mauritius, having managed 
so far to delude the captain, I presume, as to 
convince him that the fatality as to hurricanes 
had left him. However that may be, we know 
