m PERILS BY SEA. 
151 
quickly let down, and the wreck boarded by 
our chief engineer, who brought off the whole 
family and the other two men who had been 
left behind, and placed them on board our 
steamer in safety. 
It was most painful to see the poor fellows 
from the sinking boat strike out for us and go 
down without any possibility of succour ; but as 
the sea was rolling to a great height, and a 
strong wind was still blowing, it was with the 
greatest care and caution that we were able to 
extricate the steamer from the wreckage, and 
prevent a collision with the disabled ship. We 
landed the survivors the same evening at Re¬ 
union, and with thankfulness looked back upon 
our own preservation in these “ Perils of the 
seas.” 
The following is another illustration of the 
dangers of Madagascar coast life, written by a 
gentleman who, at the very outset of his life in 
the island, had a rather alarming experience of 
the thousand and one vicissitudes of foreign 
travel 
“On Sunday morning, 19th October, about four 
o’clock, I was awoke by a little disturbance on deck, 
and on getting up and looking out was rather startled 
to see that we were close to land. There was then no 
wind to speak of. After a little time, as we were only 
drifting nearer to shore, the captain anchored, but the 
