CHAP. II. 
VOYAGE TO MADAGASCAR. 
19 
recently arrived ships were performing quarantine, and the 
bell buoy outside, we found ourselves, in less than an hour, 
in the broad waters of the Indian Ocean. I could not help 
noticing the comparatively quiet and easy manner in which 
our little craft put out to sea, so different from the activity 
and bustle on board the large and crowded steamer. Our 
crew was soon mustered, as it consisted of a very juvenile 
captain, a mate, four seamen, a cook and a steward, in all 
eight souls, and ourselves as passengers. Our captain was a 
native of one of the Sechelles, the mate was a Frenchman 
from Bordeaux, our sailors natives of Madagascar, our cook 
a Frenchman, and the steward a Creole from Mauritius. 
As we proceeded from the land, we found that the wind, 
though fair, had raised a considerable sea; and the motion of 
our little cockle-shell of a vessel was so rapid and violent, as 
compared with that of the “ Indiana,” that, though anxious to 
keep on deck as long as possible, we soon became excessively 
sea-sick. Indeed, I do not remember, in all my voyages, 
ever suffering more from sea-sickness than during the early 
part of this passage to Madagascar. For the two succeeding 
days, I was scarcely able to leave my berth. In the mean¬ 
time our fair wind had died away; and our vessel rolling 
violently in consequence of having nothing but ballast on 
board, we scarcely moved through the water a couple of miles 
in an hour. On the fifth day, towards evening, a light and 
favourable breeze sprang up, which inspired hopes of reaching 
our port in a day or two, as the passage seldom occupies more 
than four or five days: during the night the ship’s head was 
turned northward in a direction parallel with the coast, lest 
we should prove to be nearer the land than was supposed. 
But the next morning was calm, and we again lay all day 
long rolling heavily under a scorching sun, upon a sea as 
smooth as glass. Land was reported as visible during the 
day, but at sunset the western horizon, where, if at all, it 
