56 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. III. 
as, “ A bon Diable,” and “ A pauvre Diable; ” “A la Sainte 
Famille ” over a haberdasher’s shop, and “ A la Grace de Dieu ” 
over a perfumer’s or confectioner’s. Malabar barbers, whose 
stock of implements seldom exceeded scissors, razor, and a 
small looking-glass, might be seen in all parts of the town, 
and at all hours of the day, in the open air, by the shady side 
of a wall, or, if the sun was vertical, under a piece of matting 
spread on two or three sticks fixed against a wall, shaving 
away at the dry or perspiring heads or faces of their cus¬ 
tomers, who watched with interest, by means of a small cir¬ 
cular looking-glass, the progress and execution of the razor. 
Almost equally amusing was the strange misappropriation of 
names by which the servants were sometimes designated. In 
the families in which I was occasionally domiciled, I was at 
first startled by hearing the attendants, chiefly Creoles or 
coloured natives of Mauritius, called by names equally sug¬ 
gestive of ancient grandeur or poetical interest. In one 
family, Aristides waited at table, Cecile was sewing woman, 
Virginia nurse, and Amadeo was cook’s assistant. In another, 
Urania was house servant; while Adonis and Polydore were 
amongst those employed about the premises. These names, 
and others of a similar kind, had probably been given at 
the time when slavery existed; but they seemed, among the 
younger Creoles, to be giving place to such as Harry, Charles, 
Louis, and other more familiar appellations. 
So long as I was the guest of Mr. Kelsey I passed through 
the Malabar or Coolie town every time I went in and out of 
Port Louis, and my attention was attracted by their habit of 
squatting or sitting to every kind of work. Tailors held the 
cloth they were stitching between their toes; shoemakers held 
the last or leather in the same manner; silversmiths sat on 
the floor to their work; and smiths had their forge and anvil 
on the ground. All their work seemed to be done in this 
posture. I once saw two men sitting down while cutting a 
piece of timber with a cross-cut saw. Perhaps this habit might 
