CHAP. III. 
RELIGIOUS SERVICES EOR THE SEAMEN. 
67 
The inhabitants of Mauritius did not limit their kind offices 
towards the shipwrecked strangers to the supply of their more 
immediate wants. A subscription was set on foot by the in¬ 
habitants of the island, and the magnificent sum of 1200 l. 
was raised and distributed amongst the passengers, who 
were sent on to Sydney, their original destination, by the 
government. 
There were many English and American seamen visiting 
the port at this season, and, as there were no religious 
services amongst them on the Sabbath, I made application 
to the harbour master, Captain Russell, for permission to have 
public worship and preaching for sailors every Sunday in the 
port office. Permission to occupy it for this purpose was 
very readily granted by the governor. The requisite fittings 
were provided, and at times a considerable number of captains, 
officers, and seamen, from the vessels in the harbour, attended. 
I continued these services every Sabbath morning until the 
season when unfavourable weather is always expected, and 
few vessels came or remained in the harbour. 
Towards the close of the month of October in this year I 
visited Moka, an inland district about nine or ten miles from 
Port Louis. The morning we set out for this purpose was 
fine, and we started early, in order to secure the pleasant 
coolness of that part of the day. The road was hilly, and, 
though walking up the hills proved very fatiguing, we were 
amply repaid by the beauty of the scenery and the many 
objects of novelty and interest which we passed. In some 
places stately groves or avenues of mango trees led from the 
road to a large and respectable house; at others, the rudely 
thatched hut of the Indian or of the Creole vender of fruit or 
beverage stood under the shade of a tamarind tree by the 
side of the dusty road. In some places tall bamboos grew 
most luxuriantly on both sides of the road, and, uniting their 
