132 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. V. 
mistress, prepared under her direction coffee for the com¬ 
pany, which was served soon after dinner. 
After coffee, the company adjourned to a large adjoining 
room, the walls of which were covered with French paper, 
representing scenes in the different campaigns of Napoleon. 
Here I had the opportunity of conversing with several of the 
officers who spoke English or French, and whom I had pre¬ 
viously seen at my house. Music, consisting of a clarionet 
and drum, with other amusements, were now introduced, and 
dancing followed. At an early hour, the marshal made 
another speech in the name of the Queen, after which her 
Majesty’s health was drunk in a small glass of liquor; when 
the marshal rose to retire, and was followed by the rest of the 
company. In the front court he gave me a cordial farewell 
salutation, and, entering his palanquin, was borne away, 
followed by the other officers. I reached home about nine 
o’clock, and, after a cup of tea, retired to rest, much inte¬ 
rested in the novel scene I had witnessed. 
On the succeeding day I received a packet of newspapers 
and letters from Mauritius, conveying the mournful in¬ 
telligence of the continued ravages of the cholera there. In 
these accounts it was estimated that upwards of 3000 persons 
had been carried off in Port Louis alone, while the disease 
was still extending with fearful severity in some of the pro¬ 
vinces. My grief was extreme on learning that Mrs. Kelsey, 
to whom I had written a letter of condolence by the last ship, 
had followed her honoured husband to the grave within a 
few days of his interment, and that of her two beloved 
children. Their family from the time of my arrival had 
appeared one of the healthiest and happiest in the place. 
They had been amongst my most attached friends there. To 
Mr. Kelsey I had confided the transmission of my letters to 
and from England, with all the little matters connected with 
my own comfort and safety; and I felt deeply hound to him 
by ties stronger than those of mere acquaintanceship. No 
