A speculative baker of Madras had come out in the first boat that reached the steamer with ice and biscuits for sale, which he disposed of very much to his profit.

The angry heavens at length took compassion on us and cleared up before sunset.  We were then enabled to see the palace-like dwellings of the Europeans, built half in the Grecian and half in the Italian style of architecture, stretching along the shore and beautifully lighted by the sun.  Besides these, there were others standing outside the town in the midst of magnificent gardens.

Before we left, a number of natives ventured to us in small boats with fruit, fish, and other trifles.  Their boats were constructed of the trunks of four small trees, tightly bound together with thin ropes made of the fibres of the cocoa-tree; a long piece of wood served as an oar.  The waves broke so completely over them that I imagined every instant that both boats and men were irretrievably lost.

The good people were almost in a state of nature, and seemed to bestow all their care on their heads, which were covered with pieces of cloth, turbans, cloth or straw caps, or very high and peaked straw hats.  The more respectable—­among whom may be reckoned the boatmen who brought the passengers and mails—­were, however, in many cases, very tastily dressed.  They had on neat jackets, and large long pieces of cloth wrapped round their bodies; both the cloths and jackets were white, with a border of blue stripes.  On their heads they wore tightly fitting white caps, with a long flap hanging down as far as their shoulders.  These caps, too, had a blue border.  The complexion of the natives was a dark brown or coffee colour.

Late in the evening, a native woman came on board with her two children.  She had paid second-class fare, and was shown a small dark berth not far from the first cabin places.  Her younger child had, unfortunately, a bad cough, which prevented some rich English lady, who had likewise a child with her, from sleeping.  Perhaps the exaggerated tenderness which this lady manifested for her little son caused her to believe that the cough might be catching; but, be that as it may, the first thing she did on the following morning, was to beg that the captain would transfer mother and children to the deck, which the noble-hearted humane captain immediately did, neither the lady nor himself caring in the least whether the poor mother had or had not, even a warm coverlid to protect her sick child from the night cold and the frequent heavy showers.

Would that this rich English lady’s child had only been ill, and exposed with her to the foggy night air, that she might herself have experienced what it is to be thus harshly treated!  A person of any heart must almost feel ashamed at belonging to a class of beings who allow themselves to be far surpassed in humanity and kindness by those who are termed savages; no savages would have thus thrust forth a poor woman with a sick child, but would, on the contrary, have taken care of both.  It is only Europeans, who have been brought up with Christian principles, who assume the right of treating coloured people according as their whim or fancy may dictate.