We were now joined by the sergeant, who very kindly brought us his capful of ripe plums and hazel-nuts, the growth of the island; a joyful present, but marred by a note from Captain —–­, who had found that he had been mistaken in his supposed knowledge of us, and politely apologised for not being allowed by the health-officers to receive any emigrant beyond the bounds appointed for the performance of quarantine.

I was deeply disappointed, but my husband laughingly told me that I had seen enough of the island; and turning to the good-natured soldier, remarked, that “it could be no easy task to keep such wild savages in order.”

“You may well say that, sir—­but our night scenes far exceed those of the day.  You would think they were incarnate devils; singing, drinking, dancing, shouting, and cutting antics that would surprise the leader of a circus.  They have no shame—­are under no restraint—­nobody knows them here, and they think they can speak and act as they please; and they are such thieves that they rob one another of the little they possess.  The healthy actually run the risk of taking the cholera by robbing the sick.  If you have not hired one or two stout, honest fellows from among your fellow passengers to guard your clothes while they are drying, you will never see half of them again.  They are a sad set, sir, a sad set.  We could, perhaps, manage the men; but the women, sir!—­the women!  Oh, sir!”

Anxious as we were to return to the ship, we were obliged to remain until sun-down in our retired nook.  We were hungry, tired, and out of spirits; the mosquitoes swarmed in myriads around us, tormenting the poor baby, who, not at all pleased with her first visit to the new world, filled the air with cries, when the captain came to tell us that the boat was ready.  It was a welcome sound.  Forcing our way once more through the still squabbling crowd, we gained the landing place.  Here we encountered a boat, just landing a fresh cargo of lively savages from the Emerald Isle.  One fellow, of gigantic proportions, whose long, tattered great-coat just reached below the middle of his bare red legs, and, like charity, hid the defects of his other garments, or perhaps concealed his want of them, leaped upon the rocks, and flourishing aloft his shilelagh, bounded and capered like a wild goat from his native mountains.  “Whurrah! my boys!” he cried, “Shure we’ll all be jintlemen!”

“Pull away, my lads!” said the captain.  Then turning to me, “Well, Mrs. Moodie, I hope that you have had enough of Grosse Isle.  But could you have witnessed the scenes that I did this morning—­”

Here he was interrupted by the wife of the old Scotch dragoon, Mackenzie, running down to the boat and laying her hand familiarly upon his shoulder, “Captain, dinna forget.”

“Forget what?”

She whispered something confidentially in his ear.

“Oh, ho! the brandy!” he responded aloud.  “I should have thought, Mrs. Mackenzie, that you had had enough of that same on yon island?”