“A temporary shelter was erected; a large pole with a white flag fastened to it, as a signal to any passing vessel, was set up; and the captain, with two of his men, set out to explore the island.  They were gone for two days.  On returning, they reported no inhabitants, but plenty of good game, if any way could be devised to take it.  No vessel appearing, after the lapse of some twelve or fifteen days, the men set about building for us a more comfortable place of shelter.  One of these men had been a carpenter, and as an axe and saw, and some few tools, had come ashore on pieces of the wreck, and in chests, he was enabled to put up a very comfortable tenement, with an apartment for me partitioned off from the main room.

“Here we remained for I can scarcely tell how long.  It was, I believe, for about a year and a half; during which time two of the men died, and our party was reduced to four.  About this period, when all of us began to feel sick from hope deferred, and almost to wish that we might die, a heavy storm came up, with wind from the north-west, and blew heavily for three or four days.  On the morning of the fourth day, when the wind had subsided, a vessel, driven out of her course, was seen within a few leagues of the land.  Signals were instantly made, and our eyes gladdened by the sight of a boat which was put off from the ship.  In this we soon embarked, and, with a sensation of wild delight, found ourselves once more treading the deck of a good vessel.  She was an English merchantman, bound for Canton.  We made a quick passage to that port, where we found a vessel just ready to sail for Liverpool.  In this I embarked, with my father, who still remained in the same sad state of mental derangement.  No incident, worthy of referring to now, occurred on our passage to Liverpool, whence we embarked for New Orleans, at which place we arrived, after having been absent from our native land for the long space of nearly three years!  How different were my feelings, my hopes, my heart, on the day I returned to that city eight years from the time I left it as a gay child, with the world all new and bright and beautiful before me!  I need not draw the contrast.  Your own thoughts can do that vividly enough.

“You can scarcely imagine the eagerness with which I looked forward to an arrival in my native city.  We had friends there, and a fortune, and I fed my heart with the pleasing hope that skillful physicians would awaken my father’s slumbering reason into renewed and healthy activity.  Arrived there at last, we took lodgings at a hotel, where I wrote a brief note to my father’s partner, in whose hands all the business had been, of course, during our absence, stating a few facts as to our long absence and asking him to attend upon us immediately.  After dispatching this note, I waited in almost breathless expectation, looking every moment to see Mr. Paralette enter.  But hour after hour passed, and no one came.  Then I sent notes to two or three of my