sh--A miraculous voyage of a long-boat
with thirty-three slaves to Bahia--My disasters and mishaps
at Cape Mount in consequence of this war--Exaggerations of
my enemies--My true character--Letter from Rev. JOHN SEYS to
me--My desire to aid the missionaries--CAIN and CURTIS stimulate
the British against me--Adventure of the Chancellor--the British
destroy my establishment--Death of Fana-Toro--The natives revenge
my loss--The end 442

THEODORE CANOT.

CHAPTER I.

Whilst Bonaparte was busy conquering Italy, my excellent father, Louis
Canot, a captain and paymaster in the French army, thought fit to
pursue his fortunes among the gentler sex of that fascinating country,
and luckily won the heart and hand of a blooming Piedmontese, to whom
I owe my birth in the capital of Tuscany.

My father was faithful to the Emperor as well as the Consul. He
followed his sovereign in his disasters as well as glory: nor did he
falter in allegiance until death closed his career on the field of
Waterloo.

Soldiers' wives are seldom rich, and my mother was no exception to the
rule. She was left in very moderate circumstances, with six children
to support; but the widow of an old campaigner, who had partaken the
sufferings of many a long and dreary march with her husband, was
neither disheartened by the calamity, nor at a loss for thrifty
expedients to educate her younger offspring. Accordingly, I was kept
at school, studying geography, arithmetic, history and the languages,
until near twelve years old, when it was thought time for me to choose
a profession. At school, and in my leisure hours, I had always been a
greedy devourer of books of travel, or historical narratives full of
stirring incidents, so that when I avowed my preference for a
sea-faring life, no one was surprised. Indeed, my fancy was rather
applauded, as two of my mother's brothers had served in the Neapolitan
navy, under Murat. Proper inquiries were quickly made at Leghorn; and,
in a few weeks, I found myself on the _mole_ of that noble seaport,
comfortably equipped, with a liberal outfit, ready to embark, as an
apprentice, upon the American ship Galatea, of Boston.

It was in the year 1819, that I first saluted the element upon which
it has been my destiny to pass so much of my life. The reader will
readily imagine the discomforts to which I was subjected on this
voyage. Born and bred in the interio