case, together with
tinder and matches. I tried to strike a light, and after some
difficulty succeeded. I collected the fragments of the branches used for
the hurdles, the children gathered some dry leaves, and I had soon a
bright, lively fire, which I was delighted to see, notwithstanding the
heat of the climate. I scraped the scales from the fish with my knife,
washed them in the rivulet, and then placed them on the fire to broil;
this was my apprenticeship in the art of cookery. I thought how useful
it would be to give young ladies some knowledge of the useful arts; for
who can foresee what they may need? Our European dinner delighted us as
much as the bath and the fishing which had preceded it. I decided to fix
our residence at the side of the rivulet, and beneath the fig-trees; my
only objection being the fear of missing some passing vessel which might
carry us back to Europe. But can you understand my feelings, when I
confess to you that, although overcome by sorrow and desolation, having
lost husband, son, and fortune, knowing that in order to support myself
and bring up my children I must depend upon my friends, and to attain
this having to hazard again the dangers of the sea, the very thought of
which made me shudder, I should prefer to remain where Providence had
brought me, and live calmly without obligation to any one? I might
certainly have some difficulty in procuring the means of supporting a
life which was dear to me for the sake of my children; but even this was
an employment and an amusement. My children would early learn to bear
privations, to content themselves with a simple and frugal life, and to
labour for their own support. I might teach them all that I knew would
be useful to them in future, and above all, impress upon their young
minds the great truths of our holy religion. By bringing this constantly
before their unsophisticated understanding, I might hope they would draw
from it the necessary virtues of resignation and contentment. I was only
twenty-three years of age, and might hope, by God's mercy, to be spared
to them some time, and in the course of years who knew what might
happen? Besides we were not so far from the sea but that I might visit
it sometimes, if it were only to seek for turtles' eggs. I remained then
under our fig-tree at night, and by day on the borders of the stream."

"It was under a fig-tree, also," said my wife, "that I have spent four
happy years of my life. Unknown to