I am a brave man; I fear nothing--mais c'est ce
terrible mal de mer!" (this terrible sea-sickness.)

I do not know what Captain Collyer said in return, but I fancy he did
not pay the colonel any compliments on his gallantry. [I only hope that
Frenchmen, on other occasions, may have their valour cooled down to zero
by that terrible sea-sickness.] Grey and I were very agreeably surprised
when, instead of being reprimanded for what we had done, the captain
praised us very much for the daring way in which we had taken the
schooner. Mr Fitzgerald had told him all the particulars beforehand.
Somebody, however, was to blame for having taken the arms in the boat.
All the men, however, declared that they knew nothing about it, but that
the getting them in had been entirely managed by Ned Dawlish, who, being
dead, could say nothing in his defence, and was therefore found guilty.
The truth was, that the captain was very well-pleased at what had been
done, and was ready to overlook the disobedience of orders of which the
men had been guilty.

Grey and I were in high feather. We dined that day with the captain,
who complimented us on our exploit, and made us give him all the
particulars. He told us that the carpenter, who had been sent on board
to survey the schooner, had reported favourably of her, and that he
proposed to employ her as a tender, while the frigate was refitting at
Port Royal.

As it was necessary to get rid of our prisoners, a course was steered at
once for Jamaica, so that we might land them there. We found, after a
little time, that the French colonel was not a bad old fellow. I really
believe that he was as brave as most men, and that he had spoken the
truth when he said that "le mal de mer had overcome him." Probably most
of his men were in the same condition. Grey and I did not forget our
resolution to try and learn French, and as one of the mates, Duncan
McAllister, could speak a little, we begged him to ask the old colonel
if he would teach us. He replied that he would do so gladly, and would
teach any one else who wished to learn. Indeed our proposal was
ultimately of great service to him, for when he got on shore, and was
admitted as a prisoner on his parole, he gained a very comfortable
livelihood by teaching French. I afterwards heard that, when the war
was over, he declined going back to la belle France, and settled among
his friends the English. It is just possible, that the way in which