left England I had no intention of returning, and directed my
attention earnestly to the languages of Africa, paying none to English
composition. With the exception of a short interval in Angola, I had
been three and a half years without speaking English, and this, with
thirteen years of previous partial disuse of my native tongue, made me
feel sadly at a loss on board the "Frolic".

We left Kilimane on the 12th of July, and reached the Mauritius on the
12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was picking up English, and becoming a
favorite with both men and officers. He seemed a little bewildered,
every thing on board a man-of-war being so new and strange; but he
remarked to me several times, "Your countrymen are very agreeable," and,
"What a strange country this is--all water together!" He also said that
he now understood why I used the sextant. When we reached the Mauritius
a steamer came out to tow us into the harbor. The constant strain on
his untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax, for during the night
he became insane. I thought at first that he was intoxicated. He had
descended into a boat, and, when I attempted to go down and bring him
into the ship, he ran to the stern and said, "No! no! it is enough that
I die alone. You must not perish; if you come, I shall throw myself
into the water." Perceiving that his mind was affected, I said, "Now,
Sekwebu, we are going to Ma Robert." This struck a chord in his bosom,
and he said, "Oh yes; where is she, and where is Robert?" and he seemed
to recover. The officers proposed to secure him by putting him in irons;
but, being a gentleman in his own country, I objected, knowing that the
insane often retain an impression of ill treatment, and I could not
bear to have it said in Sekeletu's country that I had chained one of
his principal men as they had seen slaves treated. I tried to get him
on shore by day, but he refused. In the evening a fresh accession
of insanity occurred; he tried to spear one of the crew, then leaped
overboard, and, though he could swim well, pulled himself down hand
under hand by the chain cable. We never found the body of poor Sekwebu.

At the Mauritius I was most hospitably received by Major General C. M.
Hay, and he generously constrained me to remain with him till, by the
influence of the good climate and quiet English comfort, I got rid of an
enlarged spleen from African fever. In November I came up the Red Sea;
escaped the danger of shipwreck throug