tracted and
adventurous voyage, the _Anna Waarden_ safely reached Durban, where she
refitted, ultimately arriving safely in Amsterdam.

At ten o'clock in the morning of the fifth day after parting company
with Briscoe, we entered Colombo harbour and came to an anchor in six
fathoms. The boy Julius was by this time sufficiently recovered to show
once more on deck, but his health was still such as to cause his mother
some anxiety; therefore, after anxious consultation with Harper, it was
arranged that he should be taken up to Kandy and given a fortnight's
thorough change of air and scene. The whole party--that is to say, Mrs
Vansittart, her son and daughter, and Monroe--therefore packed up their
traps and went ashore immediately after luncheon; and we saw no more of
them for a full fortnight. At least we saw no more of them down aboard
the yacht; but after they had been gone some three or four days Kennedy
received an invitation to go up to Kandy, to dine and spend the next day
there; and when he returned he brought with him a similar invitation for
me, it being now impossible for us both to be out of the ship together,
since, immediately upon Briscoe's departure, I had been temporarily
promoted to the position of second mate, with the promise of permanent
confirmation in the event of Briscoe not rejoining us. So in my turn,
up I went to Kandy, and enjoyed the trip immensely, being most warmly
received by everybody except Julius, who seemed wholly unable to conquer
his antipathy toward me.

When the party returned to the yacht they were all, Julius included,
looking vastly better for their sojourn among the hills; indeed the boy
appeared better in health than I had ever seen him before, and I thought
there was a shade of improvement in his temper also. They came aboard
about half-past five o'clock in the evening, and, we having been
previously warned by letter, the moment that they stepped in on deck we
hove up our anchor, started our engine, and proceeded to sea, in order
that we might avoid spending the night in the insufferable heat of the
harbour. We kept the engine going until we had rounded Dondra Head and
were heading north, with Adam's Peak square off our port beam, when we
made sail, bound for Calcutta, where we arrived exactly a week later.

We lay at Calcutta a whole month, during which Mrs Vansittart and her
party toured India from end to end, seeing, according to her own
account, everything worth seei