it
which our ancestors tasted. The voyage, though not more than three
thousand miles in length, lasted a whole month, and there was some
rough weather, which he felt terribly, for he was not a particularly
good sailor, and the ship was very small. Writing to his sister he
said:--

"You will not care overmuch for my secular history, but will say,
'What did you learn on the passage?' Well, the passage was truly a
fearful trial; dirt prevailed in everything; the bilge-water
literally, when pumped out from decayed sugar, tore up the very
inmost parts of the stomach, and showed me that, if that was wrong,
life was unendurable. I am not generally sick at sea, but I was
nearly dead with it; perhaps it was Mauritius fever coming out.
Salt water had got into the tank and we had to drink it. I was
very, very ill, but through it all I would not have changed one
iota of the voyage....

"I am a _rag_; that voyage in the _Scotia_ has killed me. I went to
Dr. Abercromby, and he told me I was on the verge of an attack of
jaundice. I am certainly better, but feel far from well. Listless,
worried in _body_, not a bit in spirits, and as if I had eaten
copper. I want to get into the position of delighting to accept and
do His will, yet I feel so very much inclined to wish His will
might be my release....

"Earth's joys grow very dim, its glories have faded. My Mauritius
sojourn has quenched to a great degree my desire for anything but
to be with Jesus. Everybody is very kind here and complimentary,
but all compliments are to me but sounds of the wind. If it was
Jesus' will, how delighted I should be to be called away, to be a
nail in His footstool, and how willingly I would have every one to
be higher than me in heaven!"

There was, however, some mitigation to the horrors of this voyage, for,
during it, he heard of his promotion to the rank of major-general,
which gave him very great satisfaction, as he was beginning to fear
that, as the War Office authorities had failed to offer him an
appointment worthy of his merits, they might also see fit to pass him
over in the matter of promotion. Before he had heard the news he had
written:--

"Why am I not in the _Gazette_? I will not move, but it seems odd.
Anyway, if they do not promote me, I shall hope for strength to
bear it. _He_ is ruler, and I love Jesus irrespective of His mig