New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-06-27
NOTES ON THE MiURITIUS.
1.-THE VOYAGE THITHER.

|
| and betabe ourselves, on dull dismal misty
morning in February. ON beard small steamboat
| for the little town of Paimbpuf one Of the ports
| of Nantes st Nazare being the other. We found
many ships there waiting for a fair wind-on'y
one, however being bound Ike ourselves, for the
lonely Isle of Maurtius, known 10 all lovers of ro-
| mance ~. the Isle of Paul and Virginia
On a bright, sunny day, PaimbGuf is pleasant
| little town with long street the edge of the
water at the end Of which, extending into the sea-
is hill where man is stationed to watch for YES
sells. On this hill is shrine to The Virgin, and
here are The first joyous greetings, and here the
| last sad partings. \ sweeter or sadder spot one
| cannot easily find Far out on the blue sea flies
| the recedng bark, bearing the hopes OF that sad
| group prevented by their tear-bnded eyes from
| seeing what is now the home of their loved ones
Very sad it is to watch them as with heavy hearts
and weary steps they turn toward the SHRINE ana
hang before the Virgin their little wreaths OF early
yole.s that they had almost forgotten, and we III
| yoluEtari, vail our faces as they bow IN prayer.
| Our pretty landlady (the widow of sea captan)
vert daily to this shrine, Ia pray, as had been her
| wont when her cherished husband was at sea, and
| very sad she always looked when she returned
One morning she took ne To her room TO show nlo
| The portrait Of her husband, before which, in a
small vase was a bouquet of early yloets and there
| tod NE of her happy life. Poor thing 50 young, 80
| gentle so sad and yet so resigned and patient
| Many months had her husband been absent but one
| Summers morning as she made her usual Pilgrim
age she knew that her prayers had been answered,
for the good ship H. had entered the bay; but ere It
had rounded the point. the joyous wife lay sense
| less at the shrine, a broken-hearted widow.
l. We were detained several days at Pambeuf and
| had time, when there WAS glimpse OF sunshine to
look about the town. Wewere surprised to see the
grass green the salads growing, and the wall flowers
holding I'D their heads, notwithstanding the cold
| weather. But although very damp and chilly, they
rarely have severe frosts. The dampness, however,
i. more disagreeable than extreme cold aud it seems
po bic for any fuel tn warm one. There Is OF course
| at Panbeuf as in all other small towns, street
where are the shops In these one can DC provided
with mattresses made of kind OF sea-weed very
comfortable things by the way, tin bowls pitchers
&c.: also, quaint hats and bonnets, to say nothing
of heavy wooden shoes lin which the inhabitants of
the greatly to induge), and all the other
ncccssaries for long voyage. After ha ing supplied
ourselves with the usual requisites, We wandered
ON 10 look at the LavOr. in which the PaimbRuflans
take great pride. This LayOr is large pond, with
many fights of steps leading from the banks to the
water. Beside each fight Of steps is large flat
ST, de- and these the people can wash and scrub to
their hearts content and then stretch their clothes
On tie green fields near them to dry. We saw
many groups of light hearted women returning home
with their bundles of clothes their shoulders, and
| little child pulling at their gowns or holding their
bands while the careful elder sister or aunt who had
taken care of the toddling wee things" all the
day, was busy looking about TO see if anything had
been left behind.
We saw a fine specimen Of Norman beauty, the
daughter Of wealthy farmer who came with her
brother 10 spend the Sunday at our little hOel and
very pretty she looked, with her blue eyes, rosy
checks and fair hair; very gay was the silk hand
kerchief around her neck, and very stately she sat
in II huge armchair with her feet on small stove
for she had been quite too grand to wear wooden
shoes, and was fine lady enough to feel chilly. Her
only fear seemed to be lest the damp air or the sud
den shower should take the stiffness out OF her high
crowned cap.
After several days Of impatient waiting, the cap
tain informed he should tarry no longer for fair
wind to come around the Point, but should be
lowed out of the bay by n steamer. SO, collecting
what were to be for the next three months our
household gods, We descended the beautiful and
wel.built quay and soon found ourselves on board
the good ship. Our captain had the reputation OF
being kind. generous and obliging our fellow-pas-
sencers seemed disposed IL be agreeable; the day
was clear and bright, and everything promised fair.
One sad event took place, however, the first night
out, which threw gloom over the early part OF our
voyage. A severe storm came on about sunset, and
increased rapidly. We were dashIDg on IL knots
ali hour, through terrific Sea, when young man
fell from the mast and although two stout sailors
tried to save him, il was impossible. The captain,
being at the helm, immediately put the ship about.
Hen-coOps, &C. were thrown out, but all in vain.
lie was the only Of bis mother, and she widow,
AID bad been waiting three months TO sail with our
kindhearted captain, who, to the end Of the voyage,
never ceased Ia regret his young friend.
The service Oh board French merchant ships diff
fers somewhat from ours. Young men, We'll edu-
Gated, serve sailors, with the title of pOtane,
and cat i'll the cabin with the captain and passengers.
They pass a very rigorous examination before
bee, ming mates, and still more strict one before
being captans. Thefrst mate on board our vessel
Was man more than fifty years Old and the second
mate more than forty. Either OF them in Ameri-
ca, would have been captains years ago.
Our passengers, as have said were al disposed
20 be agreeable. There was Capt. II. NJ, Com
nander Of the Port of Bourbon, who had been re-
tIeshing himself with a few months at Paris, and
WIS now returning to Bourbon by the way of Man.
ritius, not having made the discovery until the voy-
age was reary finished that there was no prospect
Of stopping at Bourbon. Capt. II. NJ. purpCrted to
be Of all iustrious family, and 10 have lost leg at
tie battle Of NayarnO, and 10 have been frequent
er Of the Faubourg 81 German, the part of Paris
Inhabited by the old arstocracy. So be, Of course
had right to take the opposite side ia discussions
and TO come down very positively upon the captain
for bis fondbess for earcs and onionstO insist that
tley provincial tastes, and not tolerated in the
FaubOurg ST. GeImain.
Then there was b., nephew Of the lady for whom
tie present Emperor of France, in days past, threw
himself into h lake 10 recover Der bouquet, which
she had accidentally let fall and which he, kneeng
on the greensward, calamity but drppingly pre-
senied her, Il. was fascinating, elegant always
amiatle and oblging, whether enchanting US with