The morning times., 1896-05-17

=. HE best dinner l ever ate was put be-
fore me on the tropical. blooming
yeranda OF the Hotel Mans. IN the
Island OF Mauritius. in the South.
Pacific Ocean said Comedian jeff
DE Angels. as he rose from table the other
evening. Circumstances were tue SrlSO! .
ing. 1t was in 81, and had been pla ying
leading comedy parts in Bombay. We
pla ycd four months at one theater. The
people had all seen us. we had gwen them
all we had. there was nothing else left for
us to do but move on. Some one suggested
Mauritus. II lay TO the southwest, across
1000 miles OF sea. We got there and had
dinner the first thing, and royal feast ii
WAS 10 us. but the getting there was con-
spicuuus period in my life that will never
be forgotten. The only available vessel was
a sailing bark Of only $50 tons. called tire
Peggy boy. The Peggy Doy u-S not made
for passpngcrS. and there were seventeen
Of us. The four ladies took the captains
cabin. the men took the forecastle, the sail
ors took the hold. The sailors. by the way,
were Malays. and the cargo was onions.
The first fifteen days l spent on a sky
light. Fact. / was deathly sick between
Mala VS.. onions nd heavy seas, 50 took a
blanket. wrapped myself up and stretched
out on the sEylight of the cabin. When it
rained / was soaked. but the kindly sun
presently dried me out. l couldn't leave
llG Sk NliElil anu sell NOW ilN tQ
at all is a mystery.
.'One night it began to blow and storm.
The deck was ordered cleared Every
thing was unSCrewed and taken below
They bad to draft in Us passengers. l
took to my feet for the first time No
one could see for the blaCkness Of the
storm. and even if we could have hear.
the captain. no one would have understood
his salt jargOn. / started to grab every
thing in sight but | only got half way
across the deck. when Il was attired in
pa iamas ana a blanket my toe discovered
a screw eye. and brought me to the deck.
l was put up for four days repairs
The storm left us near the Equator,
Ia a dead tropical calm. For two days
the sails hung quiet Gotham baseball
fan speaking OF the Giants. Food began
TO get scarce The supply shrmk to corn
becf-no1hin@ else. Corn beef fried
ha kel, stewed. roasted, raw. hashed.
but always corn beef. on one end OF the
deck were two ducks in a coop We beg
ced the captain 10 serve them, jus: for a
festival Iueal-a sort or Christmas din
Hcr for Us seventeen. He was wise man.
and said they must be saved, in case any
one took sick
Its odd The topics that viii suggest
themselves under certain circumstances
We used TO sit by the hour and argue on
the best way TO cook frogs legs. or stew
tripe. or fry trout. or brew bishop.
One day we came out into the air with
"a" smack of corn bCefon ourtonEHe and the
aroma OF Onions in our noStris. We leaned
against tic bulwarks picking our teeth
when The subject dnfted to Welsh rarehif.
We nearly came to blows on the prope-
proportion of butter and ale. Suddenly
the Crv went up. Duck overheard Duck
ovcrbOardr' We looked at each other
aghaSt. Quicker than a glance six OF us
Topped over thc sides after The ugly duck
ling which threatened TO escape. 1t was
brought safely back and lodged in the
coop again. always 4 temptation. But il
never became a saCfi flee. ] have no
douit its stuI in the coop in case oc
emergency.
AT iaSi. after thirty-eight DAYS Of sore
distress and long waiting. Mauritils hove
in sight. II was ike a vision OF the gate
ofhcayPn. WehcgantO shave wash, polish.
dress and lick our lean chops in anticipa-
tiOn OF food. Only a couple of hours and We
were t. l.e ashore. We sailed proudly into
the harhor. An officer came 10 review our
papers. We greeted him efrusive!y His
rrniv was like 'nayl Rayr from heavcu's
gatekaeper 10 4 damned soul. You viii
have to remain on board in quarantine three
dIvs,' 1T was awful. Cornbeef malays,
onions paiamas. ship for three more days
and The haven in sight and in reach.
'when we did land went 10 the priEci-
pal hotel and ordered The best dinner mile
host could pat uD. Under the palms and
tropical flowers or broad Vera nda he laid
his snowy linen ard seventeen starved
lhcsI,ians went Al The delights ofthc board.
W" ~" Until "" couldn't eat any more nd
nothing ever did OF ever could taste like
that meal