would only have taken him. The fish proved excellent, though some of
them really seemed almost too pretty to eat. A brilliant gold fish,
weighing about three pounds, and something like a grey mullet in
flavour, was perhaps the best. The prices were very curious. Chickens
a shilling each, ducks five shillings, goats thirty shillings, and
sheep ten shillings. Vegetables, fruit, and flowers were extremely
cheap; but the charge for water, fetched from the spring in our own
breakers by our own crew, with but little assistance from four or five
negroes, was 3_l_. 18_s_. However, as ours is the only yacht, with one
exception, that has ever visited this island, there was nothing for it
except to pay the bill without demur.

I never in my life felt so warm as I did to-day on shore, though the
inhabitants say it will not be _really_ hot for two months yet; I
never before saw cocoa-nut palms growing; and I never tasted a mango
until this morning; so I have experienced three new sensations in one
day.

The night was fearfully close, muggy, and thundery, the temperature in
the cabins being 89°, in spite of open sky-lights and port-holes.
Generally speaking, it has not hitherto been as hot as we expected,
especially on board the yacht itself. On deck there is almost always a
nice breeze, but below it is certainly warm.

_Tuesday, August 1st_.--Yesterday we were still under sail, but to-day
it has been necessary to steam, for the wind has fallen too light.
There was a heavy roll from the south, and the weather continued hot
and oppressive. In the cabins the thermometer stood at 89° during the
whole of the night, in spite of all our efforts to improve the
temperature. We therefore put three of the children in the deck-house