There they found the colony distressed by the long continuance
of the Kaffir war. Prices for everything were extortionate, and the
colonists had no mind for any affairs than their own, so after a short
stay the voyagers were glad to set out for the Mauritius. That island,
although in the possession of Britain, still retained a strong impress
of its French occupation, and the travellers were interested by the
mixture of population inhabiting it.[B]
"Passing through the closely packed lines of shipping, and
landing as a stranger at Port Louis, perhaps the first thing to
engage attention is the strange mixture of
nations,--representatives, he might at first be inclined to
imagine, of half the countries of the earth. He stares at a
coolie from Madras with a breech-cloth and a soldier's jacket, or
a stately bearded Moor striking a bargain with a Parsee merchant.
A Chinaman with two bundles slung on a bamboo hurries past,
jostling a group of young Creole exquisites smoking their
cheroots at a corner, and talking of last night's Norma, or the
programme of the evening's performance at the Hippodrome in the
Champ de Mars. His eye next catches a couple of sailors reeling
out of a grogshop, to the amusement of a group of laughing
negresses, in white muslin dresses of the latest Parisian
fashion, contrasting strongly with a modestly attired Cingalese
woman, and an Indian ayah with her young charge.
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