The apparently nice cool breeze that refreshes our heated bodies
does not produce any corresponding effect on the glassy surface of the
ocean; for we find to-day, as on previous occasions, that the
temperature, both of the water and of the air, registered by the
thermometer, does not by any means correspond with the effect on the
human frame.
The two Chinese servants we shipped at Hongkong are a great success,
as every one on board agrees. Even the old sailing master is obliged
to confess that the two 'heathen Chinee' keep the mess rooms, ships'
officers' and servants' berths much cleaner and more comfortable than
his own sailors ever succeeded in doing. At Galle we shipped three
black firemen, two from Bombay and one from Mozambique, a regular
nigger, with his black woolly hair clipped into the shape of Prince of
Wales feathers. Their names are Mahomet, Abraham, and Tom Dollar. They
live in a little tent we have had pitched for them on deck, cook their
own food, and do their work in the engine-room exceedingly well. In
the intervals they are highly amused with the children's picture
books. The picture of the durbar at Delhi delighted them, especially
as they recognised the figures, and learned a little English through
them. They can say a few words already, and have told me all about
their wives and children at Mozambique and Bombay, and have shown me
the presents they are taking home to them.
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