THE EQUINOX
to spend night and day in the open, and when I retire to
sleep on the box whose cover I have turned out to be, my
companions sleep in the trees.
No venomous or objectionable beast has yet dared to
breathe the air ofthis balmy country. But itis not a deserted
spot. The natives are black, but tame and pleasant, and one of
my first steps will be to try and bring them into contact with the
beauties of our civilisation. For this object the mighty box is
of the utmost importance; and here I touch on the first difficulty
which I encountered.
The destiny of man being precarious and unsettled, my soul
was often wandering at large in its anxiety to provide for the
future of the lofty thoughts of my late tormentor. I had banished
all hatred and bitterness from my heart and forgiven my
enemy. He had done mea great wrong, dragging me pitilessly
away from the peaceful occupations of my life, cutting and
planing my worthy form in order that I should fit his coffin.
He had driven me to his ship, and was the cause of my present
exile. Two young kittens had placed all their hope in me,
and I was failing to fill my paternal duty towards them. I was
working at my great work, in fifty-two volumes, on the various
elements composing the shell of the oyster, and I had almost
completed my Introduction, when I was thus deprived of my
liberty by the man-who-had-lost-his-cover. Yet I bore him no
grudge. Hewas right; I feel it more intensely everyday. A
box so mighty needed a cover. In consequence, knowing that
the hour of my death might strike at any moment, I had to
find a man-cover to replace me in that event; one who would
never forget to reintegrate the box every night.
Proceeding in order, I looked around me; and at once
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