Attracted no less by the hearty and
warm reception of the Swiss family, than determined by the state of
his health and the pure air of the country, Wolston resolved to await
there the return of the sloop, the official destination of which was
the Cape of Good Hope, where it had to land despatches from Sidney.
Captain Littlestone, of H.B.M.'s sloop _Nelson_, had kindly consented
to all these arrangements; he agreed to convey Ernest and Frank Becker
and their cargo to the Cape, to aid them there with his experience,
and, finally, to recommend them to some trustworthy correspondents he
had at Liverpool. He likewise promised to bring back young Wolston
with him on his return voyage.
Everything being prepared, the departure was fixed for the next day:
the sloop, with the blue Peter at the fore, was ready, as soon as the
anchor was weighed, to continue her voyage. The cargo had been stowed
under hatches. Becker had just given the farewell dinner to Captain
Littlestone and Lieutenant Dunsley, his second in command. These two
gentlemen had discreetly taken their leave, not to interrupt by their
presence the final embraces of the family, the ties of which, after so
many long years of labor and hardship, were for the first time to be
broken asunder.
During the voyage, Wolston had formed an intimacy with the boatswain
of the _Nelson_, named Willis, and he, on his side, held Wolston and
his family in high esteem.
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