A supply of
fresh vegetables and fruit was taken on board, as the vessel, after
touching at Madras, was to go on to Calcutta. A few of the passengers
landed at Point de Galle, but neither Dick nor his mother went ashore.
"You will have plenty of opportunities of seeing Indians, later on,
Dick," Mrs. Holland had said; "and, as the gigs will not take all
ashore, we may as well stop quietly here. I heard the captain say that
he would weigh anchor again, in four hours."
Dick was rather disappointed, but, as they would be at Madras before
long, he did not much mind.
Ten days later, they anchored off that town. Little was to be seen
except the fort, a number of warehouses, and the native town, while
the scenery contrasted strongly with that of Ceylon, with its masses
of green foliage, with hills rising behind.
For the last fortnight, Mrs. Holland had been somewhat depressed. Now
that the voyage was nearly over, the difficulties of the task before
her seemed greater than they had done when viewed from a distance, and
she asked herself whether, after all, it would not have been wiser to
have waited another two or three years, until Dick had attained
greater strength and manhood.
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