24 A CHANGE OF COUNTRY.

after a little practice, I used with great skill, lying
in wait for whole days. My former taste now be-
came a passion which disturbed even my hours of
rest, and which daily grew stronger.”

In 1765 the family. of Le Vaillant left Surinam
to return to Europe. ‘In the joy of my heart,”
says our author, “I partook of all the pleasures
and projects of my parents during the voyage; a
curiosity natural to my age, added to my trans-
port. but this excitement did not render me in-
sensible of regret; I could not so soon become
ungrateful; my eyes were often cast back to the
country where I received my being, to the shores
which gradually lessened to my sight; and as I
approached the frozen climates of the north, a pro-
found melancholy overwhelmed me, preyed upon
my spirit, and dissipated the promised enjoyments
of the future.

‘Arrived in Hurope, all I beheld was new to
me; and I showed so much impatience, fatiguing
every one with questions, all around appearing to
me so extraordinary, that I myself occasioned gur-
prise; but my importunity did not always turn
the laugh against me, for I paid amply, in keen
remarks on America, the information I received
about Europe.

“After some stay in Holland, we proceeded to
Metz, where my favourite tastes had ample scope