Mddera has made great improvement in English, and
his character is altogether more developed. He is quite a t
his ease in our company, and seems to take the most-
extraordinary interest in every thing belonging to u s ; but
his ardent desire to inform himself on all subjects sometimes
distresses him a good deal; he observes the facility with
which we do some things, and his enterprising mind suggests
to him the possibility of his imitating us; but when he is made
sensible of the number of steps by which alone the knowledge
he admires is to be attained, his despair is strongly
marked. He sometimes asks us to read English aloud to
him, to which he always listens with the deepest attention.
One day, on shore, he saw me with a book in my hand : he
begged me to sit down under a tree, and re a d : Jeeroo was
the only chief present, but there were several of the peasants
in attendance upon him; they all lay down on the grass,
and listened with an attention and interest which are natural
enough: every one expressed himself pleased and satisfied
except Madera, whose anxiety was to read in the same
manner himself. From the earnest way in which he inquired
into every subject, we were sometimes inclined to think that
he must have been directed by the government to inform
himself 0 1 1 these topics; and certainly a fitter person could-
not have been selected; for he adapted himself so readily
to all ranks, that he became at once a favourite, and every
person took pleasure in obliging him.
Jeeroo is esteemed in another way; he is uniformly
good humoured and obliging, and not without curiosity;
but he is not clever, and has none of the fire and enthusiasm
of M&dera. We all think kindly of Jeeroo, and shake him
cordially by the hand when we meet him; but Mddera is
admired and respected, as well as esteemed, and his society
is courted for his own sake.
Midera is about twenty-eight years of age, of a slender
figure, and very active; his upper teeth project in front
over the lower ones, giving his face a remarkable, but not a
disagreeable expression. He is always cheerful, and often
lively and playful, but his good sense prevents hia ever going
beyond the line of strict propriety. When required by
etiquette to be grave, no one is so immoveably serious as
M4dera, and when mirth rules the hour, he is the gayest
of the g a y : such indeed is his taste on these occasions,
that he not only catches the outward tone of his company,
but really appears to think and feel as they do. His enterprising
spirit and versatility of talent have led him to
engage in a number of pursuits; his success, however, is the
most remarkable in his acquisition of English. About a
month after our arrival, he was asked what had become of