As soon as the Prince was placed in his chair and carried away, Madera came on board, and entered with great good humour into all the jokes which were made upon his new character. He declined telling why he had kept his rank so long out of sight, but it was sufficiently obvious that his main object was to establish an intimacy with all the different classes on board the ships, and in this he completely succeeded; for he had gradually advanced in his acquaintance, first with the sailors, then the midshipmen, next with the officers, and last of all with the captains. By this means he gained the confidence and good will of each class as he went along; and by rising in consequence every day, instead of putting forward all his claims at once, acquired not only substantial importance with us, but gained a much more intimate knowledge of our character and customs than he could have hoped to do in any other way. 24th of October.--Mr. Clifford went along with me to-day for the purpose of sketching the bridge, which, though not above three hundred yards from the landing place, the chiefs have always objected to our examining. We took Jeeroo with us without telling him our object, which he no sooner discovered than he became quite alarmed, and sent off for Madera, who came to us immediately, and upon learning that nothing further was proposed than a mere examination of the bridge, he said that we might go on; having first made us promise solemnly not to go any further. While Madera was binding us down in this way, I expressed some little impatience at his doubting our simple declaration of nothing more being intended than what we avowed; but his duty I suppose was imperative, and he would not leave us till the matter was arranged in his own way. As soon as he was satisfied on this point he said something to Jeeroo and left us; but turning back again, he came up to Mr. Clifford, and whispered, "captain no sulky?" meaning, we supposed, to express his apprehension that I had been angry at the stipulations so positively required by him. Mr. Clifford, having assured him that I was not sulky with him, detained him to ask him what it was he feared? what he had seen in us to excite such dread of our going near the town? He replied, "Loochoo woman see Ingeree man, Loochoo woman cry!" He then returned; and Jeeroo, who remained in a boat close to the bridge while I was employed measuring it and drawing it stone by stone, was greatly interested by Mr. Clifford's account of the great age of our venerable Sovereign, and the number of his family, which excited his astonishment and admiration. He conversed freely while the subject was the King of England, but the moment the slightest turn in the discourse was made towards the King of Loo-choo he drew up, and became impenetrable. "He did not know," he said, "how old he was, nor how many children he had;" in short he seemed scarcely to admit that he had ever heard any thing about him.