About this period, Washington was withdrawn for a brief season from the sphere of his new duties. The health of his brother became so precarious, that medical advisers recommended an excursion to a different climate; and the company of some kind friend being required to cheer and sustain the invalid on his voyage, the fraternal affection of the boy-major prompted him to undertake the office. The atmosphere of a West India island being considered most likely to act as a restorative, Barbadoes was fixed upon. During the voyage thither, Washington busily occupied himself with making observations and increasing his knowledge; and on an October day they arrived at their destination. Hardly could any prospect be more pleasing than that which arrested the eyes of the travelers, as, after being confined for five tedious weeks to the narrow limits of a trader, they anchored in the bay, the stillness of whose waters was only broken by the sailing of the dreaded shark, or by the tropical breeze which played lightly around, and gratefully modified the warmth of the sun, as it descended with merciless glow upon their strawy head-pieces. Before them lay the chief town, circling around the silver strand, and shrouded in palm trees that fringed the blue waters of the ocean. In the background, fields of the sugar-cane, planters’ airy mansions, the tall windmills, and the negro-huts bosomed in the evergreen and luxuriant foliage of the tropics――having the appearance of scattered villages――presented a scene, picturesque, attractive, and promising delightful journeys to the curious stranger. Nor was Washington disappointed in that respect. Every thing came under his notice, and enlisted his sagacious reflection. The soil, methods of culture, and the agricultural productions, engaged his attention no less than the manners of the inhabitants, their military force, their form of government, and their municipal institutions. While thus profitably employed he was laid prostrate by a sharp attack of small-pox, which confined him to the house for weeks; but with skillful medical treatment he was released from this doubly-dull durance, and enabled to resume his habits of gaining experience and collecting information.