On the 12th of March 1789 I embarked at Cochin in order to return to Europe, that I might proceed to Rome and deliver the letters which I had received from the procurator of the Missionary Establishment on the coast of Malabar, and from the agents appointed by the _Propaganda_ for its correspondence with the Christians of St. Thomas. The ship in which I took my passage was the Calypso frigate of thirty guns, having on board three hundred and forty persons, partly seamen and partly marines. This vessel was commanded by Count Kergoriou Loemaria, knight of the order of St. Louis, and member of that also which was instituted by the American congress[245]; a man who acquired great honour by his conduct in the American war when he commanded the Juno frigate. The Calypso had been sent out to protect the French trade in India, accompanied with the Astræa, Medusa, and Penelope, the last of which was lost at the Cape of Good Hope. The commodore of the whole squadron was M. St. Riveul. As this gentleman was, at that time, on board the Medusa frigate, in the road of Cochin, my friend Count Kergoriou procured from him permission for me to return to Europe in his vessel, at the expence of Louis XVI. king of France. We directed our course towards Cape Comorin, called in the Malabar language _Comari_, or _Canyamuri_, which we sailed past two days after, on the 14th of March. The pleasure we enjoyed in this agreeable passage, and the beautiful prospects with which our eyes were gratified, can hardly be described. Having kept as close to the land as possible, the whole coast of Malabar appeared before us in the form of a green amphitheatre. At one time we discovered a district entirely covered with coconut trees, and immediately after a river winding through a delightful vale, at the bottom of which it discharged itself into the sea. In one place appeared a multitude of people employed in fishing; in another, a snow-white church bursting forth to view from amidst the thick-leaved trees. Whilst we were enjoying these delightful scenes with the early morning, a gentle breeze, which blew from the shore, perfumed the air around us with the agreeable smell wafted from the cardamom, pepper, betel, and abundance of aromatic herbs and plants. Towards noon, however, there arose a brisk gale, which sweeping the surface of the ocean, hastened the course of our Calypso, and soon carried us beyond the view of this enchanting country.