A Romance of the West Indies

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
F. TENNYSON NEELY, PUBLISHER.
LONDON. NEW YORK.
Copyright, 1898, by F. Tennyson Neely, in United States and Great Britain. All Rights Reserved.
to the memory of WILKIE COLLINS, author and artist, who first directed my attention to this work and suggested its translation into english, i dedicate this book in kindly remembrance. THE TRANSLATOR.
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PART I.
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THE PASSENGER.
Toward the latter part of May, 1690, the three-masted schooner the Unicorn sailed from Rochelle for the island of Martinique.
A Captain Daniel commanded this vessel, which was armed with a dozen pieces of medium-sized ordnance, a defensive precaution necessary at that period. France was at that time at war with England, and the Spanish pirates would often cross to the windward of the Antilles, in spite of the frequent pursuit of filibusters.
Among the passengers of the Unicorn, few in number, was the Reverend Father Griffen, of the Order of the Preaching Brothers. He was returning to Martinique to resume his parish duties at Macouba, where he had occupied the curacy for some years to the satisfaction of the inhabitants and the slaves of that locality.