It was about the middle of the summer, after my severe illness, that I went to the Island for a long visit.

I was taken there by my brother and my sister, the latter was like a second mother to me.

After a sojourn of several weeks with our relatives at St.Pierre Oleron (my good Aunt Claire and her two old unmarried daughters) we went alone, we three, to a fishing village upon the Long-Beach, which at that time was entirely off the line of travel.

The Long-Beach is that portion of the Island commanding a view of the ocean over which the west winds blow ceaselessly.

Upon this coast, which extends without a curve straight and seemingly limitless, with the majestic sweep of the desert of Sahara, the waves roll and break with a mighty noise.