307 
six hundred yards farther back is another of three guns; 
and one of two guns flanks the cantonment; on the opposite 
side of the anchorage is the battery of La Harmonie, of 
twelve guns, by which a heavy cross-fire can be maintained 
with that of Lapreneuse. At the former, a barrack has 
been erected for the accommodation of one hundred men. 
* As soon as our arrangements were completed at the 
post, I made an excursion, in company with Colonel Leitch 
and Captain Rutherford, to the district of the Savanne. 
On our way thither, we slept the two first nights at the 
plantation of M. Chazal de Chamarel This property is 
one of the most extensive and most fertile in the island. 
Situated at a great elevation, it never experiences those 
scorching heats and protracted droughts that give a check 
to vegetation for a great part of the year along the coast. 
Embosomed in the forest, and surrounded by some of the 
highest peaks in the island, it enjoys a perpetual succession 
of refreshing showers, and is shaded by a thick canopy of 
clouds that moderate the temperature of the air. The 
humidity, however, consequent on this state of atmosphere, 
has a pernicious effect on the health of his slaves, which he 
finds it necessary to counteract by warmer clothing and less 
intense labour. - Transported hither from the burning 
regions of Mosambique and Madagascar, the ‘green slaves’ 
are speedily attacked with pulmonary diseases, which, when 
they do not prove fatal, degenerate into chronic disorders 
that render them unfit for any sort of sustained labour. — 
^ All agricultural labour is performed by slaves; and the 
only implements used are the hoe and the dibble. With the 
former they prepare the soil and keep it clear of weeds. 
sorts of pulse and grain are planted with the latter. 
Je ground is, for the most part, so much encumbered 
vith Stones, that neither the plough nor the harrow can 
ever be used with advantage. The labour of the slaves, 
ever, from its very multiplicity, is neither so m 
Boi 50 systematically conducted as in our West = a 
Islands; but the unfortunate facility of pons pe 
Supplies, has hitherto more than balanced this advantage, 
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