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little village, consisting of from eighty to an hundred houses, 
is built without any rigid regard to regularity; but is inter- 
spersed with Cocoa and Date-palms, that give it a pretty 
rural air, It is situated on a low coral bank thrown up by 
the sea against the base of the mountain, It has a small inn, 
the only house of entertainment in the whole island, at 
which we took up our quarters for the night. In the course 
of the evening, we witnessed a method of fishing, common 
enough in Mauritius, but in Bourbon confined to this par- 
ticular spot. A party of about a dozen blacks, having a net 
fifty yards in length, walked out on the reef, where the water 
was from three to four feet deep. Having stretched the net 
across the reef, with a man at each end of it, the rest of the 
party formed a circle two or three hundred yards wide, and 
began flogging the water with long switches, shouting and 
screeching, and making every sort of noise, to frighten the 
fish. In this manner they gradually contracted their circle, 
and, closing in towards the net, drew the ends of it together. 
Their labour this evening, however, was entirely fruitless. 
The only fish usually taken by this process is that which 
they call the Licorne, (Acanthurus Unicornis,) a dry, insipid 
fish, used only by the slaves. : 
* The only part of Bourbon edged with a coral-reef, is 
that portion of coast which extends from St. Leu to St. 
ierre; around the rest of the island the shore sinks abruptly 
to a depth at which it is probable that the coral-worms 
cannot live. This depth, however, is in a progressive state 
of diminution, from the spoils of the mountains annually 
swept down by the torrents, and deposited along the shore. 
From St. Benoit to St. Paul, round the north end of the 
island, there is an uninterrupted bank of water-worn pebbles, 
Partly thrown back by the waves, partly rolled into the - 
Pater, and forming a series of roadsteads along that part 
Coast. : 
* The district of St. Leu enjoys the reputation of Jta 
ing the best coffee in the island, and perhaps i 
World, excepting that of Mocha alone. For the greater 
Part of the year it labours under a scarcity of water, more 
Y2 
