Biographical Notice ofM. Liskt-GeoJfroy. 71 



add, that if the name of M. Lislet Geoffrey does not appear 

 among those of the correspondents of the old Academy, which 

 the Mathematical Class of the Institute eagerly attached to it, it 

 is only because the difficulty of communication between the me- 

 tropolis and the Isle of France, during the wars of the revolu- 

 tion, rendered it impossible to ascertain whether the skilful geo- 

 grapher still lived, when the Institute was established. What- 

 ever may be said of this, there will therefore be no reason to 

 speak of the prepossessions of power, of the aristocracy of the 

 skill) nor of prejudices truly unworthy of enlightened men. 



A life, however long, passed wholly on a small island in the 

 middle of the Southern Ocean, must necessarily offer few inci- 

 dents worthy of being remembered. At all events, if any thing 

 wonderful marked the career of M. Lislet, his European corre- 

 spondents have not been made acquainted with it. We know 

 only that whenever a vessel arrived at the Isle of France, he im- 

 mediately abandoned his retreat and favourite occupations, and 

 became, by day and night, the willing guide to all who shewed 

 the slightest desire to avail themselves of his knowledge. In 

 1771, M. Lislet accompanied Commerson in his voyage to the 

 Isle of Bourbon. In remembrance of this excursion, M . Bory 

 de Saint- Vincent has bestowed the name of Piton-Lislet on a 

 volcanic mountain of that island, near a remarkable circular de- 

 pression of the ground known in the country under the name of 

 TrouUanc. If the necessity of terminating this notice in a short 

 time left me leisure for it, I could extract from the relations of 

 most of our navigators in the southern regions, testimonials of re- 

 spect as significant and honourable to M. Lislet-Geoffroy as 

 that which I have mentioned. 



The following, I believe, are the principal productions enti- 

 tling M. Lislet to the gratitude of the scientific world : 



Map of the Isles of France and Reunion, drawn up on the 

 observations of Lacaille, and a multitude of particular plans, by 

 the author ; published by order of the Minister of Marine in 

 1797. 



The same map, second edition, corrected from new observa- 

 tions; published at Paris in 1802. 



Chart of the Sechelles, according to observations made by the 



