CHAPTER X. 



GLORIOSO ISLAND. 



Glorioso, or File Glorieuse, which we sighted on 

 March 10th, 1906, belongs to France, and is at the 

 present time rented by a Frenchman, who grows 

 there a large quantity of cocoanuts for export. 

 It comprises besides the main island, which is 

 from a mile and a half to two miles long and about 

 a mile in breadth, a small, densely wooded islet, the 

 He de Lise, separated from the main island by 

 about three miles of very shallow water. Moreover, 

 between these two islands is a third, which is 

 little more than a large rock covered with grass, 

 on which thousands of noddy terns,* as well as 

 one or two pairs of boobies, f were nesting at the 

 time of our visit. 



Glorioso is a coral island, but to all appearances 

 not of so ancient a formation as the neighbouring 

 islands of Assumption and Aldabra. A deep layer 

 of sand covers most of it, and on the leeward side 

 this has drifted into a fairly high ridge. At the 

 time of our visit, the greater part of the island was 



* Anous stolidu8. f Sula leucogastra. 



