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In the process of clearing the land, vast quantities of valuable 

 timber were cut down, and, among the rest, whole ship-loads 

 of Ebony^ which were burned where they fell, as the price of 

 timber in the market would not cover the expense of trans- 

 portation. 



" After breakfast, we took leave of this very hospitable 

 family, and continued our journey; but as the path through 

 the forest was rather intricate, Chamarel, good-naturedly 

 undertook to guide us in person, the greater part of our way 

 traversing his own grounds. In every field through which 

 we passed, before we entered the wood, we observed a hut 

 occupied by a confidential slave, who was stationed there as 

 a check on the depredations of the maroons or runaway 

 slaves. At each of these huts there was also cantoned a 

 detachment of poultry, which had the range of the field, to 

 pick up a livelihood without trouble or expense. The main 

 dependence of the Colonists for animal food is on their 

 poultry. Mutton is scarce, because sheep do not thrive on 

 the rank herbage of the island. Goats are plentiful, because 

 they are more hardy, but their flesh is a poor substitute for 

 mutton. With regard to beef, those who live at a distance 

 from Port-Louis rarely taste it; for unless a whole district 

 were to subscribe for a share, no one can venture to slaughter 

 a bullock, the heat of the climate rendering the flesh unfit for 

 use in less than twenty-four hours. The supply of sea-fish 

 to the families settled in the interior of the Island is altogether 

 precarious ; nor are the rivers so large or well stocked as to 

 supply the deficiency. Eels of an enormous size, a species of 

 Gobius about six inches long, a fish called ' Chite^ of the size 

 and habit of the common trout, and very fine Shrimps, make up 

 the catalogue of indigenous fresh-water fishes. Many of the 

 planters have fish-ponds, in which they breed the Gouramy, 

 {Trichopus Gouramy,) and a large species of Cyprinus of a 

 scarlet colour; both of them introduced from China, and of 

 an exquisite flavour. These fishes feed on the leaves of the 

 Songe {Arum esculentum), which is planted for that purpose 

 on the margins of the ponds. Salt meat, both beef and 

 pork, can always be procured in the market; but though 



