On the Land-Birds of the Seychelles Archipelago. 335 



XIX. — On the Land-Birds of the Seychelles Archipelago. 

 By Edward Newton, M.A., C.M.Z.S. 



(Plate IV.) 



The Seychelles Archipelago, a dependency of Mauritius, con- 

 sists of about thirty islands, and is situated between 3° 42' and 

 4° 50' lat. S., and between 55° 15' and 56° 2' long. E. It 

 was discovered by Vasco diGama in 1502, was taken possession 

 of by the French in 1742, and ceded to England by the treaty 

 of 1815. Its formation, with the exception of, I believe, three 

 islands, Fregate, Denis, and Bird Island, which are coralline, is 

 granitic ; its highest mountain, the Morne Blanc, in Mahe, is said 

 to be 3000 feet high. Silhouette, as 1 should judge, rises to 

 above 2000 feet, Praslin and Ladigue to 1500 feet, and none of 

 the others to 1000 feet. 



The Dependency is in charge of a Civil Commissioner, who 

 resides at Port Victoria, Mahe. A French j-ja/ow, called "Creole," 

 is universally spoken by the lower class, but English is under- 

 stood by a good many. The population in 1861 was 7486, that 

 of Mahe being 6118; the greater part of it is made up of 

 different African races, and a mixture between them and Eu- 

 ropeans. 



The principal industry is the cultivation of cocoa-nut trees and 

 expressing the oil from the nut. The value of this article 

 exported in 1865 exceeded £20,000, and is from extended cul- 

 tivation steadily increasing ; no use is made of the husk, so the 

 value of the plantations is not yet fully realized. The other ex- 

 ports are vacoa-bags, salt fish, and timber. The vacoa-bags are 

 woven from the leaves of the Pandanus utilis, and are used at 

 Mauritius for containing the exported sugar. With the excep- 

 tion of the cocoa-nut, which comparatively requires little or no 

 care, planting may be said to be at a discount, though the soil 

 is exceedingly rich and fertile, and sufficient rice, maize, and 

 farinaceous roots might be grown at small cost to support the 

 entire population ; but, as it is, a few acres only are planted, and 

 large quantities of rice are imported to supply the deficiency. 

 Fishing is by far the most popular employment ; all the men are 

 boatmen, and capital ones they make. 



