Various Owners of St. Paul. • 277 



tivation of the island. He left a number of Mozambique 

 negroes, whom he compelled to work through the entire year, 

 exposed to the severest privations, and employed in hewing 

 stone from the rocks, with which huts were erected, in 

 preparing a landing-quay on the north side of the basin, and in 

 sowing a number of plots of ground along the lower margin of 

 the crater with European vegetables. 



About eight or ten years since, Adam (who afterwards, in 

 the course of a voyage from Bourbon to New Zealand, met a 

 disgraceful death, having been thrown overboard for his cruelty 

 by the black crew of a small vessel, whom he had driven to 

 desperation) sold the islands to their present possessor, M. 

 Otto van, a ship-chandler of St. Denis, who since then has twice 

 each year, during the fine season, despatched a small craft of 

 some 30 to 45 tons, manned by from 15 to 18 fishermen, from 

 St. Denis to St. Paul Island, so as to turn to advantage the 

 unusual abundance of this fishing-ground. This vessel leaves 

 St. Denis regularly every November on its voyage of from 24 to 

 30 days to St. Paul. The return voyage to St. Denis takes 

 place during the prevalence of the South-East Trades, and 

 occupies a much shorter time, rarely exceeding 14 to 16 days. 

 The fishing sloop, during its stay at the island, anchors inside 

 the basin of the crater, so as to discharge her provisions for 

 the fishermen, and to facilitate the freighting for the home- 

 ward voyage with the fish that have been caught, as also to 

 guard her against sudden changes of weather, which in these 

 latitudes, as we ourselves experienced, is, even during the best 



