PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 295 



Mouatt founded the penal settlement at Port Blair, after 

 the Mutiny. Here at first the death rate was very high, 

 amounting to 63 per cent., but in 187 1 this had fallen 

 to I '2, and it is now stationary at 2 per cent. ; and 

 all this improvement has been obtained by draining the 

 mangrove swamps, of which there are still plenty, but 

 these are in progress of being cleared. 



The passenger by steamer first sees the small Island of 

 Ross, which lies at the mouth of the harbour of Port 

 Blair, and though it is the smallest of the inhabited 

 Islands, yet it is the most important, for on it lives the 

 Governor, who possesses almost unlimited power. Here 

 also are the Commissariat Stores, the Post Office, 

 Barracks for European and Native troops, a Chapel and a 

 Cemetery, and the houses of most of the European 

 officials ; so small is this Island and so tightly packed 

 together are all the buildings, that I walked round it in 

 20 minutes. On the West side of Ross is a small jetty, 

 but steamers and ships have to lie out in the harbour, and 

 a boat lands the traveller at the jetty. Whoever wishes to 

 land and .stay on the Island must obtain leave of the 

 Governor to do so, and this leave is freely granted to a 

 British subject ; but I believe I am right when I sav that 

 a foreigner must be provided with credentials of .some 

 sort. The Governor will apportion a l)ungalow for the 

 use of those who desire it, and will in all probability 

 cause the new arrival's name to be put up at the mess, and 

 this is a very great advantage, for otherwise the verv 

 necessary subject of food will have to be discussed alone, 

 as well as provided, which is here not too easv. From 

 the mess-house or from the traveller's i)ungalow may be 

 seen the whole harbour of Port Blair, vvith the Island of 

 Chatham lying at the entrance to the creek. In front 

 lies the mainland, the district of Aberdeen with the 

 women's jail on the left, and Mount Harriet (the scene of 

 Lord Mayo's massacre) on the right. Few prettier views 



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