_. We have had sentimental travellers, 
and philosopdistical travellers, and lying 
travellers from France: M. Grandpré 
_ is an ingenuous traveller ;:this candid 
account of his business at Bengal is only 
_ to be paralleled by the honourable de- 
; iittarien of the peer who affirmed that 
__he would cheat his own brother in horse 
flesh. 
__ Our voyager touched at the Sechelles 
islands; he remarks that. it is singular 
the islands of this little archipelago 
should have soundings at a great dis- 
tance from shore: this he accounts for 
“by supposing that the bases of these 
granite mountains have for a long suc- 
cession of ages stopped the refuse and 
extraneous bodies which the tides and 
' | currents bring, and by. this gradual ag- 
_gregation formed the bank upon which 
the islands rise. The port and road of 
the Sechelles is represented as of the 
greatest importance to France, being 
_ at so smalla distance from the Mauritius 
as to beable to annoy its trade, and cut 
. . off its communication with India.. But 
_. the islands are valuable on other ac- 
'.counts. When. the French had suc- 
ceeded in pilfering- some spice plants 
from the Dutch, their cultivation was 
attempted in the Isle of France; the 
_ trees degenerated, though under very 
_ favourable circumstances of culture; as 
the latitude of the Sechelles was similar 
__. to that of the Moluccas, it. was thought 
- proper to try the experiment there: a 
_ few plants were secretly set in.the island 
of Mahe, and trusted to. nature.. Lhe 
Success was beyond expectation; . the 
_ cloves and nutmegs throye well, and. 
__ the cinnamon trees spread so rapidly as 
_ to cover the canton, wherever the fo- 
_ , rests did not obstruct their growth. At 
_ this time the war of 1778 broke out, 
the governor of the isles of France.and 
_ Bourbon gave orders to destroy the 
plants if the English should attempt to 
take possession of the island. A French 
. ship put in to water, the overseer mis- 
-took her for an enemy, set fire to the 
Spice trees, and destroyed them. all. 
such was the worthy result of this Dutch 
policy. But the preserving power of 
ature prevailed; the birds had carried 
he seeds to the interior of the island, 
and they were in so promising a state 
when M. Grandpré saw them, that he 
erts that France might derive. from 
Sechelles, notwithstanding their little 
xtent, a sufficient quantity of spices for 
+ consumption of the republic. It 
) Ayn. Rey. Vor. Il. 
GRANDPRE’S YOYAGE TO BENGAL. 
. ice is excellent. 
49 
seems however that the French govern- 
ment have neglected them, hoping to be 
supplied from Cayenne. 
‘hese islands produce the sea or twin- 
cocoa, which is peculiar to them; the 
fruit perfectly represents the human pos- 
teriors, and is in request through all 
Asia on account of its scarceness. ‘The 
Some interesting circumstances oc 
curred upon this passage. 
** Thé tides during the south-west mon- 
soon are so yiolent between the Maldive- 
islands and the Laccadives, that we are sub- 
ject to lose our reckoning, especially if we 
are not able to make observations of longi- 
tude. To prevent gross errors, and that a 
vessel may not fall in unexpectedly with the 
land, which might be dangerous in the night, 
there is one remark to be made, which is 
‘ rather of a singular nature. 
*« After passing the meridian of the Mal- 
dives, and when we are between them and 
the coast of Malabar, there is seen on the 
surface of the water a great number of living 
oe floating without movement, ‘their 
bodies rolled up, the head erect, and. the 
look stedfast. They begin to appear as soon 
as we get within the Maldives; but they are 
not very numerous till we arrive at about 
eight or ten leagues from the coast, and their 
numbers increase as weapproach. It is sup- 
posed, that they are forced down the rivers 
of the coast of Malabar, which are swelled 
by the abundant rains that prevail at that 
season, and which ‘carry off with them what- 
ever they meet jn their passage. These 
floods are sometimes so considerable, that 
the sea is tinged by them six or seven leagues 
from the shore. Bey 
«© Two days after losing the- Manillese I 
have mentioned, I discovered land about six 
in the evening.» ‘The weather was thick and 
cloudy, with rain and light airs ataintervals. 
I found myself too near the coast, and 
hauled my wind to stand of. I was borne 
by the currents with astonishing rapidity ; 
‘in the evening the rain increased, and the 
wind fell quite calm. As, however, there 
was a rchy heady swell, the ship rolled cen- 
siderably, and the wet sails, by beating 
against the masts, were soon rent to pieces. 
It became necessary to unbend the topsails, 
and thus: for a while to remain under 
bare poles, exposed to whatever heaven 
might please to ordain. .While fresh sails 
were bending, I ordered the lead to be hove 
constantly; and I saw with pleasure, that 
the tide carried me on the course I wished 
to go as accurately as if I had been able to 
manage the ship. 
«* About eleven o'clock the swell became 
Jess, and in the course of a few minutes was 
completely gone: then the sea seemed on a 
sudden to be on fire. This phenomenon has 
been obsgived by sevewal navigators, whe 
