— 206 ~ 



" Wfl will Ptid y>y Tf^^marki'S tli-'t th" Maiirithn 

 I)nfk ii* <Jie fi'St •KtaMishmeiit in tljp roloiiy wlipr" the 

 U«p <'f rrtilrnails hns h-cii ado-tHrl flti'l althniijih the 

 Hnpi» which are to intprspft tttat P!«tahh*shni»'nt nre ti' t 

 ypt C'ttripleteJ, a considerable economy has nevertheless 

 been effected, 



" With 8uch facts hcfote them, w-^ venture to hope 

 that our produf-eii* will, by degreesi, ahanioii the old 

 state of thinjjsi which annually cost an enormous out ay 

 of capi'al, in order to introduce on their estatep means 

 which, when labour is dear and scatce, admit cf a great 

 deal beitig done at a reduced cost." 



Th'Se »emaiks which are the repetition of nn articte 

 pnhlishpd in on" of the (.'olonial N'-wspaper (the Cwm» 

 mercufl Gazette) hav thereftre already been submitted 

 to the ju-lgment of the i-ublic. We will here in-ert a 

 memorandum trnnsmiited to ns by one of the Members 

 rf thf" Co'iimittee appointed by the Soci ty to leport 

 upon Mr de t lo<»et's p'per, f'apt. O. Siokes, of the 

 Royal Engineers, and which deserves the came publi. 

 city. At all events, we vMitnre to express the wish 

 that both paper-* should be printed as part of the 

 " Transactions of ihe Society ;" ft)r after all, it is for 

 the Pla'iters the oselveR an<l the public ill geuttal to 

 giv • a definitive judgment o»i the matter. 



The followinij in ('apt Stikes' Rp|H)rt : 



" In Mauiitius.Hs well a« in tither couotries, railways 

 of two different natures, may be formed, namely, ^/ewprcr/ 

 railways for public traffi" from one point of the island 

 toaoyothr; and /oca/ railways for the c oiveyanceof 

 snjfitr canes, etc , from one point of a sugar estate to 

 another. Thp la'ter class is th • one now umler eonsi. 

 deration, bi:t in remarking upon the plan propo ed, it 

 is necessaiy to take into congidpration all that expe- 

 rience has taught us regarding the construction of ge' 

 neral railways. 



" There can be no doubt whatever, that in certain 

 localities local railways wnil I if constructed, cause a 

 great savin;; in time, labour and material atid increase 

 the valu" of the work done. For instance in the valley 

 of the Riviere Noire, which forms a portion of the es- 

 tate uf Mr Geu^ve, it wuuld be very tdsy to cousttuct 



