— 56 — 



" 13. However, speaking generally, the soil in the otlier 

 Islands, considering ifc is granitic, is rich, and capable of pro- 

 ducing any kind of crop peculiar to the tropics. It is very 

 rich in the ravines and in the forests, where it has not been 

 washed away, and continues so to a considerable depth, 



" 14. La Digue is the best cultivated of the Islands, and, 

 according to size or acreage, the most densely populated. 

 Proportionally to size Praslin and Silhouette contain fewer 

 inhabitants than any other of these Islands. Praslin and 

 Isle St. Anne are the worst cultivated. Felicite is a Grovern- 

 ment reserve. 



" 15. In several of the Islands there is still a great deal of 

 uncultivated ground. Some of it is not worth cultivating, 

 but by far the greater portion ia good laud, lying waste, the 

 properties of people who are cither too lusy er too poor to 

 cultivate it. 



" 1 6, The chief produce of these Islands is Cocoanut oil 

 The quantity is annually increasing, and it is of considerabl. 

 value. The plantations of Cocoanut trees are iuci'easing, and 

 young plantations are annually reaching the period of age 

 (10 or 12 years), when the trees begin to bear. The value of 

 a plantation in full bearing, is about three shillings each tree 

 per annum, at which value the trees may be said to continue 

 for a generation, 



" 17. The mill used for extracting the oil is the old primi- 

 tive one, the same as the one which has been used in Ceylon 

 and other Countries for hundreds of years. 



" 18. The Fibre is now extracted by machinery fi'oni tliQ 

 husk of the nut, and will form a considerable item in the ex- 

 ports of these Islands. The husk is said to be nearly as va- 

 luable for its fibre as the nut is for oil. Formerly it was al- 



