THE MASCARENHA ISLES. 837 



thousand feet above the level of the sea. A volcano, 

 for the name of which I am at a loss, towers far 

 above all. It being a moonlight night when we 

 passed, we saw but little of its eruption, which is 

 continual — lighting up the surface of the ocean for 

 miles. This island has since been made the French 

 Naval Depot for the Indian Ocean. 



There is no good harbor on this island, which, to- 

 gether with the fact of there being no resident 

 American consul, is the reason for the rarity of 

 whaleships visiting it. 



The three islands, Bourbon, Mauritius, and Rod- 

 rique, were first taken possession of by the French, 

 and for many years were known as the French East 

 India Islands. During the wars between France and 

 Great Britain, Mauritius was the naval depot for the 

 former power, from which her cruisers were fitted 

 out for the annoyance of the East India commerce 

 of the enemy; but during the time of Napoleon, 

 (when England's operations were restricted to the 

 ocean,) as an ofiset to the conqueror's successes on 

 land, the wooden walls of Old England were busily 

 employed in making captures of the various colonial 

 possessions of France, both in the East and West 

 Indies. Many of these, subsequent to the negotia- 

 tions for peace, were restored. But Mauritius was 

 too important a place to let slip, after being once 

 occupied ; wherefore a British regiment became part 

 of its population, and the meteor-flag of England 

 waved over its battlements. This group is often 

 called the Mascarenha Isles. 



On Sunday (October the 31st) we spoke the ship 

 Brewster, of Mattapoissett. A few days before, she 

 29 w 



