?3 



BOULONNAIS. 



BOURBON. 



74 



many external galleries of a foot and a half in width ; going all round 

 the tower. On the top of the tower lights were placed, so that it 

 served as a lighthouse to vessels navigating the channel. The tower 

 was built with iron gray-stone, three tiers together, succeeded by a 

 double tier of a yellow stone of a softer texture, and on this a double 

 tier of very hard and red bricks. At the time of its erection it 

 atood more than a bow-shot from the sea, but the cliff was so much 

 excavated by the wave?, and fell in so far, that the tower was at last 

 undermined and overthrown in the year 1644. It had been repaired 

 by Charlemagne in the early part of the 9th century ; and when the 

 English were in possession of Boulogne they surrounded this tower 

 with a wall and towers, so as to convert it into a donjon or keep of 

 a fortress. These walls and towers shared the fate of the original 

 Roman work in being overthrown by the advance of the sea. The 

 tower was named iii the middle ages ' Turns Ordans ' (supposed to 

 be a corruption of ' ardens,' burning) or Ordensis ; and the cliff in 

 this direction is still spoken of as the Tour d'Ordre. 



BOULONNAIS, a district in the former province of Picardie, 

 which now forms the arrondissement of Boulogne, in the department 

 of PAS-DE-CALAIS. 



BOURBON, THE ISLE OF, is situated in the Indian Ocean, to 

 the eastward of Madagascar. St. -Denis, the chief town on the 

 island, stands at its north-western extremity, in 20 52' S. lat., 

 55 57' E. long. From Point des Oalets near St.-Denis the island, 

 which is in form an irregular oval, extends upwards of 40 miles to 

 Point de la Table at the south-eastern extremity. 



This island was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Mascarenhas 

 in 1542, and at thtt time was not inhabited. It received the name of 

 Mascarenhaa or Mascareigne. The French in 1642 sent some 

 criminals from Madagascar to it, and settled a colony in 1649, when 

 they gave it the name of Bourbon, which at the beginning of the 

 French revolution was changed into that of Reunion, and afterwards 

 into Bonaparte and Napoleon. In 1815, on the restoration of the 

 Bourbons, the island resumed its old name of Bourbon. After the 

 revolution of 1848 it again received the name of Reunion. 



Probably all the island owes its origin to volcanic agency. The 

 greater part of its surface consists of lava, basalt, and other volcanic 

 productions, and on the remainder traces of such rocks are frequent. 

 The island consists of two systems of volcanic mountains and rocks, 

 and a kind of plain which divides them. The north-western moun- 

 tains form the larger system and cover about half the surface of 

 the island. Nearly in their centre rises a huge mass of lava with 

 three inaccessible peaks, called the Salazies, whose absolute elevation 

 is estimated by Bory de St. Vincent at nearly 1500 toises, or 9600 feet. 

 The country surrounding this mass exhibits large tracts of lava or 

 basaltic rocks of the most various description, and between them 

 some basins or vales. The basaltic prisms are frequently disposed 

 in regular columns, but these as well as the lava rocks are frequently 

 split by deep narrow crevices. There is here an excellent mineral 

 spring, the Salazie, at an elevation of 2861 feet Another spring 

 called the Cilaos or Silhaos is at an elevation of 3655 feet. The 

 principal eminence on the island, the Peton des Neiges, or the Snowy 

 Peak, is situated near the centre of the island and forms the crest 

 of a bold rocky ridge dividing the Cilaos from the Salazie ridge of 

 mountains. The rivers are only torrents, which descend from a great 

 elevation. Sometimes they are nearly dry; at others they carry 

 great volumes of water, which they pour down the steep declivities 

 with incredible impetuosity. Their course is through extremely 

 narrow gorgs, and in deep beds. Between St. -Denis and the 'burnt 

 land' on the windward or north-east side of the island there are 

 fifteen streams, of which the eight named as follows may be regarded 

 as rivers : The river of the East, the river of Marsoniers, the river 

 'if Rucks, the Dumas or Du Mat, the St. -Jean, the Ste.-Suzanne, the 

 river of the Rams, and the river of St. -Denis, which flows into the 

 sea at a short distance west from the town. On the leeward side 

 of the island are five streams, of which the river Des Qalets and the 

 river St.-Stephen are the principal. 



The shores of the island are rocky, but not generally very high, 

 except along the south-west coast between St.-Paul and St.-Petre. 

 In a few places a narrow beach separates the rocks from the sea ; it 

 in composed of pieces of basalt and broken lava, which have under- 

 gone trituration in the sea, and afterwards been thrown ashore, 

 intermixed with some calcareous pebbles and shells. 



The plains which separate the volcanic region in the north-west 

 from that in the south-east district of the island, occupy perhaps 

 one-third of the island. The two principal plains which extend 

 across the island, the plains of the Kaffirs and of the Palmists, are 

 divided by a rampart of volcanic rocks, and are at a considerable 

 elevation above the level of the sea. From the south shores the 

 ry rises gradually for some miles, and then extends in a kind of 

 ii plain, called the plain of the Kaffirs. Its surface is a succession 

 of smalt plains, rising above one another and intersected by hillocks. 

 At the south extremity this plain is 3600 feet above the sea, but 

 where it joins the plain of Cilaos towards the south-east volcanic 

 region, its elevation may be nearly 5000 feet. To the north of it 

 extends the plain of the Palmists, which rises to about 3000 feet 

 It is a perfect level, in the form of a circus, inclosed on all sides, 

 except towards the shores on the north, by a nearly perpendicular 



wall of mountains from 1500 to 2000 feet elevation, which are partly 

 covered with high trees and rich vegetation : on the plain itself 

 many trees are found, among which the species of palms abounds, 

 from which it derives its name. The descent to the shore is some- 

 what longer than on the south declivity of the island. The traveller 

 ascends from the plain of the Kaffirs to the south-east volcanic 

 region by two other extremely sterile plains, those of Cilaos and 

 of the Sands (aux Sables). 



This volcanic region at the south-east extremity, which probably 

 does not occupy more than one-seventh of the island, is called the 

 burned land (pays brflle'), from its soil being entirely composed of 

 recent lava. There are few places in which signs of vegetation are 

 seen. Nearly in its centre is the present crater of the volcano, 

 which nearly every year changes its place over an extent of 5 to 6 

 square miles. This centre of volcanic agency is only from 8 to 9 miles 

 from the south-west extremity of the island, and the high mountains 

 near it are estimated to have an absolute elevation of about 8000 feet. 

 In November 1828 the volcano was in a state of activity, and the 

 summit of the mountain was .visible above the horizon from a distance 

 of nearly 100 miles. 



A soil so arid as that of Bourbon could not maintain a vigorous 

 vegetation if it were not continually supplied with sufficient moisture 

 by the regular succession of land and sea-breezes. The first, blowing 

 from the high mountains of the interior, are always cool, frequently 

 cold ; and in the gorges they blow with great force. It ceases at 

 about 10 o'clock in the morning, and is succeeded by the sea-breeze, 

 which brings with it fogs. These fogs are afterwards dissipated by 

 the rays of the sun, and driven again to the sea. This circulation 

 of the vapours produces a great humidity, and a considerable quantity 

 of nun falls. But in despite of this humidity, the climate is one of 

 the most pleasant and most healthy to be found. The mean mini- 

 mum of temperature as ascertained by observations was 72 in 1818, 

 and 71 in 1819 ; the mean maximum in 1818 was 82, and the same 

 in 1819. The mean temperature throughout the year in 1818 was 

 77 ; in 1819 it was 76'75. A considerable difference is observed 

 between the temperature in the sun and in the shade, the difference 

 amounting to nearly 50 Fahrenheit. The difference in length of 

 the longest and the shortest day is about two hours and a half, the 

 longest being 13 hours, 16 minutes, and the shortest 10 hours, 

 44 minutes. On June 12th and December 12th the sun rises at 

 38 minutes past 6, and sets at 22 minutes past 5 o'clock. During the 

 winter the highest peaks on the island are covered with snow. 

 Hurricanes which are generally very violent and occasion much 

 damage occur twice or thrice a year. 



Except in one or two places the interior of the island is not inha- 

 bited, and perhaps not habitable on account of the sterility of its soil. 

 The cultivated ground extends only about five or six miles from the 

 sea. Among the productions of the island are maize, mandioc, sweet 

 potatoes, ignames, haricots, mangoes, mangosteens, strawberries, 

 grapes, plantains, pine-apples, and custard apples. Vanille and 

 chocolate plants flourish ; coffee and cinnamon grow well, 

 although not now much cultivated, the attention of cultivators 

 having been of late years chiefly directed to the production of sugar. 

 Almost every variety of tropical fruits can be grown in perfection. 

 In many parts of the interior, particularly at the feet of the higb'-r 

 mountains, are extensive forests of timber-trees. The sugar cultiva- 

 tion is now entirely carried on by means of Coolies from the Malabar 

 Coast. Of these Indian labourers there are about 20,000 on the 

 island. Many of those who were formerly slaves, and who were 

 emancipated by the decree of the provisional government of the 

 French Republic in April 1848, have squatted on patches of ground 

 in various parts of the island, living on the produce of their small 

 plots, from which they obtain often a very insufficient amount of 

 provisions for the support of themselves and families. 



There are very few European families on the island. The entire 

 population was returned in 1841 as 106,682, of whom 65,993 were 

 then slaves. We have no recent information of a definite character 

 respecting the number of the population. The Governor resides at 

 St.-Denis, where the supreme courts of the island are held. The field 

 force of regular troops amounts to about 2000 men, including upwards 

 of 100 gens-d'arme who are employed throughout the island as a 

 mounted police. There is also a considerable military force. Two 

 great roads are carried round the entire circumference of the island, 

 except where interrupted for a short interval by the rocky character 

 of the coast. One of the roads follows the line of the seaboard ; the 

 other is a little inland. There are also many good roads in the inte- 

 rior, some of which pass along the sides of high hills and cross 

 numerous ravines and river channels by bridges generally made of 

 wood, some on the suspension principle, and others of more or less 

 elaborate construction. 



As the island does not produce much of importance besides sugar, 

 which is raised for exportation, the inhabitants are obliged to import 

 a considerable amount of provisions. Beef is brought from 

 Mauritius, mutton and corn from the Cape of Good Hope, and rice 

 with some gram from India. Wines and general merchandise are 

 brought from France, and horses from the Cape. 



The town of St-Denis has a population of about 8000. It has .no 

 harbour, and only an open and dangerous roadstead. There are two 



