232 WHALING AND PISHING. 



a diminutive specimen of newspaperdom, printed 

 on very coarse, dark paper, and from what is 

 known by printers as pica type. One-half was 

 in English and the other half French, a great 

 part of the latter being taken up with the never- 

 failing feuilleton. I purchased a copy for a plug 

 of tobacco, and read the news while discussing my 

 breakfast, a compound luxury I had not enjoyed 

 for a long time. 



Mahe, which is the principal, and I believe 

 largest of the Seychelle group, is sixteen miles 

 long, and about four miles broad. It is mountain- 

 ous, as are all the islands in the Indian ocean, but 

 is withal very fertile, and has a most enchanting 

 climate. The natives, who use the French lan- 

 guage, understanding but little English, are of 

 various hues, from the light olive of the southern 

 Frenchman to the coal black of the native Mada- 



These islands were first settled by Frenchmen 

 and belonged to the French until 1794. They are 

 now a dependency of the government of the Mau- 

 ritius. But although the English flag flies there> 

 and British colonial laws are administered, tho 

 inhabitants yet cherish their love for " la belle 

 Frame" and I never heard "vive la republique" 

 shouted with more fervency than by one of our 

 visitors when talking with the captain on the then 

 recent great events in France. 



In days past, before the English abolished 

 slavery, numbers of Madagassy were brought to 



