Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA. 



183 



1116. The Mauritius, or Isle of France, is a productive island, chiefly indebted to the 

 industry of the French, who liave in|:roduced there most of the grains, roots, and fruits 

 of other parts of the world, all of which seem to thrive. The climate is excellent, and 

 similar to that of the Bourbon and Canary islands. The surface is mountainous towards 

 tlie sea coast, but within land there are many spots both level and fertile. The soil is, 

 generally speaking, red and stony. The agricultural products are numerous. A crop 

 of maize, succeeded by one of wheat, is procured in one season from the same field. 

 The rice of Cochin- China is extensively cultivated; the manioc, or cassava (Jatropha 

 Dianikot) of Brazil ; sugar, which is the chief product of export ; cinnamon, clove, and 

 nutmeg trees, &c. Oranges, citrons, and guavas 

 {Jig' 1H7. ) abound; and pine apples are said to 

 grow spontaneously. Many valuable kinds of 

 woods are found in the forests ; and on the 

 banks of the rivers are fed the Hocks and herds 

 of the country. 



1117. The Isle of Bourhon dii^iiTs \\ti\Q in its 

 natural and agricultural circumstances from that 

 of the Mauritius. 



1118. St. Helena is a rugged, but beautiful 

 island, decupled by a few farmers, chiefly English. 

 Their chief productions are cattle, hogs, and 

 poultry ; and when the India ships arrive every 

 house becomes a tavern. 



1119. The Caj)e Verd Islands are, in general, 

 hot and unhealthy as to climate, and stony and 

 barren as to soil. Some, however, produce 

 rice, maize, bananas, oranges, cotton, and sugar- 

 canes, with abundance of poultry. 



1 1 20. The Canary Islands having been subject to Spain for many centuries, the agri- 

 culture of the parent country prevails throughout. The climate is temperate, and the soil 

 generally rich. The stock of the farm belongs to the pro- 

 prietor of the soil, who lends it to the cultivator, on 

 condition of getting half of the produce. The products 

 are, wheat, barley, rice, oats, flax, anise seeds, coriander, 

 the mulberry, grape, cotton, sugar-cane, dragon's blood-tree 

 (Draccena) , and a variety of other esculent plants and fruits. ' 

 The celebrated Canary wine is made chiefly in the islands 

 of TeneritFe and Canary. Potatoes have been introduced 

 within the last fifty years, and now constitute the chief 

 food of the inhabitants. The archil (Lichen rocella, Linn. 



Jig. 188 a.), a moss used in dyeing, grows wild on all the 

 rocks ; and kali (Salsola kali, Jig. 188 6. ), from which soda is 

 extracted, is found wild' on the sea-shore. The roots of the 

 male fern [Pteris aquUina) are, in times of scarcity, ground 

 into flour, and used as food. The live-stock of the 

 Canaries consists of cattle, sheep, horses, and asses ; and 

 the well-known Canary-bird, with a great variety of others 

 abound in the woods. 



1121. The island of Madeira is chiefly celebrated for its wine. It is the boast of the 

 islanders, that their country produces the best wheat, the purest sugar, and the finest 

 wines in the world, besides being blest with the clearest water, the most salubrious air, 

 and a freedom from all noxious reptiles. The first view of the island is particularly 

 magnificent; the country rising in lofty hills from every part of the coat so steep as to 

 bring very distant objects into a foreground. The sides of these hills are clothed with 

 vines as high as the temperature will admit ; above this they are clothed with woods or 

 verdure to their summits, as high as the sight can distinguish ; excepting those columnar 

 peaks, the soil of which has been washed away by the violent rains to which those lati- 

 tudes, and especially such elevated parts, are liable. Deep ravines or valleys descend 

 from the hills to the sea, and in the hollow of most of them flows a small river, which 

 in general is rapid and shallow. The soil is clay on the surface, and large masses of 

 it as hard as brick, are found underneath. The island, it is said, when discovered by 

 the Portuguese, was covered with wood; and the first step taken by tlie new settlers 

 was to set fire to the wood. This conflagration is said to have lasted seven years, and to 

 have been the chief cause of the fertility of the soil ; but whatever may have been the 

 effect at first, this fertility could not have lasted for three centuries. 



1 122. The lands of Madeira are cultivated on the metayer system : in entailed estates 

 leases cannot be granted for a longer period than nine years ; but in no case can the 

 tenant be dismissed till he is paid the full value of his improvements. 



N 4 



