MAURITIUS 515 



The scenery may be described as intermediate in character 

 between that of the Galapagos and of Tahiti ; but this will 

 convey a definite idea to very few persons. It is a very 

 pleasant country, but it has not the charms of Tahiti, or the 

 grandeur of Brazil. The next day I ascended La Pouce, a 

 mountain so called from a thumb-like projection, which rises 

 close behind the town to a height of 2600 feet. The centre 

 of the island consists of a great platform, surrounded by old 

 broken basaltic mountains, with their strata dipping seawards. 

 The central platform, formed of comparatively recent streams 

 of lava, is of an oval shape, thirteen geographical miles across 

 in the line of its shorter axis. The exterior bounding mountains 

 come into that class of structures called Craters of Elevation, 

 which are supposed to have been formed not like ordinary 

 craters, but by a great and sudden upheaval. There appear 

 to me to be insuperable objections to this view : on the other 

 hand, I can hardly believe, in this and in some other cases, 

 that these marginal crateriform mountains are merely the basal 

 remnants of immense volcanoes, of which the summits either 

 have been blown off or swallowed up in subterranean abysses. 



From our elevated position we enjoyed an excellent view 

 over the island. The country on this- side appears pretty well 

 cultivated, being divided into fields and studded with farm- 

 houses. I was however assured that of the whole land not 

 more than half is yet in a productive state ; if such be the 

 case, considering the present large export of sugar, this island, 

 at some future period when thickly peopled, will be of great 

 value. Since England has taken possession of it, a period of 

 only twenty-five years, the export of sugar is said to have 

 increased seventy-five fold. One great cause of its prosperity 

 is the excellent state of the roads. In the neighbouring Isle 

 of Bourbon, which ■ remains under the French government, the 

 roads are still in the same miserable state as they were here 

 only a i&w years ago. /\lthough the French residents must 

 have largely profited b}' the increased prosperity of their island, 

 yet the English government is far from popular. 



yd. — In the evening Captain Llo}'d, the Surveyor-general, 

 so well known from his examination of the Isthmus of Panama, 

 invited Mr. Stokes and myself to his country-house, which is 

 situated on the edge of Wilheim Plains, and about six miles 



