Giorioso Island. 239 



several hours in taking soundings, came to an anchor in eleven 

 fathoms, about two miles to the northward of Giorioso Island. 

 This is the largest island of the three which constitute the 

 Giorioso Group (Vert Island is very small indeed), and is some- 

 what squarish in shape, measuring a mile and a half each way. 

 It consists of a central depressed plateau, in which the wells yield 

 only brackish water, enclosed by two lines of circumvallation, 

 which are composed of sand hills forming continuous ridges, and 

 ranging from thirty to forty feet in height above the level of the 

 sea. The outer of these two ridges is about forty yards from 

 highwater mark on the beach, and is separated from the inner 

 ridge by a broad and deep furrow, which sustains a luxuriant 

 growth of " Veloutier " and " Bois d'Aimanthe " bushes. Near 

 the centre of the island we saw the muddy bed of a marsh, now 

 dry, which one of the negroes informed me was at certain times 

 of the year full of salt water. 



Giorioso Island is the property of a Frenchman named Carltot, 

 who, at the time of our visit, was away somewhere in Madagascar. 

 The population consisted of the manager — an old Frenchman — 

 one other white man, and fifteen negro labourers ; who, with their 

 wives and families, amounted in all to twenty-seven. They were 

 endeavouring to cultivate cocoa-nuts, but so far as we could judge, 

 without much success ; for the number of these trees bearing fruit 

 scarcely amounted to twenty. The poor people were in great 

 distress for want of clothes and provisions, not having seen any 

 vessel for ten months before our arrival. They had latterly been 

 subsisting wholly on turtle and fish, without vegetables, meal, or 

 bread of any kind. The island was so infested with rats that it 

 was found almost impossible to raise any vegetables. In fact, 

 commercially, it has proved a failure, so that the wretched in- 

 habitants were only awaiting the first opportunity for quitting it 

 and returning to Mahe. 



The flora resembled that of Du Lise. The banyan tree, called 

 " Fouce M by the Creoles, was conspicuous, and in many instances 



