30 



PETER BOTTE'S MOUNTAIN. 



The island called the Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, lie near to 

 each other, off the east coast of Africa, having, however, the great island 

 of Madagascar between them and that continent. They were first 

 discovered in the sixteenth century, by Pedro Mascarenhas, a Portuguese, 

 from whom the group to which they belong is sometimes called that of 

 the Mascarenhas. Its discoverer himself gave to the Mauritius the 

 ame of Ilia do Cerus. The Portuguese, however, never formed a 

 settlement here, and in 1598, the island was taken possession of by the 

 Dutch admiral, Van Nek, who called it by the name by which it is now 

 commonly known, after Maurice, Prince of Orange. The Dutch finding 

 it of little use, although they had began to colonize it in 1640, abandoned 

 it altogether in 1712, and in 1721, the French, who had been already for 

 some time in possession of the neighbouring Isle of Bourbon, began to 

 colonize it. From them it received the name of the Isle of France, and 

 they retained it until 1810, when it was taken from them by the English. 

 It still remains a British Colony. 



The Mauritius is extremely mountainous, and exhibits in every part of 

 it the marks of volcanic action. Some of the mountains are between 

 two and three thousand feet in height, and are covered with snow during 

 a great part of the year. Among them are several that assume the most 

 singular and fantastic shapes ; but the most extraordinary of any in its 

 appearance, is that which bears the name of Peter Botle, from a person, 

 who is said, by tradition, to have climbed to its summit many years ago, 

 and to have lost his life in coming down again. This, however, is mere 

 rumour, and even if the attempt was actually made by the person in 

 question, it is evident that the fate which overtook him must have 

 rendered it impossible to say whether he succeeded or not. 



In point of fact, the top of the mountain has been usually regarded as 

 quite inaccessible, notwithstanding the boast of a Frenchman about forty 

 years ago that he succeeded in reaching it. The attempt has also been 

 several times made by our own countrymen, since the island became a 

 British possession, but always in vain, until the period which we are 

 about to describe, and which was accomplished in 1832. The account 

 of it was read before the Geographical Society, by Mr. Barrow, and 

 says, " From most points of view it seems to rise out of the range which 

 runs nearlv Parallel to that part of the sea coast which forms the bay of 



