838 THE CRUISE OF THE ' VURAQOA.' 



manager of the model ftirm. Two gendarmes trotted in 

 front, and two otlier horsemen, tlie Procnreur Imperial and 

 the chief engineer, kept close by ns. The road had not 

 long been made and was consequently very rough. The 

 scenery was very pretty, the mountains before us in the 

 distance looked beautifid. We passed a few small places in 

 which settlers were living upon their laud, but did not 

 appear to have done much beyond building their houses 

 and planting their cabbages. We passed some mangrove 

 swamps, a part of one of which the road traversed ; the sea 

 at high water runs up at this place to the roadside, but 

 there are only a few inches of water on the mud, and at 

 low water the swamp lies bare. It is a good distance from 

 the sea, and the mangrove bushes are pretty thick upon it. 



We reached the farm buildings in about three quarters of 

 an hour. We were shown the stables first, all of stone, 

 consisting of a long shed quite open in front. There 

 were about a dozen decent-looking horses imported from 

 AustraUa. The Director's house, also built of stone, adjoins 

 the stables and contains three or four rooms, one of which 

 is kept for Madame Guillain, who often stays here when 

 the Governor goes away from Port de France. There is a 

 large sitting-room in which M. Boutan has a case containing 

 a dozen or more gold and silver medals which he had won 

 in France. There was a bookcase also, full of agricultural 

 works. The rooms were all panelled with native woods. 

 All kind of work upon the farm is done by convicts and 

 disciplinaires ; the latter have all been soldiers who, having 



