42 ISLE OF EDEN. [169I. 



says, no Body ever went quite thro' the Island, which was 

 for want of good Information. The Map I have plac'd here, 

 was taken from a Description given by Persons that visited 

 it all over, and liv'd there several Years. 



Monsieur du Quesne adds, " Be it as it will, 'tis certain the 

 Isle of Eden is of a sufficient Extent^ to contain easily a long 

 Descent of Generations, of whatever Colony will settle 

 there. 



" ^Tis most true, says our Author, That Voyagers have not 

 made mention of any Country where the Air is more healthy 

 than in this Isle ; which is a very important Article. 'Tis 

 well known abundance of sick People have gone ashoar 

 there, and have recover'd their Health in a very little time. 

 The same have those said, who have remain'd there much 

 longer; tho' they wanted several Conveniencies, and were 

 but too much expos'd sometimes to the Sun, and sometimes 

 to the Dew. The Sky is clear ; the Exhalations of the 

 Earth, as well as those of the Aromatick Plants and Flowers, 

 with which 'tis cover'd, perfume the Air, and they breath'd 

 in a Balmy Sj)irit equally wholesome and agreeable, 



"This charming Isle^ lies between 21 and 22 deg. of S. 

 Latitude, and has one Advantage in common with other 

 Countries near the Line, that the Heats are temper'd by 

 certain cool and regular Breezes, which Providence, admir- 

 able in all its Ways, has so dispos'd to render these Countries 

 more Commodious for Habitation. 



" The abundance of Springs that are found in this Isle, is 



1 Reunion, as the island is now called, is situated in lat. 20° 51', long. 

 65° 26' (S7. Denis). It was captured by the British in 1810, but 

 restored to France by the treaty of Paris in 1816, and is now an im- 

 portant colony of the Republic. It is 138 miles in circumference, and 

 48 miles long, east and west, by 34 miles broad, north and south. The 

 island is a mass of volcanic mountains, the ridges rising to a height of 

 10,169 feet between the extinct crater cirques, whilst an active volcano 

 forms the extremity of the island, whose summit is 8,613 feet in height. 

 Its area contains about 610,000 acres, of which nearly one-third is cul- 

 tivated. 



