EELATION DE L ILE KODEIGUE. S'M 



Flat Island {Vile Plate),^ which is to the south of the last ; there 

 is nothing on it, and it is also of limestone and very small. There 

 are meanwhile some small birds which live on fish, 



Eocky Island {Vile de Hockey is thns named because there is no 

 soil upon it; there are, nevertheless, some shrubs which grow on 

 the rocks ; there are some tortoises also, as well as sea-fowl 

 (oisemix pecheicrs) ; it is slightly elevated, and may be a quarter- 

 of-a-league round. 



Of the birds which live on fish there are thirteen sorts, to wit : 



The Frigate,'^ which, when it goes to fwh, which does not often 

 happen, goes to a great distance, 20, 25, 30 leagues away. 



The Ox-birds (Ba'ufsy are of the size of a lai'ge capon ; their 

 plumage is all white, excepting some feathers of the wings and 

 tail, which are black ; it has a beak about five inches in length, 

 and which comes to a point at the end, and within it is like a saw. 

 They call it Boeuf because it cries like an ox ; it often makes a 

 noise w'ith its wings in flying, that one would say it was a hurri- 

 cane if he continued it as he is passing. They lay generally on 

 the branches of trees, where they make their nests, and the male 

 and the female sit on the egg in turn — for they only produce one 

 Q^^y — while one or the other o-oes to fish. 



1 South of Pierrot I. lies Flat Island, at the entrance of Passe Platte, 

 one of the several narrow openings in the edge of the reef, which 

 are used by fishermen to get to the deep water fishing-grounds. Cotton, 

 Gossypiuin harhadcnse, introduced from the wreck of an American ship, 

 now almost covers this islet ; also Balfour mentions Stenofaphrinn 

 sublatuvi as only growing on Gombrani and Pierrot Islands. Zoijsia 

 pungens is also noticed as common on the sandy and coral islets on the 

 reef . . . (I. c, p. 384). Such plants also as Surianamarithna, Pcmphis 

 acidula, Oldenlandia Sieheri, Toarnefortia argentia, Jpomasa fragra^iii, 

 I. kncantha, Lycium tenue, ]\Iyopoynm Mauritiauum, specially occur. 



2 L'ile de Roche, now called Hermitage Island, described by Fiulay as 

 small and rocky, stands in the centre of the harbour of Port South- 

 East. The highest point of the south end is 80 ft. high, and one of the 

 Transit stations was established on the north part of it. 



3 Vide supra, p. 325. 



* This bird, writes Milne -Edwards, is probably a Foit (booby), 

 perhaps the Sula Capensis. There is a sandpiper called Ox-bird. 



