112 PERCY SLADEN TRUST EXPEDITION. 
Our first duty on arrival at Mauritius was the packing of our collections from the 
Chagos Archipelago for transit home and the unpacking of fresh supplies of bottles and 
other gear. These had been sent from England before we left, and stored for us by 
M. de Vergé, the Storekeeper-General, in his department. We also ordered frames to be 
cast for accumulators to relieve the strain on the dredging-wire, as well as some new 
dredges and other gear to replace such as had been lost. H.E. the Governor, Sir Caven- 
dish Boyle, K.C.M.G., took a personal interest in our work and, besides inviting us to 
visit Réduit, aided us very greatly in our subsequent tour along the east coast of the 
island, as did also Mr. D. C. Cameron, then Acting Colonial Secretary. We are also 
materially indebted to Mr. E, C. Fraser, Mr. Davidson, and M. Couve for their kind 
hospitality and for assistance in many ways. 
The island, when first discovered by the Portuguese, was called Da Cerno, and remained 
nominally in their possession until 1595. In that year it was annexed by a Dutch 
squadron and renamed Mauritius, after Count Maurice of Nassau, their Stadtholder, 
Grand Port to the south-east being termed Warwickhavn, after the Dutch Admiral in 
command. In 16388 the Dutch established a definite station at Grand Port, which 
existed till 1712, when the island was finally abandoned. During this period the forests 
along the coast were largely cleared by slaves introduced from Madagascar, Grand Port 
becoming a regular port of call for refreshing their ships’ crews. ‘The land was planted 
with Indian plants, sugar-cane, tobacco, vegetables, and fruits. Of animals, monkeys, 
deer, goats, and pigs were introduced, their presence probably doing more to kill off the 
Dodo than human agency. 
The French East India Company next took possession of the island in 1721, finally in 
1767 ceding it to France. During this period a large number of French families settled 
in the island, and from them the aristocracy of the place mostly trace their descent. 
The island attained to a considerable degree of prosperity during this period, but appears 
to have been generally misgoverned. ‘Their one great governor was Mahé de la Bour- 
donnais, 1735-46, who annexed the Seychelles. He transferred the seat of government 
to Port Louis on the leeward * side, where he started ship-building. He also fortified 
this limestone plain. Some of them extend for a great distance through the rock, and are rich in stalagmites 
and stalactites. 
“On the southern shore between Riviére Palmiste and Riviére Poursuite indications of raised beaches are seen, 
reaching about 20 feet above the sea-level. 
‘“« The existence of these masses of coralline limestone indicates clearly a former lower level of the island, and the 
evidence of raised beaches confirms this. But a consideration of the coral-reefs points as clearly to a time when 
the island stood at a higher level.... An older reef exists, now quite submerged in some places to a depth of 
over 90 fathoms... . We have thus proofs of great and intermittent oscillations of the level of the island.” 
The evidence scarcely warrants the assumption of an older reef off Rodriguez down to 90 fathoms in depth. 
Probably the shoal water off the island is similar to that off the Seychelles or that forming the Nazareth, Amirante, 
and other partially or completely submerged banks in the western half of the Indian Ocean, Further, we cannot 
accept any deductions as to change of level based on still-growing reefs covered with coralline life. 
© The prevailing wind is from the east or south-east. 
