to the Island of Rodriguez. 147 



belies her name, and at sunset we were still some fifteen miles 

 from Port Mathurin, which lies about midway on the north side 

 of the island. As the reefs extend many miles from the coast, 

 and are supposed to be not accurately laid down on the chart, 

 we stood away to the north-east for the night. At daybreak on 

 the 1st November the land was well to leeward; but the wind 

 was light, and it was nearly midday before we hove to for the 

 pilot, a corporal of our police, who came on board with the 

 police magistrate (the governor, so to speak, of the island), and 

 two other gentlemen. The latter had gone down in the colonial 

 steamer 'Victoria,^ about a fortnight before — one for his amuse- 

 ment, the other to vaccinate the population. On board the 

 ' Rapid ' with me were Captain Anson, R.A., and a magistrate 

 who was going on in the ship to visit the Chagos and other 

 dependencies of this place in the Indian Ocean. 



On landing at two o'clock we found the rest of the party who 

 had gone down in the ' Victoria ' (among whom was Captain 

 Barkly, aide-de-camp to the Governor of Mauritius) established 

 in the prison of the island, which at the time of their arrival 

 happened to be without any of its legitimate occupants. Before 

 starting, all the members of this company had made the greatest 

 profession of collecting all subjects of natural history; but I 

 found that, beyond a few ferns and an infinity of walking-sticks, 

 next to nothing had been done. Many of the islets had been 

 visited, and innumerable birds' eggs, chiefiy of Terns, had been 

 brought away ; but all had been smashed or eaten except one 

 or two of the beautiful white Gygis Candida, which had been 

 boiled hard by way of preserving them ! They had also a few 

 skins of Terns; but the sexes had not been identified. Of land- 

 birds they had hardly seen any, and declared there was only one 

 species — a yellow bird — on the island ; but that they had not 

 procured. One gentleman, however, said he had seen some 

 bird as big as our " Martin '' [Acridotheres tristis), but 

 altogether diff'erent from it. 



With this gentleman I immediately started, and proceeded 

 some three miles to the westward, keeping half a mile or so from 

 the shore, or sometimes walking on it. The sun was broiling 

 hot, and nearly the whole way was up and down hill. The 



