330 TEE GE.UISE OF TEE ' GnRAQOA.' 



ill length. We went through the passage nearest to the point, 

 which is by far the widest of the two, and the water about 

 it deep. We had a fine view of the port and of the town, 

 which is built upon a slope, the lower end of which comes 

 down to the water. It is a very fine harbour, and the entrance 

 apparently easy for ships. There were in port two French 

 men-of-war, the 'Gazelle ' and the 'Fulton' (a paddle steamer 

 with the pennant of the Governor), and the ' Falcon,' which 

 from her size appeared to advantage near them. The 

 mountains in the background, covered with wood and grass 



^^^%-'.-5^— _ 



MTJ ISLA^'D, PORT-DE-FRASCE. — ILE DES LAPlXS. 



had a fine effect. The pilot pointed out to me Mont Mu, 

 4,000 feet high, the highest in this part of the island, which 

 seems very mountainous. There is a chain of hills running 

 nearly from one end of it to the other, which is said to be 

 about 150 miles long. We passed a new battery, which the 

 pilot said was the Artillery Battery ; it appeared to be 

 merely a piece of wall with a platform on which there were 

 a few mounted guns ; the artillerymen were scattered about 

 near some houses a short distance above it. We could see 



