MAUEITIUS. 43 



swept away seventy- two thousand souls, or one-fourth of the population of Mauritius. 

 And although these epidemics have decreased, the general poverty is greater than 

 ever, owing chiefly to the rapid growth of the population, in which the Hindus are 

 steadily acquiring the predominance over all other sections of the community, in 

 wealth and influence as well as in numbers. 



Mauritius. 



Although forming a link in the great semicircular chain of islands, Mauritius 

 appears never to have been connected with any other land, but to have been 

 independently upheaved. Consisting entirely of basaltic rocks, it is probably older 

 than Réunion, its coasts being much more indented, its hills more eroded, and its 

 craters more obliterated. The great central mass is encircled by plains of reddish 

 clay formerly clothed with dense forests, but now laid out in plantations and gardens 

 and studded with villages. The central plateau is dominated by the Piton du 

 Midi (2,000 feet), consisting exclusively of horizontally disposed columnar basalt, 

 but exceeded in altitude by the Black Hiver peak, culminating point of the island 

 (2,730 feet). Above the picturesque hills in the northern district rises the remark- 

 able obelisk- shaped Pieter Both (2,700 feet) surmounted by an enormous globular 

 block, which adventurous climbers have occasionally scaled by means of ropes and 

 ladders. 



The periphery is encircled by fringing reefs and islets with here and there a 

 few navigable channels giving access to the harbours. Cliffs of marine origin 

 now rising above the surface, show that Mauritius has undergone a change of level 

 since its first upheaval. La Ronde, La Plate, Le Coin de Mire, and other islets 

 near the north coast are covered with refuse which attest the former existence of 

 an active volcano in these waters. 



Mauritius has become almost comj)letely disafforested, all the magnificent 

 timber, matted together with a network of creepers, as described by Bernardin de 

 Saint-Pierre, having entirely disappeared. These clearances have had the usual 

 result of disturbing the discharge of the streams, which are alternately flooded and 

 nearly dry watercourses. At the foot of the hills are also formed temporary 

 meres, whose deadly exhalations are diffused far and wide. The droughts are 

 longer, the rains more sudden, more copious and irregular, and extensive tracts 

 formerly under cultivation are now barren wastes. 



The only large town is the capital. Port Louis, on the east or leeward side, 

 with a haven sheltered by coral reefs, and defended by forts and batteries. 

 Founded by Matié de la Bourdonnais in 1735, to replace an older port on the 

 south-east coast. Port Louis has gradually monopolised the whole trade of the 

 island. But although presenting a pleasant aspect towards the sea, it lacks the 

 splendour and elegance one would expect to find in one of the chief commercial 

 centres in the Indian Ocean, with a population of over seventy thousand. Many 

 of the suburbs, and even some of the busy quarters, being occupied by the Hindus 

 and Malagasy, have a poverty-stricken and neglected appearance, while much of 



