REUNION. 



51 



of Pointe des Galets. But this place ofPers few facilities for trade, and is moreover 

 frequently exposed to the so-called " vent de St. Gilles," a sort of back-current 

 from the regular monsoon, sweeping round from the east to the west side of the 

 island. A harbour of refuge, however, has lately been constructed at a cost of no 

 less than £2,700,000, to the north of St. Paul, under the shelter of the Pointe 

 des Galets. The basin, which is accessible to the largest vessels frequenting these 

 waters, has an extent of over fort}- acres, with a depth of 26 feet. This port is 



Fig. 17.— St. Pieree. 

 . Scale 1 : 12,OuO. 



Easb oF Green. 



Sb'sa'iO" 



nepths. 



to 32 

 Feet. 



32 Feptand 

 upwards. 



550 Yards. 



conveniently situated towards the centre of gravity of the productive parts of the 

 island, where it is least exposed to the violence of the cyclones. Some of the 

 blocks used in constructing the sea-walls weigh as much as a hundred and twenty 

 tons. 



South of St. Paul follow the half-deserted towns of St. Leu and St. Louis, 

 and beyond them the prosperous seaport of St. Pierre, with a well- constructed 

 harbour and solid breakwater enclosing an outer basin 30 to 50 feet deep. 

 Here is the terminal station of the coast railway, which describes a curve of 75 

 miles round half the periphery of the island through St. Paul, the Pointe des 



