May, 1836. 



MAUllITIUS. 



571. 



speak to their servants in French, and the shops are all 

 French ; indeed I should think that Calais or Boulogne was 

 much more Anglefied. There is a very pretty little theatre, 

 in which operas are excellently performed, and are much 

 preferred by the inhabitants to plays. We were also surprised 

 at seeing large booksellers' shops, with well-stored shelves ;~ 

 music and reading bespeak our approach to the old world of 

 civilization ; for in truth both Australia and America may be 

 considered as new worlds. 



One of the most interesting spectacles in Port Louis, 

 is to observe the various races of men which may be met 

 in walking the streets. Convicts from India are banished 

 here for hfe ; at present there are about 800, and they are 

 employed in various public works. Before seeing these 

 people, I had no idea that the inhabitants of India were 

 such noble-looking figures. Their skin is extremely dark, 

 and many of the older men had large mustaches and beards 

 of a snow-white colour ; this, together with the fire of their 

 expressions, gave them quite an imposing aspect. The 

 greater number have been banished for murder and the 

 worst crimes ; others for causes which can scarcely be con- 

 sidered as moral faults, such as for not obeying, from super- 

 stitious motives, the English laws. These men are generally 

 quiet and well-conducted ; from their outward conduct, their 

 cleanliness and faithful observance of their strange religious 

 enactments, it was impossible to look at them with the same 

 eyes as on our wretched convicts in New South Wales. 

 Besides these prisoners, large numbers of free people are 

 yearly imported from India: for the planters were afraid 

 that the negroes, when emancipated, would not work. From 

 these causes the Indian population is here very considerable. 



May 1st. — Sunday. I took a quiet walk along the sea- 

 coast to the northward of the town. The plain in that part 

 is quite uncultivated ; it consists of a field of black lava, 

 smoothed over with coarse grass and bushes, the latter 

 being chiefly mimosas. Captain FitzRoy, before arriving 

 here, said he expected the island would have a character 



