Slater : Rodrigues, and its Fauna. 179 



To return to Rodrigues. The geology of tlie island, which 

 previously to our visit in 1874, was supposed to be of granite, was 

 found to be less interesting than was expected. The island consists 

 of a large pile of that kind of lava which geologists call Dolerite, of 

 which the numerous flows could be almost counted by studying the 

 sides of the water-courses. In some parts of the island there were 

 line cliffs of basalt, in the form of columns packed close together, 

 looking like rows of vast organ pipes, and very similar in appearance, 

 though upon a larger scale, to those which have made our Island of 

 Staffa so famous. No minerals were to be found of any beauty, 

 though Arragonite and Zeolites occurred sparingly. 



The only exception to the general volcanic structure of the island 

 lies in some patches of coralline limestone, found only in the western 

 end of the island. These consist of large beds, as much as a mile in 

 diameter, and fifty feet or more in depth, of marine coral, slightly 

 altered by atmospheric agency, upheaved by the basalt, and lying upon 

 it. In these patches are found caves, which contain the bones and 

 other remains of the extinct fauna of the island, which it was my 

 special province, on the Transit Expedition, to investigate. 



Rodrigues has no history to speak of. In 1761 it was the scene of 

 another Transit of Venus expedition — a French one, under the Abbe 

 Pingre, of which the results are well known to astronomers. 



Next, in 1806, the Indian Government decided upon taking from 

 the French, with whom, as you know, we were then at war, the islands 

 of Mauritius (then called Isle de France) and Bourbon (or Reunion). 

 As a preliminary step they occupied Rodrigues with a large body of 

 troops and Sepoys, and great stores. After several unsuccessful 

 attempts Mauritius and Bourbon were at length taken in 1810, and 

 Rodrigues abandoned. 



Connected with this expedition there is a circumstance, which I 

 may mention, of considerable interest. There was at the time in 

 Mauritius a remarkable French Creole (M. Fillifay), who had the 

 power of discerning objects at a vast distance out at sea, long before 

 they were visible to anyone else. And he came to the French 

 Governor, in 1810, and told him he had seen the ships assembling at 

 Rodrigues, 300 miles distant, for the invasion of Mauritius. For this 

 piece of news it is supposed that he was imprisoned for raising false 

 alarms. He was afterwards employed regularly at the Port Office to 

 give notice of ships approaching. On one occasion he declared that 

 he saw two ships joined together, and shortly afterwards a four-masted 

 American schooner made its appearance, the first four-masted vessel 



