INTROnUCTION* 



XIX 



tKis ncW land, an additional degree of in- 

 creafe, Thefe animals found in the wood?, 

 with which the ifland is covered, a fhelter 

 from the fcorehlng fun of the torrid zone j 

 they fed upon fucculent grafs ; and ap- 

 peared, above all, to delight in thofe vaft 

 favannas^ the produ6:ions of which are 

 fimiiar to thofe ofMadagafcan 



When the inhabitants of Bourbon had 

 made a proper provifion for their fubfift^ 

 ence, by paying great attention to agricul- 

 ture, the principal and the mofl: produ6:ive 

 fource of all riches, they thought that coffee, 

 in the courfe of time, might form an ufeful 

 branch of commerce between their ifland 

 and Europe* In the year 1718, therefore^ 

 they fent to Moka and Aden for fome 

 young plants of the coffee -tree, and were 

 not deceived in their fpeculation. Thefe 

 plants being cultivated with care, became 

 in a few years very produdive ^ and the 



b 2 iiland 



