INTRODtJCTIOX. 



extremely fine, and almoft rcfembUng hair, 

 are fometimes found at a very great diftance 

 from volcanoes. This fpecies of lava is 

 not at all common. 



The origm of the colony of tlie illes of 

 France and Bourbon is connected with the 

 firft eftablifhments of the French in Mada- 

 gafcar. Were it not for the proximity of 

 Madagafcartothefe iflands, one could fcarcely 

 conceive why the latter fhould have been 

 chofen for the purpofe of forming a refpec- 

 * table fettlement. Thefe two iflands are fo 

 fmall, that they are hardly perceptible in a 

 chart of the vaft Indian Ocean. 



it is well known, that feveral Frenchmen, 



fount! a paflage through fubterrancan galleries to tlie 

 iJQc of BourboHi where, meeting with lefs refiftance, 

 they iffucd through the crater of the volcano, which 

 prevented that ifland from experiencing any £hocks, 

 though there might be the fame commotion in both 

 places/* T. 



7 , who 



