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tember,* five ships out of eight under the command of Vice- 
Admiral Warwick sighted the Island “Do Cerne” and an- 
chored on the 20th of the same month in the harbour of 
Grand Port. They named the island Mauritius and the Bay 
Warwick Bay, after their vice-admiral. 
“ Ladite lie, accordingly to the old french translation, est 
“ inhabitee, et n’a jamais (comme nous semblait) este habitee, 
“ car nous fismes maint marcher; mais n’avons trouve per- 
“ sonne, sinon qu’experimentions par l’apprivoisement des 
“ oiseaux, qu’elle fut inhabitee, a cause qu’on les print en 
“ grande abondance de la main.” 
The Dutch when they explored the Island found not only 
no human beings but no quadrupeds. “ Par diverses fois 
avons envoye aucuns gens au pays pour trouver aucun peuple 
sur quelque autre cartier du pays, mais estaient a la fois trois 
ou quatre jours en voye sans trouver n’y veoire personne, n ? y 
a aucun animal a quatre pieds.” 
There were at that time in our forests neither stags, nor 
monkeys, nor wild pigs and the other quadrupeds now so 
common as also the quadrumane that sports on the highest 
peeks of our mountains did not then exist. 
There can be no doubt therefore that the stag was intro- 
duced into the island, but when and by whom ? It is really 
a pitty that we are still ignorant of the name of the man who 
procure every year such noble sport to the wealthy and happy 
of our time. His name would have figured conspiciously on 
the Obelisk at Pamplemousses. 
Thick forests covered the Island and damp vapours issued 
from it, the rains were probably at that time, more abundant 
than they are now. 
“ Les Palmistes et Palmiers prevalent les vallees, les mon- 
tagnes sont si hautes que le pays est quasi-entierement couvert 
* This month of September is remarkable in our annals. It is in 
1598 on the 20th of that month that the Island received from the Dutch 
the name it still bears. It was in that month also that the French un- 
der the command of Dufresne took possession of it, 20th September 
1715 and changed the name of Mauritius, into that of the Isle de France. 
On the 20th September 1816 Governor Farquhar celebrated at the Ro- 
yal College the hundredth anniversary of tire taking of possession and 
five days afterwards, half the town of Fort Louis was consumed by 
fire. 
