XXI 
MA UR1TIUS 
5i5 
The scenery may be described as intermediate in character 
between that of the Galapagos and of Tahiti; but this will 
convey a definite idea to very few persons. It is a very 
pleasant country, but it has not the charms of Tahiti, or the 
grandeur of Brazil. The next day I ascended La Pouce, a 
mountain so called from a thumb-like projection, which rises 
close behind the town to a height of 2600 feet. The centre 
of the island consists of a great platform, surrounded by old 
broken basaltic mountains, with their strata dipping seawards. 
The central platform, formed of comparatively recent streams 
of lava, is of an oval shape, thirteen geographical miles across 
in the line of its shorter axis. The exterior bounding mountains 
come into that class of structures called Craters of Elevation, 
which are supposed to have been formed not like ordinary 
craters, but by a great and sudden upheaval. There appear 
to me to be insuperable objections to this view : on the other 
hand, I can hardly believe, in this and in some other cases, 
that these marginal crateriform mountains are merely the basal 
remnants of immense volcanoes, of which the summits either 
have been blown off or swallowed up in subterranean abysses. 
From our elevated position we enjoyed an excellent view 
over the island. The country on this side appears pretty well 
cultivated, being divided into fields and studded with farm¬ 
houses. I was however assured that of the whole land not 
more than half is yet in a productive state ; if such be the 
case, considering the present large export of sugar, this island, 
at some future period when thickly peopled, will be of great 
value. Since England has taken possession of it, a period of 
only twenty-five years, the export of sugar is said to have 
increased seventy-five fold. One great cause of its prosperity 
is the excellent state of the roads. In the neighbouring Isle 
of Bourbon, which remains under the French government, the 
roads are still in the same miserable state as they were here 
only a few years ago. Although the French residents must 
have largely profited by the increased prosperity of their island, 
yet the English government is far from popular. 
3 rd .—In the evening Captain Lloyd, the Surveyor-general, 
so well known from his examination of the Isthmus of Panama, 
invited Mr. Stokes and myself to his country-house, which is 
situated on the edge of Wilheim Plains, and about six miles 
