HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
H 
Among the first are the Champignon , which appears to be composed of leaves; 
the Plumet , which is of the same kind; the Plumet , with three and four branches, 
and the Cerveau de Neptune. 
A mong those which decorate the bottom of the sea, and which appear to hold to 
the earth by their roots, are the Chou-Jleur; the Chou , whose leaves and appearance 
resemble very much that of the garden Vegetable of the same name : it is of a large 
kind, as well as a madrepora, in a spiral form, and which is very brittle; another, 
which resembles a tree in its bark and branches, a very pretty kind, which is 
called the Gerbe , that seems to be formed of several clusters of ears of corn; the 
Pinceau 0 or the pink; in the centre of each segment, a small quantity of green 
is remarkable; a common kind, forming a tuft like the Reseda , with its conic 
flowers; a very pretty one, which grows in the form of an island, with its shore 
and its mountains ; another, which resembles a congelation ; a kind, whose foliage 
branches out like ,the fingers of the human hand; the Rois de Cerf \ whose branches 
are detached and brittle; the Ruche a Miel, a shapeless mass, whose surface is 
regularly perforated with holes; a coral of a pale blue colour; withinside it is of a 
darker blue, and a coral, distinctly marked with black and white, which has some¬ 
thing of the nature of the red coral, that has not yet been found here. Here are 
also several coralline vegetations of various colours, which are so brittle, that they 
cannot be conveyed to Europe. 
Among the Lithophites, there is a plant resembling a long straw, which has neither 
foliage, knots, or blossoms; there is also a vegetation, like a small forest of trees, 
whose roots are very much interwoven, and each of them has a small bunch of 
leaves. The substance of this lithophite partakes of the nature of wood, and burns 
like it in the fire; it is, however, in the class of the madreporae. There are also 
three kinds of marine stars, which do not suggest any particular remark. 
It is no longer doubted, that the madreporae are the work of an infinite number 
of small animals, although they bear an exact resemblance to trees, by their appear¬ 
ance, stem, branches, and mass, and even by their flowers, which display the same 
colour as the blossom of the peach tree. 
Ambergris was formerly found on the coast, and there is even a small island to 
the windward which bears its name. 
