86 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
flakes of flint, and a kind of clay, but in'a small quantity. In the .vast plain of the 
Field of Mars there is a course of clay, almost on the surface, and mixed with 
gravel. After having passed the Little mountain, on a level with the Field of Mars, 
it appears again. In some places it is without any mixture ; and stakes of eight or 
ten feet in length may be easily thrust into it, without meeting any resistance. It 
is what some call quaking earth. 
It continues to be mixed with gravel as far as the river of Lataniers, and even 
beyond a small brook, when the ground rises. It may also be perceived, after 
having turned the Long mountain, to the foot of Pieterbot. Lastly, it may be traced 
in the way to the Great river in the Ance Courtois. It is again perceived on ap¬ 
proaching the bottom of the mountains; from whence it may be inferred, that the 
mountains at the extremity of the harbour, those of La Defcouverte, the Little moun¬ 
tain, the Long mountain, and even Pieterbot, rest on a bed of clay. 
In the district of Moka, clay is again found at the foot of the mountain of the 
same name. In the environs of this place is the first cascade, which has been 
already mentioned; and as the two other cascades are on the same line, and on the 
same level, it is probable that it is the same bank of clay which these three rivers 
have met with, and which they have carried along with them and destroyed, in these 
places; by the violence and force of their torrents. 
All these facts clearly demonstrate that the Isle of France, as it exists at this day, 
is not the immediate effect of a volcano. 
In the Isle Bourbon there is a volcano, which, however, occupies only a very 
small part of it; but, notwithstanding this volcano, it must be acknowledged, that 
from the quarter of St. Denis to the point of St. Gilles, there appears the same 
kind of conformation as in the Isle of France. The quarter of St. Denis, which 
is flat and level, presents a very singular arrangement, which must be long posterior 
to the first effects of the volcano upon this island, if it should ever have undergone 
any change from them. 
This curious arrangement is perceptible at the river St. Denis, whose banks are 
steep, and which has not less than from fifty to sixty feet depth above the scite of 
the town. Its banks consist of beds of rocks horizontally placed on each other, 
and are covered with a dry, sandy earth, which produces a kind of coarse grass. 
The sea shore is lined with large pebbles, which the waves carry off and throw 
back again with great force, accompanied by a stunning noise. It is als© 
