HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
87 
remarkable, that under this horizontal bed of rocks, and on a level with the river, 
is another bed of pebbles, like those which are seen on the sea coast, and at the 
bottom of the river. On examining the foot of the mountains of St. Paul, in 
the way to the point of St. Gilles, which is more than half a league, all the 
rocky shelves rest on a bed of flints or small round stones, which, with a small 
mixture of sand, form a solid body. The sand of St. Paul is nothing more 
than the dust of the round stones and pebbles with which this part of the island 
abounds ; but the most remarkable circumstance is, that all this side is perpendicu¬ 
larly cut, and very elevated, in certain places; and that the section exposes the 
different beds of stones, all of which are inclined to the horizon. The point St. 
Gilles is a kind of cape; and here it evidently appears, that the beds of stone are 
not horizontal; but, on tracing them for a considerable length, they seem to have 
the same inclination as the slope of the mountain, which cannot be less than nine or 
ten degrees. The same inclination is perceptible in the road from St. Denis to St. 
Paul. This road crosses the mountains, which may be from four to five hundred 
fathom in height. They all of them stretch from the middle of the island in various 
branches,' which are visibly the effects of torrents. Three of these v branches are 
very steep, and the vallies between them are on a level with the sea. It appears, in 
the course of this journey, that the Teds of stones are not horizontal, but inclined 
towards the sea; and this inclination is nearly the same as that of the mountain. 
According to M. de la Nux, in all the ravines or hollows, called rivers, the shelves 
of rock possessed a certain degree of inclination. In short, it is a singular circum¬ 
stance, that the inclination of these rocky beds being given at the point of St. Gilles, 
from nine to ten degrees, and the distance of this point to the middle of the island, 
being likewise given, the height of the island is rather correctly ascertained, according 
to the measurement of M. de la Nux. It may surely be allowed as a reasonable 
conjecture, that some subterraneous fire, or some other powerful cause, may have 
forced from the bottom of the sea the block of stones called the Isle of Bourbon. 
The Isle of France, and the Isle of Bourbon, seem to have originated from the 
same cause, as they do not bear the least resemblance to Madagascar. That island 
may be supposed originally to have formed a part of Africa; but the Isles of France 
and Bourbon do not appear to have belonged to any continent. The districts of 
St. Denis and St. Paul, which are two plains that extend, to the foot of the moun¬ 
tains, may have been formed, since this epocha, of the broken parts of the highlands. 
