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HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
“ On the 5th of September, 1696, the -vessel called Suraag, arrived with a special 
commission to take us to Batavia. Our generous friends, the officers of the Perse¬ 
verance, did not neglect to present our letters and memorials to the Directors-General 
in Holland, and such was the effect which was produced by them. The Commandant 
continued his injustice, his insolence, and his cruelty to the last, and added to the 
long catalogue of complaints which we were already prepared to make against him, 
when we should arrive in Batavia.” 
Observations of Le Guat on Mauritius . 
We shall add the following remarks of M. le Guat on the Island of Mauritius, 
which are not only curious from their early date, but may be considered as a part of 
its history. 
“ Ships may come to an anchor in three principal places: at the fort,* in the south¬ 
east river, and the north-west haven. 
“ The Company maintains, at the fort, a garrison of about fifty men; and there 
are about thirty or forty Dutch families dispersed in different parts of the island. 
After the fort had been burned down, it was rebuilt with stone, and furnished 
with twenty brass cannon. 
“ The soil of this island is almost every where of a reddish colour, and generally 
good; but in the neighbourhood of the south-east fort it is unproductive. It is a mat¬ 
ter of some difficulty to get out of the south-east road, although there are two openings, 
as a certain wind is necessary, which does not often blow; and profound caltns are 
yery frequent in these regions. The other two roads are tolerably commodious. 
“ The island produces ebony trees, both black and red: the black is the hardest 
wood; indeed the soldiers who are employed to saw ebony, can finish twenty feet 
of the red in as short a time as twelve of the black; which is considered as a day’s 
labour.. 
“ There are oranges both sweet and sour, an abundance of lemons, and divers kinds 
of trees which are fit for the purposes of building and carpentry. At a quarter of a 
league from the fort is a forest of lemon trees; and in its neighbourhood, as well as 
in several other places, there are plantations of tobacco, which is extremely pungent. 
The sugar cane is also successfully cultivated; the extract of it, which is called 
arrack, is very strong, and indeed unwholesome when it is new. The anana and 
* At the south-east port. 
