144 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
made productive, and the water is impregnated with saltpetre. There is a certain 
part of the island which is called the burnt country, because the trees which formerly 
covered it were consumed by fire: many of them however have recovered, though 
that district is one entire rock. 
rt The potato succeeds in every part of the island, and forms the common food of 
the inhabitants. It serves them as bread, in the same manner as among the com¬ 
mon people of Ireland. When rice is wanted it is purchased of the Company; 
though there are situations, both as to soil and water, which are very well adapted 
to the cultivation of that grain. The inhabitants however are too idle to pursue 
that beneficial agriculture. 
" The cows yield but little milk. That animal in Holland will give six times the 
quantity of those in Mauritius: their flesh also is very inferior to ours; but the 
difference arises, probably, from a total inattention to pasturage in this island. 
There are also wild cattle, which are indigenous; at least they were found there by 
the Dutch in the last century. There are also wild horses, which are sometimes 
killed to provide food for the dogs. The two different species of animal which have 
just been mentioned, are subject to a kind of falling sickness, of which they frequently 
die, especially when they are young. 
“ This island was formerly full of geese, wild ducks, moor-hens, gallinas, and land 
and sea turtles ; but they are now become rare. The lamentin, and other marine 
animals, have also removed farther from the coast, since they have been disturbed by 
its inhabitants. We frequently saw large flights of herons, and many of those birds 
which are called giants, from the elevation of their head, which is about six feet; 
their legs and neck are both of great length, while their body is not larger than that 
of a goose. They are entirely white, except in one part beneath the wing, which 
has a red tinge; they have the beak of a goose, but more pointed; the claws are 
separated, and very long: they feed in marshy spots, and are frequently caught by 
dogs, as they require a considerable time to rise on the wing: they bear a great 
resemblance to the ostrich. We saw one of them at Rodriguez, which was so ex¬ 
tremely fat that it could not move with sufficient agility to escape us. But as that 
was the only one we saw on that island, we were disposed to believe that it was 
driven thither by the violence of the wind. It is a very palatable food. 
“ The rats are very numerous, and a large supply of cats is necessary to exter¬ 
minate them. 
