HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
i6t 
purpose of ascending, 8 cc. It is the second bridge of this kind which has been 
constructed, as the first was carried away by an hurricane; but this is so securely 
fastened by strong chains to pieces of cannon and anchors buried in the earth, that 
there is no reason to apprehend a similar accident. It was constructed in the time 
of M. de la Bourdonnais, and was formed on the model of a bridge in the island of 
Malta, supposed to be the only one of the kind in the world. 
“ The principal produce of this island for exportation is coffee, of which there 
are three annual harvests. The plantations are'well kept and cultivated; and it is this 
article that reimburses the India Company for the expence which it is obliged to 
sustain for the support of these two islands. It received three large vessels every 
year laden with this commodity, at its own price, which was always the lowest, and 
did not exceed four sous of paper money per pound, or twenty livres per bag, con¬ 
taining an hundred weight; though it formerly paid a higher price, in order to encou¬ 
rage the planters : but in proportion as the plantations extended, and the quantity 
increased, the Company has diminished the price: and as the planters have no other 
- channel of trade, they were obliged to receive whatever the Company choose to give 
them. It is said that the coffee is but little inferior to that of Moka; but the trans¬ 
port of it by sea is attended with a degree of risk peculiar to itself; the least humidity 
being sufficient to spoil an entire cargo. A bag, weighing an hundred pounds, put 
on board at the island of Bourbon, generally produces an hundred and four or six 
pounds on its arrival in France. These bags are made of reeds which grow in the 
island, and were first formed into mats for this purpose by the slaves which were 
brought from Madagascar. 
“ Rats and mice.make a most destructive havock in the plantations, but there are 
neither monkies or wild beasts. 
“ Besides coffee, the island produces corn, rice, maize, and manioc, with which 
they furnish the inhabitants of Mauritius, at certain prices fixed by the India Com¬ 
pany, or the Governor General of the two islands. The corn, at nine livres the 
hundred weight; the rice, at one sous the pound, or five livres the hundred weight, 
unpicked ; and maize, at four livres for the same quantity. 
“ Many of the inhabitants are rich, or at least very much at their ease. Their 
plantations are productive, and they extend in proportion as the grounds are 
cleared. Nevertheless, many of them are dissatisfied with the government beneath 
which they live, and are anxious to remove in to some other part of the world, where 
Y 
