318 HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
may be bad, and the land and sea breezes more or less violent, the winds are never 
impetuous. 
fC Some authors, whose opinions appear to have been adopted without exami¬ 
nation, confine the south-east and north-west monsoons to 2° of south latitude: 
but notwithstanding all the researches which I have made on this subject, I could 
only discover, between the monsoons to the south and north of the line, a few 
variations, which were insufficient to determine the limits. 
" In the space of sea which is situate to the south of the Equator, between the 
coast of Africa and the meridian that passes by the north-east point of Madagascar, 
the south-south-west winds are found to blow from April to October; but they 
incline more to the west on proceeding to the northward to get to the south-west 
monsoons, which blow to the north of the line. 
“ From the months of October or November to that of April, in the same space, 
the winds blow from north-north-east to the east; and near the coast they often 
come from the east-south-east to the south-east, to re-establish, probably, the equili¬ 
brium of the air rarified on the land by the great heats of the season.” 
On the Archipelago of Isles , and the Dangers which attend the Navigation to the 
North and North-east of Madagascar. 
u Previous to the instructions which I shall offer to the navigator, relative to the 
different courses he may take to get to the East Indies; whether he goes from the 
Cape of Good Hope, or from the Isles of France and Bourbon, it is necessary to 
inform him of the isles and dangers which he may encounter, in order that he may 
be enabled to avoid them, and arrive in safety at the place of his destination. 
“ The Archipelago of the north-east of Madagascar, which contains a great 
number of isles, banks, and shoals, has been so imperfectly traced on the old charts, 
that it will be sufficient to compare them with that which I have formed, from a 
more recent and correct knowledge, to possess a very different idea of the situations 
and circumstances which have hitherto been so imperfectly described. 
“ When we consider the position of the Isles of France and Bourbon, the winds 
which prevail in this part of the Eastern Sea, as far as the Equinoctial line, and the 
different tracks which may be pursued to arrive in India, it may be presumed, that 
the knowledge of this Archipelago should be one of the first objects to be obtained 
by the commanding officers of the Company in these isles: but whether it was from 
