HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
421 
nutritious articles is very common here, notwithstanding the drought of the country; 
and it is to the labour and industrious disposition of these people, that the country 
is indebted for its abundance. As rice does not grow but in water, they contrive, 
by artificial means, the result of their labour and ingenuity, to give the plantations 
all the moisture which they require. 
Pondicherry possesses vast magazines and warehouses, six principal gates, a con¬ 
siderable citadel, thirteen small forts or bastions, with a formidable artillery, consist¬ 
ing of upwards of four hundred pieces of cannon. 
It is to be lamented that so fine a town is without a port, and that the sea affords 
only a shallow road before it; so that it is absolutely necessary to send boats to the 
distance of a league, to receive and carry the various articles of merchandize. In 
every other respect its advantages are great and numerous, and its produce abun¬ 
dant as to the necessaries and luxuries of life. 
