468 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
harbour, that communicates with the other, where inferior vessels might remain 
in perfect security ; and if it were not for a small chain of coral rocks, that appear 
above the water in the middle of it, and which M. de la Bourdonnais had determined 
to extirpate, it would have sufficient depth for vessels of the greatest burthen. 
The lime employed in building is made of white coral, which is in great abun¬ 
dance throughout the whole circumference of the island, and is of an excellent 
quality, after the stone has been washed in fresh water to discharge the saline matter, 
with which it is naturally and strongly impregnated. 
Among the many other improvements that M. de la Bourdonnais had made in 
this island, there is a machine of his invention, by means of which the chaloupes 
and long-boats are lifted out of the water, and put in a situation to be speedily 
repaired, with very little trouble and expense. A vessel of an hundred tons, having 
become very leaky and incapable of service, at a moment when there was a great 
want of vessels, was brought to this machine, where her leaks were stopped, her 
bottom cleaned and repaired, and she herself set afloat in the space of an hour. 
There are several kinds of wood in this island, but from their great distance, and 
the rocks, mountains, and rivers that intervene, it is almost impossible to bring them 
to the inhabited parts. Ebony is very common, as well as many other kinds, 
which are extremely hard; one, in particular, is of a reddish colour, and of a very 
close grain, which is called nattes, and is the timber commonly employed in build¬ 
ings. I have seen some of the trees from forty to fifty feet long. This wood, 
however, is in general too heavy to be employed in the construction of ships, as 
M. de la Bourdonnais experienced when he built a ship in this port, called l’lnsu- 
laire ; though some vessels have since been built, and employed between these two 
Islands and Madagascar, Pondicherry, &c. 
About two or three miles to the west of the town, there is a considerable river, 
called La Grand Riviere , from whence the town and harbour are supplied with 
fresh water; and at the mouth of it a powder mill is at this time erecting. It would 
be very easy for an enemy to land at this place, as well as in others in different parts 
of the island. There are, indeed, some batteries with heavy cannon, and small 
magazines for ammunition near the shore, which, being almost covered with brush¬ 
wood, are not perceptible by an enemy; nevertheless, from their great extent, and 
distance from the harbour, they would require a large body of troops to defend 
them. There is guard-house on the summit of an high, steep mountain, at the 
