HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
497 
verdure, it is a savannah entirely clear of rock, and lies between the sea and the 
woods, which are very fine towards the point of St. Martin. 
tc Before you pass the Cape, there is a large bank of coral that rises to the height of 
fifteen feet, and forms a kind of reef, which the sea has abandoned: at the bottom of 
it is a long pool of water, which might be converted into a bason for small vessels. 
From the Morne Brabant there is an inclosure of breakers, which admit of no pas¬ 
sage but opposite the rivers. 
“ Between the reefs and the coast, the water is very clear, and admits of seeing a 
forest of madreporae of five or six feet high. They resemble trees, and some of them 
even bear flowers: different kinds of fish of every colour swim among the branches, 
and others are seen that inhabit the most beautiful shells. 
" The post called Jacotet, is a place where the sea having penetrated inland, forms 
a round bay, in the middle of which is a triangular islet. This cove is surrounded 
with a hill which gives it the form of a bason, and it has no other opening but that 
towards the sea. At the extremity several rivulets pass over a fine sand into it, 
which come from a lake of fresh water that abounds with fish. Round the lake are 
several small hills, which rise behind each other in the form of an amphitheatre, 
and are crowned with tufts of trees in pyramidical and other pleasing shapes : behind 
and above them all, the palm trees rear their tufted heads. All this mass of ver¬ 
dure, which rises in the midst of the mossy ground, unites with the forest and a 
branch of the mountain which stretches on towards the Black river. 
“ There are sometimes troops of Maroon Negroes in the environs of Belle-ombre. 
In 1769, there was from two to three hundred of them, who choose a chief, whom they 
obey, on pain of death. They are forbidden to touch any thing in the plantations 
of the neighbourhood, or to go along the frequented rivers in search of fish, &c. 
In the night time, they descend to the sea in order to fish ; in the day time, they 
hunt the deer in the interior of the forests, with dogs well trained for that purpose. 
When there is but one woman in the gang, she belongs to the chief; if there are 
several of them, they are in common: they put to death, it is said, the children that 
are born from them, in order that their cries may not discover them; they are 
occupied all the morning in casting lots to foretell the fate of the day. 
“ A very good port for small vessels might be formed at post Jacotet, by extract¬ 
ing some banks of coral from the bason. The arm of the sea near the savannah 0 
serves for embarking. The whole of this part is the finest portion of the island j 
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