HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
5i7 
* This eolony, which was originally settled in 1722, is not yet arrived to that degree 
of strength to which there is every reason to presume that it will one day attain. 
Its soil, which is in general fertile and ferruginous, seems to have been formed from 
the ruins of a volcano, at a very remote period. Lava is to be met with almost every 
where, and I had, on my estate, a bed of volcanic ashes.* 
“ The whole land was covered with fine trees, among which there were many fit 
for building, in a profusion that proves the fertility of the soil. Two successive 
harvests in the course of the year, confirm its claim to that character. 
“ The most useful vegetables of the four quarters of the world, have, been collected 
in the national garden, which, for these seven and twenty years past, have been 
under the direction of M. Cere. In doing justice to the zeal, intelligence, and 
activity of this excellent person, I do no more than repeat the merited eulogiums 
which the public voice has lavished on him. 
“ Among the valuable and most useful vegetables that are here cultivated, I shall 
only mention the Sagoutier, and Rima, or bread-tree. The former is a very high 
and bushy palm, the fruit of which grows along several pending stems: nothing 
is collected from it, but as soon as the tree has borne its fruit it dies: then the sap, 
which is very abundant and mucilaginous, dries, and is formed into meal, that is 
easily separated from the wood, which is full of pores. But while the cultivation 
of the Sagoutier is confined to the national garden of the Isle of France, and to 
those of the curious, it will never be of any use to the colony. It would be ne¬ 
cessary then to multiply them on the mountains, and in the forests of the island; 
the cultivation of it should likewise he encouraged in Madagascar, where it is indi¬ 
genous. The inhabitants of the north and west call it Sagou; by those of the east, 
it is named Moufia and Rafia. With the leaves of this palm-tree, divided into very 
fine threads, the natives, shew their dexterity and skill in weaving the pagties. 
“ The bread-tree, or Rima, which is cultivated in the Isle of France, bears a very 
prolific fruit, whose seeds rise into a.rapid growth; they resemble the chesnut both 
in appearance and taste. But the bread-tree, which is the most esteemed, is that 
whose fruit is not prolific ; that is, which does not contain seed, but a fleshy pulp, 
proper for the nourishment of man. I know not whether this difference is the work 
* The reader will here remark, that M. de Cossigny, in this respect, differs entirely in opinion 
with the Academician le Gentil. I will not take upon myself to decide the question. 
Vaux. 
