HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
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understanding and information. So far I have opposed facts, discussions, and au¬ 
thorities, to the assertions and decisions of the author whose opinions I have com¬ 
bated. It is, therefore, only left for me to draw those conclusions, which may be 
considered as so many opinions given, in direct opposition to his assertions. 
tf I accordingly declare it to be my opinion, that the Isle of France will one 
day astonish Europe and Asia by its riches, the variety and abundance of its pro¬ 
ductions, and the resources of its numerous population : in the course of time, 
it will have very great influence on the commerce of Europe in the- Indies, and 
incalculably extend the advantages of the nation who possesses it, in that quarter 
of the globe. A colony whose soil is fertile, the air healthy, and whose position 
is so fortunate, both for the operations of commerce and the plans of policy, must 
necessarily arise from its present state of mediocrity. It has not as yet acquired all 
that a sagacious minister, a wise administration, a constant and well directed labour 
of the colonists, and time, the operations of which perfects every thing, may procure 
it. Nature had clothed its soil with extensive forests, but industry and patriotism 
have collected here the greatest part of the useful productions of hot countries, as 
well as many of the natives of temperate climates, which flourish with luxuriance; 
so that, at present, it has more useful plants collected than any other part of the 
known world. M. Saunerat misrepresented this isle, without being sufficiently 
acquainted with it, and has slandered its inhabitants without knowing them. 
“ M. de la Bourdonnais, that great man, whom history already mentions with 
the eulogiums which he so well deserves, that great general, mariner, administrator, 
merchant, and agriculturist, entertained very different opinions; his knowledge of it 
was the result of several years passed in the government of it, and to him it is indebted 
for the sources of its prosperity: he considered the Isle of France as the key of the 
Indian commerce of his nation, as the bulwark of its settlements in Asia, and as the 
means of future conquests: he did more,—he proved the exactness of his last views, 
by keeping the English fleet from the coast of Coromandel, and by besieging and 
taking Madras. His object was to make the Isle of France the entrepot of the 
Indian commerce of France, and as a place of arms for its land and sea forces. His 
idea was to make it an agricultural, commercial, and military settlement. 
Let us add another respectable authority. " Were it not for the Isle of France,” 
says the author of the Philosophical History, “ the French settlements in India 
could not be protected.” He also adds, “ that the Isle of France will always be 
