5 2 ° 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
ready to give assistance to Pondicherry, or to act offensively, according as circum¬ 
stances may require. Indeed every thing may be expected from the Isle of France, 
when it shall have gained that degree of prosperity to which it must one day arrive, 
when its cultivation shall be more extended, and its population more numerous. 
“ Although the colony has undergone, in 1792 and 1793, for the fourth time since 
its foundation, the destructive scourge of the small-pox, which has retarded its pro¬ 
gress and diminished its forces ; although it has been, as it were, abandoned to itself 
since the revolution, the English have not thought proper to direct their attacks 
against it; they preferred the conquests of the Dutch settlements: they, however, 
are deeply interested in rendering themselves masters of it, in order to secure the 
power in Indostan, their new conquests, and their commerce, which this island inter¬ 
rupted by its privateers. 
“ 4 Policy,’ says the Abbe Raynal, 4 foresees that if the Isle of France were aban¬ 
doned, the English would drive all foreign nations out of the seas of Asia, and would 
possess themselves of all the riches of these vast countries.’ 
44 Asses of Mascate have been transported hither; they are of a very fine and large 
species, and extremely useful, both for draught and burthen. 
** Although the greatest part of the houses are of wood, and generally have but a 
ground floor, they are nevertheless convenient and agreeable. Almost all the streets 
are in a straight line, and many of them are planted with trees. The air here is very 
healthy, but is cooler in the country, which is cheerful, pleasant, and well cultivated. 
The forests are stocked with many kinds of very fine indigenous trees, the wood of 
which is employed for building and repairing of vessels, as well as for many neces¬ 
sary purposes. 
“ The ordinary coffee, known in Europe by the name of Bourbon coffee, is 
the only coffee cultivated, upon an extensive plan, in the two islands; some 
of the inhabitants, through curiosity, cultivate two kinds of coffee, to which they 
give the name of Eden or Ouden, the berry of which is exceeding small, though 
it is much superior to the other, and even to that of Molca; but the plant bears little, 
is very delicate, and subject to perish: I wished to form a plantation of it, but could 
not succeed. There are in the forests of the island, towards the quarter of Poudre - 
d’Or } Maroon coffee plants, so called because they are indigenous, and grow with¬ 
out care or cultivation; they are common in the forests of the Isle of Bourbon, 
the bean is longer than that of the ordinary coffee; it is pointed at one of the 
