TO THE READER. 
^^lthough I had not any design of having this 
Narrative of my Voyage printed, & only made it for 
my Satisfaction, nevertheless, having shewn it to some 
few of my Friends they have found in it some Things 
sufficiently curious, & which they had not hitherto seen 
in the Narratives which have been given from these 
Quarters; & they have counsell’d me to make them 
known to the Public. I have follow’d their Advice, & 
the Reader will judge if I have done well or not. I avow, 
in good Faith, that my Style’s not flowery or eloquent, 
& those who only look for fine Writing need not read 
this Narrative ; but on the other hand there will be found 
the pure Truth & the good Faith which ought to be 
regarded exactly in these sorts of Works. I have been 
advis’d to append to this Narrative a Map of the Isles of 
Madagascar & of Mascarenne; but as I know that the 
Geographers of France & of Holland have given many 
of them at various Times, I have desir’d to see the most 
considerable; & after having examin’d them with some 
Exactitude, I have not found any which approach’d more 
the Truth than that of the Sievr Sanson, of which the fol¬ 
lowing is the Title :— Isle Dauphine , communement nominee 
i>ar les Europeens , Madagascar , & Saint Laurens , &c. 
Par le Sieur Sanson le fils , Geographe du Roy , A Paris 
chez P. Mariette , rue Saint lacques , 1667. Altho’ this 
Map may be the most exact of all those which I have 
seen, nevertheless I make mention of some places in my 
