CHAPTER XIV 
THE MASCARENES 
Far out in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagas¬ 
car, lie three islands, which were discovered by the Portu¬ 
guese in the year 1513, and called the Mascarene Isles 
in honour of the navigator Pedro de Mascarenhas. They 
are Reunion, Mauritius, and Rodriguez. Peculiar in their 
natural productions, they may be considered the veritable 
pearls of the East African island world. Tropical nature 
as here displayed well deserved to be taken as the sub¬ 
ject of those classical and thrilling descriptions which 
Bernardin de St. Pierre has transmitted to us in Paul 
and Virginia. 
All three islands are of volcanic nature and are 
therefore very fertile. Reunion is the most imposing 
and varied, on account of its mighty mountain masses. 
Mauritius is more level, and without mountains of any 
great size. Rodriguez, the smallest of the Mascarenes, 
holds a middle place in the character of its landscapes. 
The climatic conditions, the plants and the animals 
present so many features in common that a separate 
description in these respects becomes superfluous; the 
ethnical character is also the same in all. 
The climate of the Mascarenes is a pleasant one, 
owing to the prevalence of the Trade Winds. The 
mean annual temperature at Port Louis, the capital of 
Mauritius, is 77*2° F.; on the plateau it is only 74*5° F. 
The average of 19 years’ observations, placed the extreme 
temperatures as 88*9° and 53*4° F. Thunderstorms were 
noted on 34 days in the months from January to April 
