i68 
THE MASCARENES 
fall of the barometer; the Meteorological Station signals 
the threatening phenomenon; warning signals call upon 
the inhabitants of the coasts to take the necessary 
precautions; ships seek out a safe place or retire to 
the open sea, as even good-sized vessels are sometimes 
cast ashore by the violence of the sea. The force of 
the waves is so great that heavy blocks of coral are 
torn from the reefs and thrown far inland. The storms 
uproot trees, and houses are blown down or carried 
away. In the year 1868 one of the most violent whirlwinds 
destroyed some 50,000 houses. Gardens and plantations 
in the neighbourhood of the coast were devastated and 
denuded of their loose soil. The duration of these 
atmospheric disturbances varies; the whirlwinds are often 
over in a few hours, sometimes they last for days, or 
the hurricane, after apparently ceasing, is immediately 
followed by a second. 
The flora and fauna of the Mascarenes are quite 
different from those of the neighbouring Madagascar, 
and have a peculiar stamp of their own. Their earlier 
singularity has of course lost much since the appearance 
of man and the extension of cultivation, but on the other 
hand new elements have been introduced from Mada¬ 
gascar, Africa, Asia, and even America. 
The plant world attains an astonishing development, in 
consequence of the abundant supply of water, and where 
the vertical elevations are considerable, there exist differ¬ 
ent zones of vegetation. 
The lower-lying localities which predominate in Mauri¬ 
tius, but in Reunion only occupy the belt of coast, form 
the zone of cultivation. Here sugar-cane, maize, manioc, 
vanilla, and other plants of cultivation are grown abund¬ 
antly. Cocoa-nut palms flourish in rich luxuriance side 
by side with the fan palms [Latmiia borbonica)^ agaves 
and opuntias are conspicuous. By the wayside, mangoes 
and benzo trees bestow beneficent shade in the gardens. 
