THE MASCARENES 
169 
Still more massively shaped are the dark crowns of the 
Jack tree or Jacquier [Aidocarpus integrifolia) whose light 
yellow wood is made into splendid furniture. The closely 
related bread-fruit tree [Artocarpus incisa), with its deeply 
cut leaves, possesses a far more penetrable foliage, as 
does the melon tree, whose delicious fruit is made into 
preserve. 
The forests on the coast consist partly of casuarinas 
and partly of fig-trees, which are twined round with stout 
lianas. Among them are scattered screw-palms, of which 
several species occur. Mauritius possesses 9, Reunion 4 
and Rodriguez 2 peculiar species of pandanus. 
Mallows, borage or ago africana) and thorn-apples 
iJDahtra Tatel and D. Metef grow in the rubble. On 
the heights, raspberries climb on the rugged precipices, 
and yellow-green aloes, with their gigantic flower-stalks, 
are found on the gentler declivities. 
Coffee is planted in the mountain region. The dwel¬ 
lings are enclosed by gardens of chou-chou {SecJmwi 
edtile^. Begonias bloom in rare luxuriance on the banks 
of the streams. At 3000 ft. begin the picturesque groups 
of the mountain-bamboo (Nastus borbonictis) which Bory 
de Sto Vincent discovered on the island of Reunion. The 
appearance of the numerous ferns and club-mosses is an 
additional characteristic of this region. In Reunion, with 
its 240 species, we find extensive tracts of fern, among 
which the Plaine des Fougeres above St. Denis has be¬ 
come quite celebrated. The Alpine region of the Piton 
des Neiges produces only a miserable vegetation. 
The animal world of the Mascarenes has greatly altered 
in character since the arrival of man, and it is just the 
typical species which have to a great extent disappeared. 
As we have already seen, in this respect the oldest 
accounts of travel of the 17th century give us noteworthy 
information on the subject—namely, those of Bontekoe, 
Dubois, Duquesne, and especially those of Frangois Leguat. 
