THE MASCARENES 
171 
India, and hares [Leptts nigricollis) from the Malabar coast. 
A stag of Asiatic descent is also found in Mauritius. 
{Cervus Aristotelis?) 
In order to diminish the number of locusts, the Philip¬ 
pine starling or mynah [Acridotheres tristis) was introduced 
into the Mascarenes in 1755. They multiplied very 
rapidly, and are still held in such high esteem by the 
inhabitants that people are not allowed to shoot them, 
and they seldom even catch them. Our sparrow has 
become naturalized since 1848. Of lower animals Ame¬ 
rican cockroaches and sand-fleas have gained an entrance ^ 
the colonists have introduced the vineyard snail of South 
Europe (Helix aspersd)^ which has become a common 
creature in all gardens, but on account of the poor 
supply of lime makes itself a strikingly small shell. The 
European bed-bug flourishes so abundantly on this tro¬ 
pical soil as often to become a torment. 
The invertebrate kingdom makes itself conspicuous in 
the appearance of great spiders, whose yellow webs are 
woven of very strong threads. Epeira opuntia is common 
on all prickly pear and agave hedges, where it is skilful 
in catching the blue carrion-flies. 
The domestic animals have been introduced since the 
arrival of man. Pigs and domestic poultry are largely 
represented; on the other hand, cattle are few in number; 
horses, which had formerly to be bought in Abyssinia 
and Somaliland, are more common. 
The population exhibits a very mixed ethnical stamp 
which is of a similar character in all three islands, as also 
in the Seychelles further north. Eormerly entirely with¬ 
out inhabitants, the Mascarenes were first colonized towards 
the middle of the 17th century. The Dutch, who had 
taken possession of Mauritius as early as 1598, established 
a small settlement in Grand Port in 1642. Almost at 
the same time the first Erench colonists reached Reu¬ 
nion. These were 12 Erenchmen who had taken part 
