REUNION 
i8i 
covered by a sportsman in 1831. They yield from 50 
to 75 gallons of water an hour, at a temperature of 
80° F., and contain i 27 o of carbonates. The walls of 
the crater rise almost perpendicularly to the height of 
6000 ft. and then pass into extensive plains (Plaine des 
Salazes, Plaine des Chicots, Plaine des Fougeres). The 
crater of Cilaos is also renowned for its beauty; it 
possesses medicinal springs, as does also the crater of 
Mafate. 
The rainfall is abundant, waterfalls and brooks occur 
plentifully in the interior, and in the vicinity of Hellbourg 
there is a crater lake. Of larger rivers there are in the 
north the Butor and the Riviere de St. Denis, the 
Riviere du Mat drains the crater of Salazie, the Riviere 
St. Etienne issues from of the crater of Cilaos, the Riviere 
des Galets from the crater of Mafate. 
The population of the island has settled principally 
in the neighbourhood of the coast. The houses of the 
villages and towns are of one storey and are half con¬ 
cealed in a sea of verdure. A railway along the coast, 
79 miles in length, facilitates trade and affords oppor¬ 
tunity for travelling round the island. The numerous 
towns and villages are generally named after some 
saint. Thus in the north there is St. Denis; in the 
east, Ste. Marie, Ste. Suzanne, St. Andre, St. Benoit, 
Ste. Rose; in the south, St. Philippe, St. Joseph, 
St. Pierre; lastly, in the west, St. Louis, St. Leu, 
St. Gilles, and St. Paul; the only exception is La 
Possession, which was erected at the spot where possession 
was first taken of the island. 
St. Denis is the capital and the centre of Creole life. 
It has nearly 40,000 inhabitants; the whole district con¬ 
tains a population of 50,000 souls, a mixture of Malabar 
people, Mulattoes, Malagasy, and Chinese, side by side 
with the French Creoles. 
The town rises from a gently ascending plain; it is 
