The Sloping Plain Of
The Pamplemousses, Interspersed With Houses, And Coloured
By The Large Fields Of Sugar-Cane Of A Bright Green, Composed
The Foreground.
The brilliancy of the green was the more
remarkable because it is a colour which generally is conspicuous
only from a very short distance.
Towards the centre
of the island groups of wooded mountains rose out of
this highly cultivated plain; their summits, as so commonly
happens with ancient volcanic rocks, being jagged into the
sharpest points. Masses of white clouds were collected
around these pinnacles, as if for the sake of pleasing the
stranger's eye. The whole island, with its sloping border
and central mountains, was adorned with an air of perfect
elegance: the scenery, if I may use such an expression, appeared
to the sight harmonious.
I spent the greater part of the next day in walking about
the town and visiting different people. The town is of
considerable size, and is said to contain 20,000 inhabitants;
the streets are very clean and regular. Although the island has
been so many years under the English Government, the general
character of the place is quite French: Englishmen
speak to their servants in French, and the shops are all
French; indeed, I should think that Calais or Boulogne was
much more Anglified. There is a very pretty little theatre,
in which operas are excellently performed. We were also
surprised at seeing large booksellers' shops, with well-stored
shelves; - music and reading bespeak our approach to the
old world of civilization; for in truth both Australia and
America are new worlds.
The various races of men walking in the streets afford the
most interesting spectacle in Port Louis. Convicts from
India are banished here for life; at present there are about
800, and they are employed in various public works. Before
seeing these people, I had no idea that the inhabitants of
India were such noble-looking figures. Their skin is extremely
dark, and many of the older men had large mustaches
and beards of a snow-white colour; this, together with
the fire of their expression, gave them quite an imposing
aspect. The greater number had been banished for murder
and the worst crimes; others for causes which can scarcely
be considered as moral faults, such as for not obeying, from
superstitious motives, the English laws. These men are
generally quiet and well-conducted; from their outward
conduct, their cleanliness, and faithful observance of their
strange religious rites, it was impossible to look at them
with the same eyes as on our wretched convicts in New
South Wales.
May 1st. - Sunday. I took a quiet walk along the sea-coast
to the north of the town. The plain in this part is quite
uncultivated; it consists of a field of black lava, smoothed
over with coarse grass and bushes, the latter being chiefly
Mimosas. The scenery may be described as intermediate in
character between that of the Galapagos and of Tahiti; but
this will convey a definite idea to very few persons. It is a
very pleasant country, but it has not the charms of Tahiti, or
the grandeur of Brazil. The next day I ascended La Pouce,
a mountain so called from a thumb-like projection, which
rises close behind the town to a height of 2,600 feet. The
centre of the island consists of a great platform, surrounded
by old broken basaltic mountains, with their strata dipping
seawards. The central platform, formed of comparatively
recent streams of lava, is of an oval shape, thirteen
geographical miles across, in the line of its shorter axis. The
exterior bounding mountains come into that class of structures
called Craters of Elevation, which are supposed to have
been formed not like ordinary craters, but by a great and
sudden upheaval. There appears to me to be insuperable
objections to this view: on the other hand, I can hardly
believe, in this and in some other cases, that these marginal
crateriform mountains are merely the basal remnants of
immense volcanos, of which the summits either have been
blown off, or swallowed up in subterranean abysses.
From our elevated position we enjoyed an excellent view over the
island. The country on this side appears pretty well cultivated,
being divided into fields and studded with farm-houses.
I was, however, assured that of the whole land, not
more than half is yet in a productive state; if such be the
case, considering the present large export of sugar, this
island, at some future period when thickly peopled, will be
of great value. Since England has taken possession of it, a
period of only twenty-five years, the export of sugar is said
to have increased seventy-five fold. One great cause of its
prosperity is the excellent state of the roads. In the
neighbouring Isle of Bourbon, which remains under the French
government, the roads are still in the same miserable state
as they were here only a few years ago. Although the
French residents must have largely profited by the increased
prosperity of their island, yet the English government is far
from popular.
3rd. - In the evening Captain Lloyd, the Surveyor-general,
so well known from his examination of the Isthmus of Panama,
invited Mr. Stokes and myself to his country-house,
which is situated on the edge of Wilheim Plains, and about
six miles from the Port. We stayed at this delightful place
two days; standing nearly 800 feet above the sea, the air was
cool and fresh, and on every side there were delightful walks.
Close by, a grand ravine has been worn to a depth of about
500 feet through the slightly inclined streams of lava, which
have flowed from the central platform.
5th. - Captain Lloyd took us to the Riviere Noire, which is
several miles to the southward, that I might examine some
rocks of elevated coral. We passed through pleasant gardens,
and fine fields of sugar-cane growing amidst huge
blocks of lava.
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