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.
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