Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

MAUEITIUS. 4:3swept away seventy-two thousand souls, or one-fourth of the popuhition of Mauritius.And although these epidemics have decreased, the general poverty is greater thanever, owing chiefly to the rapid growth of the population, in which the Hindus arcsteadily acquiring the predominance over aU other sections of the community, inwealth and influence as well as iu numbers.Mauritius.Although forming a link in the great semicircular chain of islands, Mauritiusappears never to have been connected with any other land, but to have beenindependently upheaved. Consisting entirely of basaltic rocks, it is probably olderthan Reunion, its coasts being much more indented, its hills more eroded, and itscraters more obliterated. The great central mass is encircled by plains of reddishclay formerly clothed with dense forests, but now laid out in plantations and gardensand studded with villages. The central plateau is dominated by the Piton duMidi (2,000feet), consisting exclusively of horizontally disposed columnar basalt,but exceeded in altitude by the Black River peak, cvdminating point of the island(2,730 feet). Above the picturesque hills in the northern district rises the remarkableobelisk- shaped Pieter Both (2,700 feet) sui-mounted by an enormous globularblock, which adventui'ous cHmbers have occasionally scaled by means of ropes andladders.The periphery is encircled by fringing reefs and islets with here and there afew navigable channels giving access to the harbours. Cliffs of marine originnow rising above the surface, show that Mauritius has undergone a change of levelsince its first upheaval. La Ronde, La Plate, Le Coin de Mire, and other isletsnear the north coast are covered with refuse which attest the former existence ofan active volcano in these waters.Mauritius has become almost completely disafforested, all the magnificenttimber, matted together with a network of creepers, as described by Bcrnardin deSaint-Pierre, having entirely disappeared. These clearances have had the usualresult of disturbing the discharge of the streams, which are alternately flooded andnearly dry watercourses. At the foot of the hills are also formed temporarymeres, whose deadly exhalations are diffused far and wide. The droughts arelonger, the rains more sudden, more copious and irregidar, and extensive tractsformerly under cultivation are now barren -wastes.The only large town is the capital. Port Louis, on the east or leeward side,with a haven sheltered by coral reefs, and defended by forts and batteries.Founded by Matie de la Bourdonnais in 1735, to replace an older port on thesouth-east coast, Port Louis has gradually monopolised the whole trade of theisland. But although presenting a pleasant aspect towards the sea, it lacks thesplendour and elegance one would expect to find in one of the chief commercialcentres in the Indian Ocean, with a population of over seventy thousand. Manyof the suburbs, and even some of the busy quarters, being occupied by the Hindusand Malagasy, have a poverty-stricken and neglected appearance, while much of