me.

to be sorry that he could not in any way be of service to He made me promise to let him know by letter if I should require his recommendation or any other assistance on my journey.

On the morning of the 18th of November I was escorted back to the town to Mr. Lambert, and a few hours later we were again at sea.

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VOYAGE TO THE ISLAND OF BOURBON.

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CHAPTER VI.

Voyage to the Island of Bourbon.-The Mauritius.-Wealth of the Island. -The City of Port Louis.-Manner of Life among the Inhabitants.Indian Servants. -Grand Dinners.-Country Houses. -Creole Hospitality.

I MADE the voyage from the Cape to the Mauritius in the handsome and entirely new steamer "Governor Higginson," Captain French, of 150-horse power. The vessel had been built in shares, Mr. Lambert being the chief shareholder. He refused to let me pay for my passage, and would not have allowed me to do so even had he not possessed a single share. He declared that I was now his guest, and must remain so till I finally left the Mauritius.

Our voyage of 2400 sea-miles to the Mauritius was very prosperous. The sea was certainly stormy when we set sail, and we had to struggle much against contrary winds; still, it was said that no other steamer had ever made so quick a passage.

Except some small water-spouts, we saw nothing remarkable till we reached the island of Bourbon.

On this steamer I learned the amount of the current expenses of navigation. Without reckoning coals, it exceeds £500 per month. The crew consisted of forty-seven persons. The consumption of coal was about twenty-five tons in twenty-four hours. These coals are in some places exceedingly dear; at the Cape, for instance, where they cost £2 10s. per ton.

On the morning of the 1st of December we discovered land, and in the afternoon cast anchor in the little-known harbor of St. Denis, the capital of the island of Bourbon.

This pretty little island, also called Ile de la Réunion,

lies between the Mauritius and Madagascar, in latitude 20° 21° south, and longitude 52° 53° east. It is forty English miles in length by thirty in breadth, and has about 200,000 inhabitants. Discovered in 1545 by Mascarenhas, a Portuguese, it was occupied by the French in 1642; from 1810 to 1814 it was under English dominion, and since that time it has been a French possession.

Ile de Bourbon has lofty chains of mountains and plains of considerable extent, stretching parallel with the sea-coast. The flats are planted with the sugar-cane, which flourishes here famously, and gives the whole island an appearance of luxuriant verdure.

The town of St. Denis is built far out into the sea, and surrounded by evergreen trees and gardens. In the background rises a hill, crowned by a palatial edifice, which I at first took for the governor's residence; but it has been built for a nobler purpose-it is the hospital. The Catholic church also stands upon the hill, and against its foot leans a long building of only one story, and with handsome rows of pillars, which make it look like a Roman aqueduct; but, on a nearer inspection, one detects windows and doors, and the place turns out to be the barracks. The whole picture is closed in by a chain of mountains, which divides into two parts, and affords a magnificent glimpse of a deep gorge thickly shaded with plants and trees. All this I saw from the steamer's deck, for we only staid here a few hours, and these were passed in the usual formalities-the visit of the physician, the officials from the post-office and custom-house, The business was no sooner over than the steam began to puff and gurgle, the wheels were put in motion, and we were off to the island of Mauritius, a hundred miles away.

etc.

Next morning we had not only long lost sight of Bourbon, but the Mauritius lay before us; and in the afternoon our steamer anchored in the safe harbor of Port Louis, the capital of the island. But three hours passed before we

landed, and I took up my quarters in Mr. Lambert's coun

try house.

The island of Mauritius, seen from the sea, presents a simar aspect to Bourbon, only that the mountains are higher, and are piled up in successive chains. The town has not o picturesque an appearance as St. Denis; it wants the fine stately buildings which give such an imposing effect to the latter place.

The Mauritius, formerly called "Ile de France," is situ ate in the southern hemisphere, between latitude 19° 20°, and longitude 54° 55°. It is thirty-seven miles long by twenty-eight broad, and has a population of 180,000.

Like Bourbon, the Mauritius belongs to Africa. It was taken possession of by the Dutch in 1570, but is said to have been discovered earlier by the Portuguese Mascarenhas. The Dutch gave it the name "Mauritius," but left the island in 1712. Three years afterward the French took possession, and called the island "Ile de France." In 1810 the English conquered it, and have kept it ever since. They have also restored its old name of Mauritius.

The island was uninhabited at its first discovery. The whites introduced slaves-negroes, Malabar Indians, and Malagaseys, from whose intermarriages all kinds of shades of color and nationality arose. Since the abolition of slavery in the year 1835, almost all the working-people have come from India. The Anglo-Indian government makes contracts for five years with people who wish to hire themselves out in the Mauritius; at the expiration of that time they have to apply to the government in the Mauritius, at whose cost they are sent back to their own country. Those who fail to report themselves lose their right to a free passage.

The hirer must pay to the government for each laborer two pounds the first year, and one pound every year following; this money covers the expense of the passage out

and home. To the laborer himself he has to give five or six rupees a month, and board and lodging. This scale only applies to common laborers; for cooks, artisans, and skilled workmen, the wages are much higher, rising according to their capacity.

I found the inhabitants of the Mauritius in a state of great excitement. Intelligence had lately arrived from Calcutta that the exportation of coolies, or laborers, was forbidden, as it had been alleged that the men were very badly treated in quarantine, which they are compelled to keep on account of the cholera. They say, however, that the government here is to redress the quarantine grievances with all due care, and they therefore hope the prohibition will soon be relaxed. If this is not done, the island will be threatened with ruin in a few years.

At present it is in the most flourishing condition; the income which this little island yields, not only to the planters, but to the government, is perhaps larger, in proportion to its extent, than the amount yielded by any other territory whatever. In the year 1855, for instance, 2,500,000 cwt. of sugar were grown, the value being £1,777,428 sterling. The revenue of the government for the same year amounted to £348,452. The expenses were much less than the income; and as this is the case nearly every year, and the surplus is not sent to England, but remains in the country, the treasury is always well filled. At the present time it is reported to contain £300,000; and with every year the wealth of this fortunate island increases. In the year 1857 the revenue increased by £100,000, this great sum being raised solely by the new duty on spirituous liquors. That the inhabitants partake of this prosperity is proved by the difference between the exports and imports. In the year 1855, the former exceeded the latter by half a million sterling. Could the same be said of some of our great European states?

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