fcnSe befitation t h a tw e g i v e the few following Linnæan fpecies, as
probably included in the'catateg-ue th e aWw-riieationed author.
©feföttlèht'planta there are the rice, banana, yam, nymphasa lètus, feve*
ra l kinds o f dölichósor kidney b e an ,g o ü rd san d water-melons, and cocoa
nuts1. The fruits are pine apples, tamarinds, oranges, and pomegranates.
The fpîcès and other condiments are common and betel pepper, ginger,
turmeric, cinnamon, and fugar. The Indian fig grows here, as alfo does
the ebony, the bamboo, the cotton, and indigo.
A few Madagafcar plants have been obtained o f late years, o f which
the only fpecies intérefting to the general reader are the Mauritanian
mulberry with' green fruit, and the gumtniphOfa Madagafcarienfisj
whofe juic e concretes into a à elaftic gum exa fitly fimilar to - tta caoutchouc
of- Cayenne.
THE SMALLER AFRICAN ISLANDS.
Pernio.-— Comoro.—Mauritius and Bourbon.— *Kerguelen's Land.— St, H e le n a .—“
AJcenfion.—CqQf Verd Iflands.-Aanwies.^^adeir~&.
TH ESE fhall be traced from thé eaftèrn coafi: td#afds'ftiè
Thole in the Red Sea are too minute for general' geography j
and the ifle o f Socotra has already been defcribed u nde r Arabia,-to which
it belongs. T h e iilands o f Pemba, Zanzibar, and Mqnfia, are bppofite
to the cpaift o f Zanguebar. Pemba is faid td b e about ie o miles in cir-,
cumference, governed by a king, who pays tribute to -P o rtu g a l; tq
whjch power the two others are alfo faid to be fubfervient. At 4VeWÏ
fiderablé diftance to the eaft are the ifles o f Mahé and Almiranti, inter-
fperfed with many rocks, and of fmall account.
T h e iflands o f Comoro are four in number, o f confiderable fize,
particularly Angaziza, or th e greater Comoro. T h a t o f Arizöan*
* This ifle, alfo called Henzuan, Julianna, is elegantly defcribed by Sir William Jones in a
paper inferted in the Afiatic Rcfearches. It is peopled by Arabs.
6 has
has a, convenient .harbour, fometimsds vifited by fhigs palling to
India. Tfiefe jfes,ase, goy(gtn ^d -b y Pagan- ©£; Ma-bometan ',e,biefta:u&,
ttibufaryT.q^he-b,QrXQgue^ and; aj-e repp^ed- to very fertile in riqe,
oranges’, lemons,' fugar^e’qgo^, and-, gl^ger^ the natives „carrying on
fbme trade mth_t.be Portaguelb; o f „Mqzambieq.. The domeflip animals
lefemllSpthq.'E'ip'iapEai* i S -
th$ eaft,o f ,Madagafcar j r e the H-fiands1 ,of Mauritiukjor prance,
and* Boarbon, French fettferoekte welKkfta-wo- in the g^<5PiQ@i,ett:ial world.*
T h e Jfie of tolerable per6j.:|ke gentry of th§} qrjeattak' -,fpr<c,e
and commerce of the French. The Ifle of BiQnrbQ^ c o lo r e d , >yi .1654,
is-aboat fifty, j-eaguss^m circumference,, o f a|^c| ja r.flprijp„ jifin g to
high mountains, in tfie centre j and there is a noted vplpajaev diffeult
e f aceefsi; at the-ftimmit o f a mountain a ieagije from ct?be f m zj the
eruptions ardflieq'U!e*t andmeistinnA.,: Mauritius, W t h e Ufo. pfdFsance,
was firit pMeflied by the Hutch, who abandonsd i t -in .1712, and.the
French fett-lement. began ao aeqaife jpme fiabiflty under Bourdonnais
in «734. These are twos crops every year <rf w heat and; Indian com,
b ut manioc' was the food o f the negroes. ' T h e d fle o f Bourbon pro~
duces fugar-eftfle® 5 and in both the cattle are numerougjM Im w y fi jS $
M . Poivre, author of the Voyage of a Philafopher, was, govemoi oftthefe
ifles , and the advantages >©f,appointinOien o£ fciance to fueh ftatiana
was evident from hia iatnadufition, p£the,bread»friflt |» p , and alfo; p f the
nutmeg and cinnamon, f
Far to the fouth lies Kerguelen’s Land, fo called from a recent French
navigator; butiby^ Cap^igiv^ook the Ifle 1
mufl be qlaffed among the African iflands, as it approaches nearer to
that continent than to Auftralafia, which may however claim the fmall
iflands o f Arofiierdam and St, Paul» osiy. frequented on account of the
* A prolix hSfttn-y of Msurittus was puH8He€4d 1801, by Charles Grant Vifc^n#S& Vtaac,
The Ifle of Bourbon has beta lately called Reunion.
+ See R.ochon’s Introdu&ion to his Voyage to Madagafcar, in whi.cfi he pretends to point out
fomc miftakes of M.-d’Apres, the celebrated hydrographei of the Eaftern fhores. To the north
of thefe ilfes are feveral (boals. The iflebf.Seyehelle, .on_e of the A-lmirantes, is well- syooded,
. but only inhabited by- tortoifes and alligators : the French formed there afmall eftabjiflunent for.'
the cultivation of nutmegs and cloves. The remote ifle of Diego Garcia is, by our'author’s
^-account, in the form of a horfe flioe ; and there is a good haven. Ib. liii.
I 18
7*3
C omoro.
Mauritius and
, , -Bourbon.
'Kerguelen’*
Land.
feal