When the canes are ripe and the harvest begins,
every day as many canes are cut down as can be pressed and boiled at once. The cane is introduced between two rollers, set in motion by steam-power, and pressed until it is quite flat and dry: in this state it is used for fuel. The juice is strained successively into six pans, of which the first is exposed to the greatest heat—the force of the fire being diminished gradually under each of the others. In the last pan the sugar is found half crystallized. It is then deposited on great wooden tables to cool, and granulate into complete crystals of about the size of a pin’s head. Lastly, it is poured into wooden colanders, to filter it thoroughly of the molasses it still contains. The whole process occupies eight or ten days. Before the sugar is packed, it is spread out on the open terraces to dry for some hours in the sun.
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An excursion was made to Mount Orgueil, in order to obtain a panoramic view of the island-scenery. On one side the lofty ridge of the Morne Brabant, connected with the mainland only by a narrow neck of earth, stretches far out into the sapphire sea; near at hand rises the Piton de la Rivière Noire, the loftiest summit in the island, two
thousand five hundred and sixty-four feet. In another direction are visible the green tops of the Tamarin and the Rempart; and in a fourth, the three-headed mountain called the Trois Mamelles. Contiguous to these opens a deep caldron, two of the sides of which have broken down in ruin, while the others remain erect and steep. Besides these mountains, the traveller sees the Corps de Garde du Port Loris de Mocca; Le Pouce, with its narrow peak projecting above the plateau like a thumb; and the precipitous Peter Botte.
The last-named mountain recalls the memory of the daring Hollander who first reached its summit, long regarded as impracticable. He succeeded in what seemed a hopeless effort by shooting an arrow, to which a strong cord was attached, over the top. The arrow fell on the other side of the mountain, at a point which could be attained without much difficulty. A stout rope was then fastened to the cord, drawn over the mountain, and secured on both sides; and Peter Botte hauled himself up by it to the topmost crest, and thus immortalized his name. The ascent has since been accomplished by English travellers.
A trip was also undertaken to the Trou de Cerf,
or “Stag’s Hole,” a crater of perfectly regular formation, brimful of bloom and foliage. As no sign or mark betrays its whereabouts, the traveller is seized with astonishment on suddenly reaching its brink. His astonishment soon wears off, and he feels an intense delight in contemplating the view before him. It comprises three-fourths of the island: majestic mountains clothed in virgin forests almost to their very crests; wide-spreading plains, green with the leafiness of the sugar-cane plantations; cool verdurous valleys, where the drowsy shadows softly rest; and beyond and around the blue sea with a fringe of snow-white foam marking the indentations of the coast.
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On the 25th of April 1857 Madame Pfeiffer sailed for Madagascar, and after a six-days’ voyage reached the harbour of Tamatavé.