They are all mountainous, well watered, and richly wooded. In 1742 they were explored by Captain Lazare Picault, in the tartane “L’Elizabeth,” despatched from the isle of France by Mahé de Labourdonnais.
Captain Picault, having taken possession in the name of the King of France, called them Labourdonnais Islands, after the great governor of the Isle of France; and the principal one Mahé—which name has been retained to this day; but subsequently that of Seychelles was substituted for Labourdonnais, in honour of Viscount Herault de Seychelles, at that time marine minister of France. The Seychelles islands are composed of:—
1. Isle Mahé; 2. Ste. Anne; 3. Aux Cerfs; 4. Anonyme; 5. Sud-Est; 6. Longue; 7. Moyenne; 8. Ronde; 9. Thérèse; 10. La Conception; 11. Silhouette; 12. Du Nord; 13. Praslin; 14. Ladigue; 15. Curieuse; 16. Ronde; 17. Aride; 18. Félicité; 19, 20. Les Deux Sœurs; 21. Marianne; 22. Aux Récifs; 23. Les Mamelles; 24, 25. Cousin et Cousine; 26. Aux Frégates; 27. Aux Vaches Marines; 28. Denis, the most northerly; 29. Plate, the most southerly.
They rest upon a bank of sand and coral. The climate of the Seychelles is mild, and considered very healthy; from the mountainous formation of these islands, and an entire absence of marshy districts, there is no predisposing cause for malaria or miasma, and they are exempt from all epidemic diseases and endemic fevers.
The Mauritius and Réunion hurricanes do not extend to the Seychelles, their limit being about 10° S: so likewise those hurricanes which strike the north end of Madagascar, and devastate the Mozambique coast, do not approach the Seychelles. This may fairly be attributed to the equable temperature which they enjoy.
Although situated near the equator, these islands do not experience the great heat so common to the countries in their neighbourhood, the temperature being always about the same, viz., from 80° to 84° Fahrenheit: the extremes are from 70° to 74° at night in the cool season, and from 84° to occasionally 92° in the hot and rainy season.
The two monsoons known at the Seychelles Islands are the S.E., prevailing from May to October, the cool season; and the N.W., from November to April, the hot and rainy season. During the N.W. monsoon, occasionally, squalls, accompanied by lightning and very heavy rains, make their appearance. These islands, situated in almost the middle of the Indian Ocean, at nearly equal distances from the neighbouring countries, in addition to their salubrious climate, possess a large and wonderfully safe harbour, in which fleets may lie in security, even during the hurricane season, when it is dangerous to remain in any port of the neighbouring countries.
Although these islands were known to the navigators of the sixteenth century, and the Arabs, they were not colonized before 1742, after the exploration of Captain Lazare Picault, when a few French settlers from Bourbon and Mauritius established themselves on the principal island—Mahé. Unfortunately, in clearing the ground for their plantations of manico, maize, rice, &c., forests of valuable timber were destroyed by fire. In 1750 a commandant and a civil commissioner was appointed by the French government—the last of whom, M. Quean de Quincy, in 1794, capitulated to a small British squadron, consisting of the “Orpheus,” “Centurion,” and “Resistance,” under the command of Commodore Newcome.
In 1801 the French government banished from France 132 of the wretches who had acted in the most atrocious scenes of the Reign of Terror. Having been prevented from landing at the Isle of France they were conveyed to the Seychelles, which resulted to France in the loss of the two vessels employed upon the service; for the “Chiffonne,” whilst refitting at Seychelles, was captured by the “Cybèle,” Captain Adams—and the “Flèche,” after a long chase and a gallant resistance on her part, was sunk by the “Victor,” Captain Cullis.