The venilla bean is cultivated at Mauritius and Bourbon, despite the hurricanes, which in their visits to these islands destroy this article of commerce; it has lately been introduced into the Seychelles, and will in these islands, free from tempests, become a source of wealth to the inhabitants.
The exports through the customs at Seychelles, for the year ending 7th of July 1858, were as follows:—
| Cocoa-nut oil | 19,750 | gallons |
| Fish | 1,805 | ” |
| Cocos de Mer | 3,463 | ” |
| Vacoa bags | 119,996 | ” |
| Spokes for cart wheels | 45,902 | ” |
| Tortoise-shell, 2 cases | 223 | lbs. |
| Do., weight not given | 15 | cases |
| Wax | 1 | do. |
The above is the total production of 7000 inhabitants, with the sexes about equally divided.
The largest item, the vacoa bags, exported to Mauritius for holding sugar, might be produced by one hundred persons in a year; and it appears that the oil is made by Creoles sent from Mauritius—the Seychellois being at present a lazy, indolent people, given to pleasure and idle amusements; the soil they will not cultivate, preferring to gain a subsistence from the sea.
This love of the ocean might be turned to advantage, by encouraging maritime pursuits and commercial relations between these islands, Madagascar, and the whole of the east sea-board of Africa, for which the Seychellois are already acclimatized. Nuts and seeds yielding oil might be carried to the Seychelles, the oil made there, and exported to Europe from these islands; the colouring matter from the orchella weed, at present conveyed round the Cape of Good Hope, might be extracted at the Seychelles and sent home by way of Suez.
The employment of these islands for the above purposes would cause a great saving in the freight of ships now carrying the raw materials to Europe, and would at the same time develop the resources of these valuable islands.
With regard to the cultivation of the soil, if the government of Mauritius was to introduce one thousand coolies from India direct, and give some encouragement to the inhabitants of Mauritius to emigrate there, by granting lands on favourable terms, capital would soon be found, from the Mauritius, for the development of these islands, which, already possessing a harbour of refuge suitable for their position, nearly in the middle of the Indian Ocean, would soon rival Mauritius in their productions and commercial and political importance.
At present, to keep up the establishment there, they cost the government of Mauritius about £3000 per annum: with a judicious expenditure of a few thousand pounds for the opening of roads to get at the valuable timber, and the building of wharves for the inner harbour, the Seychelles would soon yield a large and profitable revenue to Mauritius.