EMMA. "Oh, yes! Bourbon is quite a civilized island. It belongs to the French, does it not, mamma?"
MRS. WILTON. "Yes, my dear; but the discovery was not theirs. Mascarenhas, a Portuguese navigator, claims the credit. He discovered it in 1545, and it bore his name until the French took possession of it in the next century. When they first occupied it, the sides of the mountains were covered with forests, which reached even to the shores. The whole of the lower lands have since been cleared; but the centre of this island is still covered with its primitive vegetation, which affords forty-one different species of woods serviceable for arts and manufactures. The coasts abound with fish and large turtles, and furnish also coral and ambergris. Bourbon contains a college, and numerous schools, sixteen churches, two hospitals, two establishments for the relief of the poor, and two prisons."
MR. BARRAUD. "Why are we to take no notice of the fine colony of Mauritius, or Isle of France? It is quite as large as Bourbon: moreover it is a British possession."
MR. STANLEY. "I see no just cause or impediment why we should not land there. Let us see, what is its size?"
CHARLES. "Its circumference is about 140 miles. Port Louis is its principal town, and is said to contain 30,000 inhabitants; it has an excellent harbor, capable of containing 50 large vessels; and it is well protected by nature from the violence of the weather, and from the attacks of enemies, by strong fortifications."
GEORGE. "Now to Madagascar. I am longing to go there; for I know nothing about either country or people."
MRS. WILTON. "Madagascar is a large and beautiful island, with mountains, valleys, lakes and streams, diversifying its whole extent. It is between 800 and 900 miles long, and between 200 and 300 broad. The metals dug here, are gold, silver, copper, steel, and iron; and a great variety of precious stones are found in the rivers and brooks of Madagascar. Civet is plentiful, and is taken from the civet cat; and the natives obtain musk from the crocodile, and call it tartave. Tananarievo, the capital, stands on the summit of a lofty hill, and commands an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. The principal houses are of wood, and the palace of the king is about the centre of the town, enclosed in a high palisading of strong poles."
GEORGE. "If the palace be so homely, what can the poor folks' houses be like?"
MR. WILTON. "Oh! they are of wood too, but mere huts; they have no chimneys, and the door and window affording the only means of escape for the smoke arising from the fires, which are kindled on the floor of the house, the soot collects on the inner side of the roofs of their dwellings, where it is never disturbed by the people, who consider it a badge of honorable ancestry to have large quantities of soot hanging in long black shreds from the roof of their dwelling."
EMMA. "What a dirty badge! Are they dirty people?"