The Author’s Voyage to Europe.—Short Account of the Isles of France and Bourbon, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Island of Ascension.

ON the 20th of April, 1789, the Calypso frigate, after a pleasant and agreeable passage, arrived in the harbour of the Isle of France. The entrance into this harbour is exceedingly narrow and dangerous; but when vessels have once got in they lie at anchor in great safety, as they are sheltered from the wind on all sides, and the landing is remarkably easy. On this island there are a great many high mountains, and among these a volcano, which sometimes darkens the atmosphere by its eruptions, and renders it so hot and thick that asthmatic people can scarcely breathe. Tempests, therefore, are here very frequent and terrible; as is the case in all countries where there are volcanoes, for they attract the vapours and inflammable matter with which the clouds are loaded. Fire always has a tendency to fire. In other respects the air is tolerably pure and healthful, though a little moist in general towards the evening; but in certain months a far more violent heat prevails than on the coast of Malabar, where the atmosphere is at least cooled by the evaporation that proceeds from the rivers and lakes, by which the country is every-where surrounded and intersected. This island lies under the 20th degree of south latitude, whereas Cochin lies under the 10th of north latitude. This makes a difference of 10 degrees, and serves as a proof that the greater or less heat to which people are exposed in different climates does not depend so much on the sun, as on local circumstances that arise from the situation of the country.

The Isle of France is about fifty miles in circumference. The soil is argillaceous, of a reddish colour, here and there volcanic, and full of stones except in the low valleys. It produces corn, millet, rice, pulse, tamarinds, lemons, sugar canes, coffee, mustard, honey, manioc, salt, and palm-oil; the last of which, however, is only fit for burning in lamps. According to the estimation of M. Charpentier de Cossigny, an officer of engineers in the French service, who resided in this island, it delivered in the year 1782, into the king’s storehouses, 811,288 pounds of rye, 662,942 pounds of maize, 85,668 pounds of rice, and 210,096 pounds of dried pease and beans. These articles are entirely consumed in the country; and it thence appears that the Isle of France is exceedingly well cultivated, and supplied in abundance with every thing necessary for the inhabitants. The timber which grows on this island is excellent, and consists of the following kinds: Sanayu, iron-wood, black ebony, stink-wood, Oata, the olive-tree, apple-tree, colophonium-wood (Legno colofane), Takamuka, dark-grey cinnamon tree, white cinnamon-tree, pine-tree, and European oak.

All these kinds of wood are here indigenous; but there are a great many others which have been transplanted from India, such as the Mava or Mangueira tree, the tamarind-tree, the Agati, and a sort of Acacia without prickles, which came originally from Malabar. All these trees, and a variety of others the names of which I do not remember, thrive exceedingly well in the Isle of France. The case is the same with the cinnamon-tree from Ceylon, the nutmeg and the clove trees from the Moluccas, and the Raven-Sára from Madagascar[250].

All these productions are found here in the king’s garden, where they thrive remarkably well; but it cannot be denied that they have lost somewhat of their original vigour, which may perhaps be owing to the volcanic nature of the soil in which they are planted. The French, however, procure such a quantity of these spices, that they have no occasion to purchase any of them from the Dutch. The inspector of the king’s garden, and the before-mentioned M. Charpentier de Cossigny, have, by their botanical knowledge and unwearied industry, been the chief cause of these foreign productions being cultivated in the island. In a certain district of it called Pampelmousse, I observed that private individuals cultivated these spices in their gardens, from which they already derive some profit. When I paid a visit to Messrs. Boucher and Istace, who were established as clergymen in the district of Pampelmousse, I saw with real pleasure that they were both, busily employed in the cultivation of these exotics; and that they were well rewarded, by their thriving condition, for the trouble they had taken to rear them.

There are here also a great many singular birds of prey, some cattle, and great abundance of fish; but in particular numerous herds of goats, which belong to the proprietors of the land. Private persons purchase small spots of ground from the king, live as planters, and construct for themselves habitations which they call Reduits. The European planters and merchants on this island maintain about 30,000 slaves, who cultivate the lands, and who are obliged to perform the principal labour in the towns and villages. These slaves consist of Caffres, Indians, and natives of Madagascar. Were it possible for them to be unanimous, they would not find it difficult, as they far exceed the Europeans in number, to expel them entirely from the island; but as they belong to different tribes, they never can unite in one general plan; and to this circumstance the planters are indebted for their safety and the peaceable possession of their property. The laws of morality are violated here in the most flagrant manner: the various nations who are intermixed with each other, the state of licentiousness in which the colonists live, and the immodest conduct of the women, which sets all decency and restraint at defiance, might give travellers very just reason for calling the Isle of France New Cythera, or the Island of Venus. Besides, it is the seat of knavery and infidelity, with which almost all the French settled here are infected; for they acknowledge themselves, that, as soon as they pass the Cape of Good Hope, they renounce religion altogether, and employ their whole thoughts and attention on the acquirement of riches.

Port-Louis, the chief town on the island, has several well constructed manufactories, a very beautiful cathedral, and an elegant hospital. From the surrounding smaller islands a great number of tortoises are brought to the Isle of France; so that patients afflicted with the scurvy and syphilis, two diseases which are exceedingly prevalent in these climates, are soon restored to strength by means of the nourishing soups prepared from the flesh of these animals, mixed with all kinds of herbs. The advantage of this place, where sick soldiers and sailors can be so soon recovered; the natural liveliness of the French; the facility of procuring fresh provisions; the number of young men of French extraction who are found here, and who, on the sea, are as it were on their proper element; a numerous squadron which is always lying here ready to proceed on a cruise when necessary, and the small distance between this island and India, render it very easy for the French, in the time of war, to send relief to their colonies on the first notice; to annoy the enemy in these seas by their privateers; and, in the time of peace, to support and extend their commerce. Bailli de Suffrein, and several other French admirals, well knew how to profit, during the wars in India, by the advantages which this island affords to the French fleets.

It was taken possession of by the Dutch in the year 1598, and called the Mauritius. Before that period it was called Cernè, that is, Swan Island; because the sailors by whom it was first discovered observed on it a great number of white fowls without tails, which, on that account, they took to be swans. As the Dutch pay no attention to any possessions but those which bring them considerable revenues, they abandoned this island in the year 1708. It was afterwards taken possession of by a French naval captain named Du Fresne, who in 1715 founded in it a French colony: but it was not till 1723 that it acquired a governor and council. The first governor was M. De la Bourdonnais. It is to the great exertions of this man that the increase of the colony is chiefly to be ascribed; and since that period it has always remained subject to France.

After staying twenty days at this island, we left it on the 20th of May, and in twenty-four hours arrived at St. Denis, in the Island of Bourbon, which is only at a very small distance. Like the former, it is full of mountains; only with this difference, that they are not so high and peaked as those of the Isle of France. The latter is much more frequented by navigators, because it has an excellent harbour, an advantage which is totally wanting in the other. Ships here must lie at anchor in the open road of St. Denis or St. Paul, where they are exposed to great danger, and where mariners can never be sufficiently on their guard to prevent their vessels from being driven from their anchors and carried out to sea. Besides, at both the above places, it is exceedingly difficult to land; and even in calm weather it is almost impossible to go on shore without being completely drenched by the surf. M. De Cossigny, the governor of the island, resided at St. Denis, which was furnished with a strong garrison. It is the principal town of the island, and is situated upon an eminence which commands the whole road. Here I found M. Du Rocher, a celebrated missionary from the convent of St. Lazarus at Paris, who had the superintendance of the missionary affairs at the Isles of France and Bourbon.

From the road of St. Denis our frigate proceeded to St. Paul, which is likewise a town of considerable size, where I had some very interesting conversation with two distinguished missionaries, Messrs. D’Avelu and Halmat; the principal subject of which was, the extending and improving the missionary establishments in Malabar, Madagascar, and the Isles of France and Bourbon: but unfortunately all our plans were deranged by the French revolution.

The island of Bourbon is sixty French miles in circumference, and is exposed to the effects of a volcano, which from time to time throws up a bituminous, fluid, vitrified sort of substance, which, when cooled, has a spongy and reddish appearance. It extends already a quarter of a mile into the sea, like a broad causeway, which by the heat of the sun and the sea-water acquires daily more solidity, so that the French flatter themselves with the hope that it will one day form a haven. Both here, and at the Isle of France, the sea throws up a great many kinds of beautiful shells as well as marine petrifactions. It produces also abundance of well-tasted fish.

The island of Bourbon yields large quantities of coffee, which, when the beans have been well picked, is of the best quality. It contains a great many oily particles, and is attended with this advantage to the purchasers, that they have no occasion to use so much of it as of any other kind; for it is much stronger than that of Moka, though it has not such an agreeable flavour. The English purchase whole ship-loads of it, and set a much greater value on it than on that of the West Indies. When well toasted and burnt it will retain its virtue a whole year, provided it be properly preserved. Almost all the inhabitants of Bourbon cultivate coffee of this kind in their gardens. At the time I was on the island, a bag of it, weighing a hundred and twenty pounds, cost twelve scudi. The inhabitants of this island are diligent, industrious, decent, and well-behaved people. As they reside chiefly in the country, and employ themselves in agriculture, they have preserved their morals uncorrupted, and know little or nothing of the vices which prevail in the towns. The ass is the principal animal used for labour in these two islands; as horses and oxen cannot long hold out in a country so full of hills, therefore asses are employed in their stead. The French sea-captains bring from Arabia whole cargoes of these animals, and sell them to the inhabitants.

The island of Bourbon is divided into seven different districts, viz. St. Denis, St. Paul, Repos de Laleu, D’Abord, St. Susannah, St. Bennet, and La Possession. These seven districts, in the year 1783, delivered into the king’s magazines 8,136,245 pounds of corn, 6,704,296 pounds of maize and millet, 84,921 pounds of rice, 261,687 pounds of pease, 461,402 pounds of beans, and 300,000 pounds of barley. Were I obliged to make a choice between the Isle of France and that of Bourbon, I should prefer the latter, on account of its fertility, the purity and salubrity of its air, the industry and uncorrupted morals of its inhabitants, who have not yet debased themselves by illicit commerce with contemptible slaves, and of many other advantages; though M. Charpentier de Cossigny asserts the contrary in his letter to M. Sonnerat, printed at the Isle of France in 1784, and which, in general, displays great partiality.

The inhabitants of both these islands carry on trade with Madagascar, Goa, and Surat; to the Persian Gulph and the Red-sea; and also to Mascate, Monbaza, Zanzibar, and Quiloa. They send thither sugar, coffee, different kinds of wood, Indian stuffs, and European glass wares. In return for these articles they obtain from Madagascar beautiful cattle, a great number of slaves, and certain kinds of cloth made from the fibres of plants and called Pagne. Mascate sends them asses, and from the southern parts of the African coast they procure slaves and gold dust. All the natives of these islands, born of European fathers and Indian or African mothers, are called Creoles, and of this kind are the greater part of the inhabitants of Bourbon. As these people, both by nature and the laws, are perfectly free, they are fond of their native country, and apply to agriculture from inclination; whereas the slaves in the Isle of France must be kept to this labour by force, and cultivate the lands of their unthankful masters with the greatest reluctance. Five of these free people are of more value than ten slaves of the Isle of France, who are compelled to gratify the avarice, lewdness, and licentiousness of their tyrants. The marriages of the free people are far more fruitful, and their children are far better nourished and educated than those of the slaves, and are consequently much healthier. This is the cause why the Island of Bourbon contains a much greater number of inhabitants than the Isle of France. When the smallpox breaks out, which occasions the greatest devastation here as well as on the coast of Malabar, a multitude of slaves are swept off in the Isle of France, whose places must then be supplied by others; and such large sums are required for this purpose, that the coffers of the inhabitants become entirely exhausted. In the Island of Bourbon, on the other hand, the number of slaves is so small, the air is always so pure and healthful, and the houses are so well constructed, that the above horrid disease, which rages with so much fury in the Isle of France, seldom makes its appearance in the former, and occasions much less ravage than in the latter.

On the 30th of May we left the Isle of Bourbon, and, having passed the Island of Madagascar, encountered a violent storm, which obliged us to put into the Bay of Lagoa, on the southern coast of Africa. As the wind was contrary, we were under the necessity of keeping close in with the land; so that we had continually before our eyes the horrid mountains with which this part of the world is covered. Never did I behold any land, the situation of which is so high, and which at the same time has so wild and dreary an appearance. During the whole day we beheld nothing but immense wastes of sand, or mountains, the summits of which were lost in the clouds, and which, in the night time, threw up smoke and flames. I should have considered these immense patches of sand as fields covered with snow, had I not been undeceived when we entered the before-mentioned bay[251]. These horrid and totally barren districts, where it is rare to see a single blade of grass, except a few melancholy ones here and there on the margin of some small stream which flows into the ocean, appeared to me like the entrance of the infernal regions. We experienced, at the same time, a most penetrating cold. Our apes, parrots and other Indian birds, which were not accustomed to such severe weather, began to be sick, and the most beautiful animals died of the cramp or convulsions.

On the 30th of June we passed the Bay of Formosa.

On the fifth of August we were off the Bay of St. Sebastian; and on the 10th came to anchor in False Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. This bay is very capacious, and the water in it is strongly impregnated with whale oil, or rather whale-spawn. When it is, therefore, put into a state of violent agitation by the motion of ships, or repeated rowing, these oily particles, by the friction thence occasioned, emit, to the great astonishment of those who are not acquainted with the phenomenon, a dark-blue and yellow light[252].

The Dutch East India Company have here a government-house, which at this time was inhabited by Governor Brand; together with various magazines, a large hospital, two taverns, a few private houses, and a botanical garden. A bottle of the best Cape wine cost a Dutch ducat. The neighbouring seas abound not only with whales, but with various other sorts of fish. The shore was covered with a multitude of the most beautiful shells, which enabled me to make a valuable addition to my collection. At the Cape there are oxen, sheep, goats, and other quadrupeds; but in particular all kinds of excellent vegetables. As I had made myself sufficiently well acquainted with the Cape during my first stay here, in the year 1776, I resolved on the present occasion to visit the neighbouring mountains; to explore the interior parts, and to procure what information I could respecting the Hottentots. I ascended, therefore, in the company of several French officers, one of the highest mountains, where, as far as the eye could reach, we beheld the most beautiful pastures. The Hottentots live after the manner of the Patriarchs, by breeding cattle, and have no fixed habitation. When they remove from one place to another, they put their wives and children into large waggons; dispatch these before, and follow them with their herds. Their whole clothing consists of a sheep’s skin, which, without any preparation, they throw over their shoulders. They cover the parts of sex with a small piece of cloth, and leave the rest of the body quite naked. Some even do not wear the above piece of cloth; and, with their shaggy sheep’s skins, their ragged hair, which is never combed, their dark brown visages, and small black eyes, have rather the appearance of monsters than of men. How different is that of the fortunate inhabitants of the coast of Malabar! The Hottentot women have a nose somewhat flat, or which seems to have been squeezed out in breadth by compression, and exceedingly thick lips. Those who have brought forth children bind a piece of skin around their middle, to hide that which modesty bids them conceal. On this subject I refer the reader to the letter of M. Beysser, surgeon, to M. de Cossigny, which is added as a postscript to that of the latter to M. Sonnerat. There are Hottentots who have only one testicle, because the other has been bruised by their mother, between two stones, at the time of their birth. The reason of this is, that these ignorant people believe that the males will, by these means, be prevented from getting twins. It contributes also, in their opinion, to the production of more females. The Hottentots are exceedingly active, swift-footed, and of strong constitutions. Those who have once gained their affection may safely depend on their fidelity. All those, however, which I had an opportunity of seeing, were so shy that they carefully avoided the Europeans, and neither entered into conversation with them, nor answered any questions they were asked.

There are some mountains in the neighbourhood of the Cape, which contain copper and tin. In the interior parts there is a kind of wild Hottentots, called Boshmen. They are of a colour somewhat like an orange yellow, but darker. Beysser and Vaurien, two French travellers, who penetrated nearly 300 miles into the country, describe these Boshmen as eaters of human flesh, who devour all the Europeans and Hottentots who have the misfortune to fall into their hands. Apples, pears, cherries, plums, apricots, figs, nuts, strawberries, and all the other fruits of Europe, grow wild in the interior districts[253]. The Hottentots live together in hordes; but apply neither to agriculture nor the arts, and have little or no religion. It is supposed that they worship the moon as a deity. They are entirely employed in tending cattle. Their common food is the flesh of their oxen or sheep, and a kind of mealy bulbous roots, which grow without any culture in the districts where they settle. The Dutch, who have extended their possessions 200 miles up the country, have taken every pains possible to encourage these people to apply to agriculture, but without the smallest success. The single settlements, which the Dutch have formed here and there in the country of the Hottentots, are at a great distance from each other; for as they are at liberty to choose whatever spot they think proper to reside on, they generally fix upon those where the soil is fruitful, and where they have no occasion to go far in search of water. According to the information I received, they have nearly 40,000 slaves, who are obliged to cultivate their lands; but the districts which I saw did not appear to be very fruitful. They consisted of immense forests and plains, surrounded by mountains, and intersected by marshes; and, therefore, much fitter for pasturage than for producing corn. The farmers are chiefly Germans, and for the most part have settled in valleys, where they found the soil fruitful; where they were sheltered from the wind, and had in the neighbourhood a sufficiency of wood and water. The land here, taken in general, is exceedingly fertile. The grapes, which yield the noble Constantia wine, the best of all the kinds produced at the Cape, are brought forwards by artificial manure. For that purpose deep trenches are dug, which are filled with dung, and again covered with earth. When dung fails, which is however seldom the case, the farmers mix with it leaves of trees and twigs, and suffer them both to rot. This manure communicates to the soil, and consequently to the vine plants, an extraordinary strength. In India the same process is employed to manure the rice-fields. In June and July the vines are pruned, and in January or February the grapes are collected; but the vintage must never begin till they are perfectly ripe. By these means the Constantia wine, which is produced from the best kind of grapes, acquires such excellence that it surpasses all the other kinds made in the country. Those, however, who wish to be acquainted with its real virtue and properties, must drink it at the Cape, where it is perfectly pure and unadulterated. It is much heavier than the European wines; and this, in all probability, is owing to the oily balsamic and saccharine particles it contains. The red muscadine is produced from the large vineyard at Constantia, and the white wine from the smaller. I had often before tasted both kinds on the coast of Malabar, at the table of Governor Van Angelbeck, whom I have several times mentioned already.

The Cape town is exceedingly well built, and contains a considerable number of low houses and very broad streets. Every thing here is established in the Dutch taste. Provisions are of the best kind. During my stay, board and lodging cost a dollar a-day; and boarders were at liberty to bring a friend with them occasionally to dinner. We had excellent meat, particularly mutton and veal; as well as vegetables, and abundance of European, African, and Indian fruits: and our meals were always seasoned with a few glasses of Constantia wine.

The gardens of the Dutch East India Company are exceedingly well laid out, and contain a great number of foreign animals; but the king’s garden in the Isle of France is much more beautiful and useful. In the latter there are a great many trees, which produce fruits and different kinds of spices; whereas the former is filled with such as are either entirely barren, or not very useful, and which serve merely for ornament.

On the 19th of July we left the Cape, and proceeded on our voyage.

On the 22d we encountered a most violent storm, accompanied with a heavy rain, which shattered our topmast and bow-sprit. By the violent straining of our frigate, which was sheathed with copper, some of the nails gave way, so that the vessel became leaky, and the water forced itself in through the planks. This accident threw the sailors into great confusion; for the wind raged with such fury that the ship became unmanageable. Had it continued ten minutes longer we should have infallibly found a grave at the bottom of the ocean. But the providence of that Eternal Being, who assists the distressed, and preserves the lives of sinners as well as of the righteous, saved us from the impending danger. The wind moderated, and we found means to secure the loose copper with ropes, to stop the leak, and so continue our course, though with some danger, and not without apprehension.

On the 7th of August we descried St. Helena, and on the 11th came to anchor in a bay of the Island of Ascension, where we lay eight days in order to repair our vessel.

This island is about nine miles in length, and seven breadth; and is nothing but an extinguished volcano, which seems formerly to have occasioned here the most horrid devastation. It contains no water, has no inhabitants, and does not produce a single blade of grass. Wherever the eye extends, nothing is seen but large accumulations of calcined stones, and black pyramidal masses of rock, which strike the traveller with astonishment, whether beheld near or at a distance, and fill his mind with an awful idea of the power of the volcano, as well as of the force of nature in general, which seems as if she had intended to annihilate herself in this horrid desert[254]. This island is continually buffeted by the waves of the ocean, which throw an immense number of shells on the shore, where they are so long beat till they at last become dust, and are converted into the whitest and most beautiful sand that can any where be seen. At the same time the sea often casts on shore large tortoises, which, if they fall on their backs, cannot recover their natural position, and therefore rot amidst the sand. The neighbouring seas teem with fish; and for that reason the island is inhabited by a great number of men-of-war birds, and other sea-fowl, which feed on these fish, and construct their nests in the clefts of the rocks. These men-of-war birds, though they seldom see a human being, are so tame, or rather so stupid, that they suffer themselves to be caught with the hand[255]. I caught five or six of them, which did not make the least resistance. In the course of three days 1000 at least of these birds were caught and carried on board our frigate. As they were more than the crew could immediately consume, they began to spoil, and occasioned such a stench that we were apprehensive it might produce some infectious disease. But our commander called the whole crew upon deck, and gave public orders that all these fowls, without the least favour of exception, should be thrown overboard.

As this island contains no springs, nor the least trace of vegetation, it is, as already said, entirely uninhabited; but in order that mariners may know the proper landing-place, a cross has been erected on a high rock, which serves them as a land-mark. I found here several pieces of petrified wood, which clearly exhibited the form they had when converted into stone by the volcanic eruption that laid waste the island. They are a great curiosity to the naturalist.

The fish caught in the adjacent seas are remarkably fat, and for that reason unwholesome. The air here is so mild, so pure, and so clear, that people may pass the night under the bare heavens without the least danger. Tortoises are found of so monstrous a size as to be capable of bearing four men on their backs. They begin however to be rather scarce, on account of their being too much sought after by navigators, who rob the ocean of its inhabitants.

Having had occasion to mention the effects produced by volcanoes, I shall here insert, in compliance with the wish of a respectable friend, some observations on those of India and Africa. Though water has the superiority in Malayala, and the whole land is in a manner inundated, traces may be found amidst it of earthquakes; and also, though seldom, of the effects produced by electric fire. In the month of December 1784 a general agitation of the earth was perceived there in the night-time, which continued about two seconds. Such a phenomenon is called in the Malabar language Bhumikulacam, and in the Samscred Bhucialana. The mountains of Barcale and Kidàculam, which contain a great deal of iron and other highly inflammable substances, are, in all probability, the principal reservoirs which give rise to such concussions in the earth. I never had an opportunity myself, during my residence in India, of observing a volcano; but we are told by Father Tiefenthaler, Anquetil du Perron, and Thevenot, that, in the province of Nagaracotta, the capital of which, having the same name, lies, according to Rennel, in the latitude of 32° 20′, and the longitude of 73°, (properly 72° 47′,) there is a hole below some rocks which throws out flames from time to time with a loud noise, and for that reason is called Givàlamukha or Shvàlamucha, that is, the fiery mouth or fiery nostrils. The Indian worshippers of fire make frequent pilgrimages to this place.

Another volcano is situated on the river Sarayuva, in the latitude of 3° 25′, and the longitude of 77° 27′, in the territories of king Doulou Bassanaar. This volcano throws up, at the same time, fire, air and water, and occasions frequent earthquakes, which are felt all over the province[256]. The circumstance of fire, air and water thrown up at once, induces me to adopt the opinion of those who believe that all volcanoes are connected with the sea, or at least some river, and that they never disengage electric matter, in a violent manner, except when it is concentrated and pressed together by water. My grounds for this opinion are as follows: all the volcanoes I ever had an opportunity of seeing, lie either close to the sea, or to some large river. Thus the before-mentioned volcano, in the territories of Doulou Bassandar, is situated, according to the account of Father Tiefenthaler, not far from the river Sarayuvà, called by others the Sardjou. The volcano in the Isle of France, which has thrown up flames for several centuries, has left on the island a grey, porous, ferruginous kind of lava, traces of which may be discovered in every part of it[257]. On various mountains of the island, which lie at a distance from the sea, there are found a great many calcareous substances, and different kinds of petrified muscles and shell-fish, which have nearly their natural form, so that they can be clearly distinguished from each other. To imagine that after the general flood a second inundation took place, and rose to such an amazing height as to deposit these calcareous substances and these shells on the tops of the mountains, is contrary to all probability. Their present situation can, therefore, be no otherwise accounted for than by supposing that they were either deposited at the time when these mountains were covered by the flood, or that they were carried thither by the united efforts of water and volcanic fire. In the granite, zeolites, chrysolites, and flint containing iron, copper, sulphur, and other things of the like kind, which are thrown up by Vesuvius, there are found also alum, alkali, marine salt, sal-ammoniac, and the so-called neutral salts. In the Dialogues on Vesuvius, printed at Naples in 1794, it is remarked, therefore, on very good grounds, that Vesuvius, and all volcanoes in general, give the lie to the chemists, and make them ashamed of their art. Condamine conjectured that the chemical laboratory of Vesuvius may extend to a considerable distance below the sea. Vesuvius, even in the year 1731, threw up such abundance of water that it inundated the fields, swept away the strongest trees, and buried more than five hundred people in its waves. Ought not these phenomena to serve as a proof that the water, at the time of an earthquake, rises very unexpectedly to a great height, and falls again with the same velocity? Does not this indicate the action of electric fire; and may not the latter, combined with water in the bowels of the earth, enter into a contest with it, and occasion the before-mentioned movement? The volcano in the Isle of Bourbon lies also near the sea, and the latter no doubt contributes to its throwing up abundance of lava, which is perfectly similar to that thrown up by Vesuvius. The volcanoes on the southern side of Africa, beyond the Cape of Good Hope, are also at no great distance from the sea; and I saw them throw up, in the night-time, dark red flames, and a thick smoke which covered the whole summits of the mountains.

The volcano in the Island of Ascension, which has been totally extinct for several centuries, has, as already observed, covered the whole rock with a grey, porous, and ferruginous stone, which Spilberg, in his India Orientalis, calls Lapides carbones fabrorum exustos referentes; stones which have the appearance of smiths’ coals. It is hardly to be supposed that this island could have been laid so entirely waste by volcanic fire, had not the sea water, with which it is surrounded on all sides, contributed to produce that effect. The fish found in the neighbouring seas are exceedingly unwholesome, and emit a volcanic smell. A single drop of water is not to be found in the whole island; and the reason of this, in all probability, is, that the two elements, fire and water, have here formerly entered into a dreadful contest, in which the former obtained the superiority.

I shall leave naturalists to examine these conjectures, and to prove the truth of them; but I can with justice assert, that the hypothesis respecting the effect of electric fire on water is very well known to the Brahmans, and other Indian philosophers; and by its means they are able to account for many phenomena, the nature of which would otherwise be inexplicable. According to their doctrine, the Oruma, that is, union or peaceful combination of the elements, particularly of water and fire, preserves the equilibrium and tranquillity of all created things. The Arima, on the other hand, that is, discord and enmity of the elements, particularly of water and fire, occasions contention, convulsions, and explosions, by which the earth, the atmosphere, and the sea, are thrown into the most violent agitation. As long as the Oruma takes place between the elements, they remain peaceful and quiet; but when fire obtains the superiority, the Arima instantly begins, and occasions earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, thunder and lightning; in a word, every thing that the Brahmans comprehend under the words Givàlana and Shvàlana, which signify inflammation, combustion, and the other effects of fire. Senebier is of opinion, that the proper focus of volcanoes is at the bottom of the sea, and that such mountains, as well as volcanic islands, have been thrown up by submarine fire.

After this digression I shall resume the journal of my voyage.

On the 14th of September we passed the Azores. The periodical wind, which at this time blew constantly from the African coast, was of great service to us, as it served to waft us past the Line and the Tropic before the stormy weather came on. Not far from the Line we saw a great many water-spouts. In the neighbourhood of the Tropic we were surrounded by multitudes of flying-fish; and when we reached the Azores, we twice or thrice observed the northern lights[258]. We spent whole evenings in admiring this noble phenomenon, as well as in contemplating the sublime field of the heavens, which almost every evening, the farther we advanced towards the north, presented to our sight new stars. All this rendered our passage very agreeable; but unfortunately, for a month past, we had been short of provisions. We were in want of bread, beef, wine, flour, and pease. Four weeks we had been reduced to the necessity of contenting ourselves with putrid biscuit, and a small portion of rancid bacon, which had been smoked four years before, and which now had a greenish and blue appearance. This was all we could obtain for breakfast. Our dinner and supper consisted of a plateful of beans, with a piece of biscuit, and a little brandy, which we drank mixed with our stinking water. Under these circumstances it needs excite no surprise that many of the sailors were ill of the scurvy, and I myself was not entirely free from that loathsome disease.

On the 29th of September 1789 we at length entered the harbour of Brest, where we expected to find all our troubles at an end; but unfortunately we learnt that the whole kingdom was in the utmost confusion. As it was impossible for me to return to India, I was obliged to submit to my fate, and to accommodate myself to the times, while force had usurped the place of justice. It may readily be comprehended, that, in the course of my journey home through France, where the delirium of liberty had risen to the highest pitch, I had too many opportunities of making comparisons between other nations and my dear countrymen the Europeans, which were not much to the honour of the latter.