The indigenous fauna resembles that of Madagascar. The only varieties of mammals are the rat and bat. The dugong, which formerly frequented the waters of the islands, does so no longer. The reptiles include certain lizards and snakes; the crocodile, once common, has been exterminated. Land tortoises have also disap peared; a freshwater tortoise (Sternothaerus sinuatus) is still found. The giant tortoise, Testudo elephantine, is found only in the Aldabra Islands; and the adjacent seas contain many turtles. Three coecilians, three batrachians (including a mountain-fre quenting frog) and three fresh-water crustaceans are also indig enous, and about twenty-six species of land shells. The islands are the home of a large number of birds, including terns, gannets and white egrets.
Inhabitants.—The Seychelles were uninhabited when first vis ited by Europeans. The islands were colonized by Mauritian and Bourbon creoles; the white element, still prevailingly French, has been strengthened by British families. The first planters intro duced slaves from Mauritius, and the negro element has been in creased by the introduction of freed slaves from East Africa. There has been also an immigration of Chinese and, in larger numbers, of Indians (mainly from the Malabar coast). An of ficial report issued in 1910 stated that the greater part of the valuable town property had passed into the hands of Indians, and that Indians and Chinese bad the bulk of the retail trade. A rude creole patois, based on French but with a large admixture of Indian, Bantu and English words, is in general use. The Sey chellois are excellent sailors. On Dec. 31st 1933 the population was officially estimated at 28,731. The pure white population is less than i,000. About two-thirds of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics.
Agriculture, Industries, Towns and Communications.— The most important occupations are fishing and agriculture. Before 185o the islands produced spices, cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar, maize, rice, bananas, yams, coco-nut oil, timber, fish and fish oil and tortoise-shell. Whaling is carried on, chiefly by Americans and French, in the neighbouring seas. Subsequently cocoa was cultivated extensively, and from about 1890 vanilla largely super seded the other crops. Owing to increased competition, and to careless harvesting, the Seychellois, though still producing vanilla iv large quantities, pay greater attention to the products of the coconut palm—copra, soap, coconut oil and coco-nuts--the man grove bark industry, the collection of guano, the cultivation of rubber trees, the preparation of banana flour, the growing of sugar canes, and the distillation of rum and essential oils. The tortoise shell and calipee fisheries and the export of salt fish are important industries. Minor exports are cocoa, coco-de-mer and beche-de mer. From the leaves of the coco-de-mer are made baskets and hats.
The imports consist chiefly of cotton goods and hardware, rice, sugar, flour, boots and shoes, wines and beer, tobacco, machinery.
The imports in 1925 were £129,541 and exports £167,169. The bulk of the trade is with the countries of the British Empire. The medium of exchange is the Indian rupee ( = i6d.), with the sub sidiary coinage of Mauritius.
The only town of any size is the capital, Port Victoria (or Mahe), picturesquely situated at the head of an excellent har bour. Many of the houses are built of massive coral, Porites gaimardi, hewn into square building blocks which at a distance glisten like white marble. The port is a coaling station of the British navy and is connected by telegraphic cables with Zanzibar and Mauritius. All the islands are well provided with metalled roads. The government employ steam vessels for passenger and mail services between the islands and there are large numbers of sailing craft belonging to the islanders ; there is communication with Great Britain, France, India and South Africa.
Government and Revenue.—Seychelles is a crown colony administered by a governor, assisted by nominated executive and legislative councils. In 1925 revenue was £51,384, expenditure
£43,801 and debt of £6,886. Education is free but not compulsory.
History.—The Seychelles are marked on Portuguese charts dated 1502. The first recorded visit to the islands was made in 1609 by an English ship. The second recorded visit, in 1742, was made by Captain Lazare Picault, who, returning two years later, formally annexed the islands to France. Picault, who acted as agent of Mahe de la Bourdonnais, governor of Mauritius, named the principal island Mahe and the group Iles de la Bourdonnais, a style changed in 1756, when the islands were renamed after Moreau de Sechelles, at that time controleur des finances under Louis XV. The first permanent settlement was made about 1768, when the town of Mahe was founded. Soon afterwards Pierre Poivre, intendant of Ile de France, seeing the freedom of the Seychelles archipelago from hurricanes, caused spice plantations to be made there, with the object of wresting from the Dutch the monopoly of the spice trade they then enjoyed. The existence of these plantations was kept secret, and it was with that object that they were destroyed by fire by the French on the appearance in the harbour in 1778 of a vessel flying the British flag. The ship, however, proved to be a French slaver which had hoisted the Union Jack fearing to find the British in possession. The islands were occupied in 1810 by the British, to whom they were ceded by the treaty of Paris in 1814. J. B. Queau de Quincy (1748-1827), governor under the Monarchy, the Republic and the Empire, was appointed by the British agent-civil. In all he governed the islands 38 years, dying in 1827. The over-dependence placed on vanilla caused waves of depression to alternate with waves of prosperity, and the depression following the fall in the price of vanilla was aggravated by periods of drought, "agricultural sloth and careless extravagance."' But during 1905-10 successful efforts were made to broaden the economic resources of the colony. Since that date direct telegraphic communication with Mauritius, Zanzibar, Aden, and Colombo has been installed and a Government wireless tele phone service was opened in 1926 between Victoria and the Praslin islands.
farther west are the Aldabra islands (q.v.). Assumption island lies to the south of the Aldabra. The chief island in the Cosmoledo group is 9m. long by 6m. broad. South of this group of islands lies Astove. Coetivy (transferred from Mauritius to the Seychelles in 1908) lies about loom. S.S.E. of Platte. The majority of the out lying islands are extremely fertile, coconut trees and maize grow ing luxuriantly. Several of the islands contain valuable deposits of guano and phosphate of lime, and their waters are frequented by edible and shell turtle. Like the Amirantes, all the other islands named are of coral formation.
See A. A. Fauvel, Unpublished Documents on the History of the Seychelles Islands Anterior to 181o, with a bibliography (Mahe 1909) ; Ancient Maps of Seychelles Archipelago (Mahe 1909). See also the annual reports on the Seychelles issued by the Colonial Office. For the dependencies see R. Dupont, Report on a Visit of Investigation to St. Pierre, Astove, Cosmoledo, Assumption and the Aldabra Group of the Seychelles Islands (Seychelles, 1907).