When this island was first discovered, it was desti tute of every species of frugiverous or ravenous qua drupeds; but its rivers were well stocked with fish ; its coasts with land and sea tortoises ; and its woods with paroquets, pigeons, turtle doves, and a great variety of birds, beautiful to the eye, and pleasant to the palate. The dronte* is represented by some tra vellers as a native of Bourbon; but this singular bird, with many others described by the first navigators, have now become extinct in the island, having been destroyed by its early inhabitants, many of whom lived entirely by fishing and the chace. Few of its present animal productions are indigenous. Horses, oxen, hogs, and goats, were first imported by the Por tuguese, and they multiplied so rapidly, that when the French visited the place about a century after wards, in 1653, they were found wandering in bands through the woods. But since the island was colo nised, they have as rapidly decreased. The horses have been reduced to servitude, the oxen domestica ted, the hogs destroyed, and a few goats only have escaped the spear of the hunter, by retiring to the most inaccessible recesses of the mountains. No ye nomous creature is to be found in the island, and only two which are disagreeable to the sight ; these are spiders of the size of a pigeon's egg, and very large bats, which are not only skinned and eaten, but are esteemed the greatest delicacy of the place.
The commLree of Bourbon has of late been very much cramped ; for, except the petty traffic carried on with the Americans, consisting chiefly in the ex change of provisions for hard-money and lumber, its trade is confined to Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, and the Arab settlements on the eastern coast of A frica. This trade consists in the barter of prize goods, spirits, firc-arms, and ammunition, for black cattle, rice, gold-dust, elephant's teeth, and slaves. It may be called, however, the granary of the Mauri tius, as it supplies that island with one half of its provisions ; and since it became a British colony, its trade may now extend over the whole range of the eastern coast of Africa, and thence along the shores of Arabia, to the mouth of the Euphrates. The pub lic revenue of the island, in 1810, was estimated at 230,000 dollars. • The population of this island, ever since it became a French colony, has been annually increasing. In 1717, it was computed at 2000, of which 900 were free, and 1100 slaves ; and, in 1763, it had increased to 4000 whites, and 15,000 slaves. Viscount de Vaux states it at 56,000, of which 8,000 are whites and mulattoes, and 48,000 slaves ; and, according to the computation of an officer of the late expedition, in 1810, it consists of 90,346, of which 16,400 are whites and creeks, 3496 free blacks, and 70,450 slaves. Among this people, however, the usual dis tinction of whites and blacks entirely fails, for even the free are of different colours ; and M. de la Bar binais assures us, that he saw in a church one family, consisting of five generations, of all complexions. The eldest was a female, 108 years of age, of a brown black, like the Indians at Madagascar; her daugh ter a mulatto ; her grand-daughter a mestizo ; her great-grand-daughter of a dusky yellow ; her daugh ter, again, of an olive ; and the daughter of this last, as fair as any English girl of the same age. This diversity of complexion arises from the French, who had escaped from the massacre at Fort Dauphine, having married their slaves ; and it is affirmed, that there are only nine families in the whole island, who have not been united to the African blood.
The inhabitants of Bourbon differ considerably in character and disposition from those of any other co lony. Instead of being a motley groupe of strangers from every country, who come merely in search of wealth, and who hasten back to the land of their in fancy, the Bou•bonese are natives of the soil, and inherit from father to son the patrimony of their an cestors. Hence, they have become so attached to their country, that they have acquired, in a strong degree, what the French call esprit de province. Pro perty is not here continually changing its masters. It will remain for ages in the same family, and its possessors live and die in the land of their fathers. This people are, in general, of a gentle and industri ous disposition; and are distinguished for their hos pitality and simplicity of manners. The ladies are fond of dancing ; have both beauty and elegance of shape, a tolerable share of wit, and more taste than could be expected in such a remote colony. They marry at an early age, and are remarkable for their attention to domestic duties, and their attachment to their husbands and children. " Both men and wo men," says Admiral Kempenfelt, "are strong and well made, breathe a wholesome air, are in continual exercise, and are distinguished for moderation and temperance." Their houses are chiefly built of wood, and are very cool and agreeable. They have, how ever, very little furniture, and many of their apart ments are without carpets. But this arises not from the poverty or parsimony of the Bourbonese, but be cause it is impossible to procure here a third of the conveniences of life. Every object of luxury is brought from the Isle of France, where all foreign commodities are most extravagantly dear.
The Isle of Bourbon was first discovered in 1545, by Don Pedro Alascarenhas, a Portuguese navigator, who gave it his own name. Finding it completely destitute of inhabitants, he erected a pillar of pos session upon the shore, and placed upon it the arms of John IV. king of Portugal. From that time it was occasionally visited by the Spaniards and Portu guese, for refreshing their crews and getting water, till 1642, when Pronis, the French commandant at Madagascar, took possession of it in the name of his sovereign, and sent thither twelve malefactors, who had been condemned to perpetual exile. These un happy men wandered from one extremity of the island to another in search of a precarious subsistence. They lived chiefly upon fruits, and whatever they could procure by hunting ; and though in a manner naked, yet they affirmed, that, during the three years they remained there, they never had the least pain or sickness. From their description of the country, M. de Flacourt, a director of the French East India company, who had proceeded on a mission to Ma . dagascar, was induced to form a settlement upon its shores. In 1654, he sent over eight French and six negroes as its first colony, and changed its name into Bourbon. But nothing could be expected from this miserable establishment. Unacquainted with the cli mate, they lost their first crop by a hurricane ; and soon tiring of their solitary situation, and receiv ing no succour from Madagascar, they quitted the island, and embarked with all their property in an English vessel for Madras.