SEYCHELLES ISLANDS. A group of small islands belonging to Great Britain. and situated in the Indian Ocean 650 miles northeast of Mada gascar, between latitudes 3° 3S' and 5° 45' S., and between longitudes 52° 55' and 53° 50' E. (Map: Africa, K 5). With the dependent groups. the Amirante, C'osm()ledo, and Aldabra Islands lying to the southwest, this archipelago numbers 74 named islands. with a total area of 148 square miles. The largest is Mahtl, whose area is 55 square miles. The Seychelles are the summits of a submarine mountain range. They are themselves mountainous, Mahe having a height of 299S feet, are composed mainly of granite, with basaltic intrusions. and are sur rounded with coral reefs. The climate, tem pered by the surrounding ocean, is very equable. the extreme mininmm and maximum tempera tures for the year being 74° and 88° respectively. The rainfall is very abundant. averaging nearly 100 inches per year, and the islands are covered with luxuriant forests. The flora, though re sembling that of tropical Africa. is largely com posed of species peculiar to the islands; the fauna is related to that of Madagascar, and mammals, with the exception of bats, are wanting. The
soil is fertile, and cotton, rice, and tobacco are cultivated. The exports, chief of which are cocoanut oil, soap, vanilla, guano, salt fish, tor toise shells, coffee, and cacao, amount to about $500,000 annually (1901, 1,417,515 rupees). The islands were administered from Mauritius until 1SSS, when an administrator was appointed, who in 1897 received the powers of Governor. The capital is Port Victoria on Ma116. Only four of the Seychelles proper are inhabited, and the total population of the combined groups, in 1901, was 19,237, chiefly French creoles, Indian coolies, and negroes.
The Seychelles were discovered by the Portu guese in the beginning of the sixteenth century. They were colonized by the French in the middle of the eighteenth ; in 1794 they were taken by the English, to whom they were formally ceded in 1815. Consult Hartmann. Madagascar and die Inseln Scschcllen (Leipzig, 1S86).