pon this subject, however, an
absolute silence was preserved in my letters, for although the passport
had been so violated by general De Caen, I was determined to adhere to it
strictly.

During four days stay in the to town of Port Louis no restriction of any
kind was imposed; I visited the theatre, and several families to whom my
friends Pitot and Bergeret introduced me, and passed the time as
pleasantly as any one who spoke no French could do in such a situation. A
young Englishman, who under the name of an American expected to sail
immediately for Europe, took charge of a box containing letters and
papers for the Admiralty and president of the Royal Society, one of which
was upon the effect produced on the marine barometer by sea and land
winds;* and on the 24th in the afternoon I set off with M. Pitot's family
for their country house, which was four miles on the way to my intended
residence.

[* This paper appeared in the Society's Transactions of 1806, Part II.]

[AT MAURITIUS. WILHEMS PLAINS.]

On the following day we visited the country seat of the governor, called
the _Reduit_, about seven miles from the town, and at the edge of my
limit of two leagues from the habitation at Wilhems Plains. It stands
upon an elevated point of land between the Riviere de Mocha, which comes
from the east, and an equally large stream which collects the waters of
Wilhems Plains from the southward; their junction at this place forms the
Grande Riviere, and the Reduit commands a view of its windings in the low
land to the north, until it is discharged into the sea about a mile on
the west side of Port Louis. There was little water in the two rivers at
this time; but the extraordinary depth of their channels, which seemed to
be not less than a hundred feet, and to have been cut through the solid
rock, bespoke that the current must be immense during the hurricanes and
heavy summer rains; and the views which the different falls of water
amongst the overhanging woods will then present, cannot be otherwise than
highly picturesque. At the Reduit the sides of these ravines were planted
with the waving bamboo, and the road leading up to the house, with the
gardens around it, were shaded by the mango and various other fruit
trees; but all was in great disorder, having suffered more than neglect
during the turbulent period of the French revolution. The house was said
to be capable of containing thirty-five beds, and was at this time in a
st