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tween these several streams and the Boora-Gunduck, by means of canals, and the nature of the soil, so well adapted to the easy execution of such a work, it will be evident that there are no difficulties opposed by nature to the accomplishment of so useful an object, which an active and intelligent government might not speedily remove. Attempts have heretofore been made to transport fir or pine-trees from different parts of the Nepaul, and even of the Rohilcund Turrye, but they have always failed, because a mountainous country, as well as rapid and rocky rivers, opposed their success. In the quarter here pointed out, we meet with every thing calculated to encourage the undertaking, viz. vicinity to a navigable river passing over the borders of Chemparun, a forest by no means much elevated above the subjacent country, and the declivity, such as it is, being gentle : communicating streams, neither rocky nor rapid, and the means of reducing the land-carriage considerably, if not of precluding the necessity of it altogether.

Sir Robert Barker wrote to Lord Clive in 1766, concerning the productions of the tract in question, as follows:

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Bettyah (he meant the northern parts, or Nepaul borders) "will, I think, be of considerable r consequence to the Company; its "firs will afford masts for all the

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ships in India, which must pro"duce a new and considerable "trade with the other nations in "India, as well as advantage to our

own shipping. Gold and cinna 66 mon are also here (the latter we 66 gather in the jungles); timbers as large as any I have seen, musk, "and elephants' teeth, besides Asiatic Journ.-No. 1.

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many other commodities I have "not yet got the knowledge of." It must be owned, however, that this is an exaggerated account of the natural riches of the Turrye districts. The quantity of gold dust found in the Gunduck, and other rivers in this quarter (for mines are totally out of the question), is very inconsiderable, though it is pretended that the sanctified stones called Salligrams contain that precious metal.

At Hettowra there is a grove of

very fine Saul-trees, in which we pitched our tents; there are but few pines in the environs of this town; nor do they abound greatly on the banks of the Rapti, as you proceed up its course. The mineral contents of the hills through which this river descends appear to be various. We collected many stones; and some ores in the bed of it in. dicated the presence of iron, copper, and other metals. Among others was a stone which appeared to be an ordinary iron ore, but of which I was told they made a magnet by wrapping it up in a fresh buffaloe hide, and depositing it in this state, for a certain time, in the earth. I transmitted to Mr. Blake specimens of all the metallic ores and fossils we met with, both in this and other situations, but he has not yet had leisure to examine them with attention. The natural productions of the vegetable kingdom most common between Hettowra and Bhimpore, are the Saul, Sissoo, and Simul trees; the nettle, wild wormwood, raspberries, and mulberries; we also found here a curious shrub called Khaksi, the leaf of which answers the purpose of emery, or sand-paper, giving a fine polish to the harder woods. VOL. I. F

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SEYCHELLE ISLANDS AND BANK, AND ADMIRALTY ISLANDS.

-As very little is generally known relative to the Seychelle Islands, and as their interest and importance to England is considerably increased by the Treaty of Peace of 1814, we have great satisfaction in subjoining an accurate account of them, taken on a survey in the year 1811, by a most intelligent and enterprizing officer of His Majesty's Navy :

This archipelago derives its name from Monsieur Moreau de Seychelle, a principal officer of the French East-India Company at the time of its discovery, and consists of about a dozen small islands, and as many more islets and rocks, scattered upon a large coral and sand bank, extending S. E. and N. W. full seventy leagues; its breadth various, being broadest to the N.W., where it may be about thirty leagues; and thence gradually diminishing to the S.E., where it does not exceed as many miles. There are soundings and anchorage on almost every part of it, the former very irregular, but, generally speaking, between twelve and forty fathoms, except on the eastern edge, in the parallel of the middle of Mahé, where there is only seven and a half, and on the western limit, in the latitude of Silhauet, where there is only three fathoms and a half; at least, less than that has not yet been discovered. There are scarcely any dangers on it that do not show themselves.

The harbour of Mahé is very good, and no sea nor wind can hurt you, when in the entrance; to the inner harbour it is narrow, and you

must warp or tow in, should you' not have a leading wind.

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Three only of the islands are inhabited, Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue.

Mahé, named after Monsieur Mahé de la Bourdonnais, is the largest, most populous, and of course best cultivated of the whole ;' it is sixteen or seventeen miles in length, and generally about four broad. It has two good harbours; that of Mahé on the N.E. side of the island, where is the principal, indeed, the only village, and the residence of the commandant; and another on the S.W. side, both perfectly secure. Its population amounts to about 2,648 persons.

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Praslin (from the minister of that name), is the next island, in size and population, to that of Mahé ; and it has an excellent harbour on its north side, sheltered by the Isle Curieuse. The population of this island amounts to about 261 persons.

La Digue, so called from a ship of that name, has only seventy-one inhabitants.

These three islands are high and rocky, and, generally speaking, poor, steril, and barren, save only where a small valley or sheltered glen may have secured the soil from being washed down its steep declivities, by the heavy rains, in the

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inhabitants of the Isles of France and Bourbon, and trade to Madagascar and the Mozambique coast, and occasionally to either coast of India.

weighing about 300 pounds, and the islands are not capable of producing more than twenty per cent. above this, nor are they capable of producing any thing else as a matter of commerce. The inhabitants have begun to plant coffee, and will have sufficient for their own consumption in twelve or eighteen months; there it must rest, as it never can be an article of exportation. Cloves and cinnamon thrive here uncommonly 340 well, and, were there any soil to plant them in, would turn to ac

To give an idea of the present state of the population and cultivation of these islands, at one view, I transcribe a general return for the last year :

White Population.-Men, 97;
Women, 59; Boys, 107; Girls,
77

Free People of Colour.-Men,
18; Women, 39; Boys, 54;
Girls, 30

Slaves.

- Males, 3,533; Females, 2,533.

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141

6,066

Total...... 6,547

Cultivation. Acres in provisions, 2,432; ditto in cotton, 2,720; ditto in sugar canes, 220; total, 5,372.-Feet in coffee, 4,000; ditto in cloves, 3,000; total, 7,000.

Cattle, &c. Horned cattle, 300; sheep, 200; goats, 150; hogs, 800; total, 1,450. Besides turkeys, geese, ducks, fowls, pigeons, vegetables and fruit in great abundance.

You may purchase stock at the following prices : four fowls a Spanish dollar; two ducks a Spanish dollar; eight turkeys for twelve dollars; a sheep for four to six dollars. Good beef was killed and sold, ten pounds, for one Spanish dollar.

These islands do not appear fit for the cultivation of any article of export but cotton, and but for very little of that. There is not an acre of level ground upon the whole island, and hardly any soil; it is all mountainous, full of rocks and trees, and the heavy rains wash down the mountains the principal part of the mould.

The annual produce of cotton upon Mahé and Praslin at present is about 350 to 400 bales, each bale

count.

There are no kitchen vegetables here of any kind, unless you so call the sweet potatoes of Mameck, or some bad French-beans. There is no reason for this, but the negli gence of the inhabitants, and the little intercourse they have with the world, which renders them extremely indifferent about most comforts of this kind.

Fruit does not appear to be plen tiful or good; pine apples, plantains, and bad mangoes seem to be the principal; there are a few grapes and a few melons: this must be owing to the extreme indolence of the inhabitants.

There is some very good wood for furniture and different purposes, such as have building, sheathing for ships, and shipbeams, all of which would be at a very moderate price, but for the difficulty of transporting it out amongst the rocks to the water side.

Turtle are all large, in general about five to six hundred weight; the price of these is five dollars each, smaller ones three each, but there is no demand for them ; were they wanted in quantity, you would have occasion to give them some days notice to catch them.

The inhabitants say, that they

used to have very fine land-turtles, in great abundance, but that they are nearly all consumed, and only now and then can be got, two or three at a time.

Oysters are here in abundance, and the inhabitants say they are very wholesome, but they are too small to take the trouble to eat them; they are picked off small trees within the flood mark; there are likewise sea-crabs here, very large, but not very good. ...Tortoise shell, there is a few pounds to be picked up occasionally, but not sufficient to consider it as an article of commerce.

These islands have been inhabited about forty years, and the oldest inhabitant says, that he does not remember a gale of wind: it is a phenomenon unknown to them; they therefore afford security, at a particular season of the year, to vessels that might be otherwise exposed to the destructive hurricanes off the Isles of France and Bourbon.

Cuts and even gun-shot wounds heal uncommonly well here, and the climate, though necessarily hot, from its proximity to the equator, may be reckoned very healthy.

The inhabitants have very few wants, and are in general very poor; they have no money, and the little traffic they have is carrying on in cotton, at so many pounds to the dollar; consequently, they do not care about selling it, and there is only two or three inhabitants that can collect it in any quantity, and they are the only people that ever can realize property upon these islands. It seems of little consequence to them, as I do not think there are any five men of the whole who have an idea of ever quitting the island. The principal people bere say, their only reason for

coming to settle at these islands was, to live retired from the world, and gain a bare existence; some of them unfortunate, and had lost all their property, and were disgusted with the world. After remaining some time, they found the cottonplant grow very luxuriant, and have carried on the cultivation of it to a certain extent; and some of them now have from 150 to 200 slaves at work, and will be soon men of fortune. The climate is such that they have little occasion for clothes; their principal wants are some white cloth and some blue dungaree, or blue cloth (Pondicherry). The slaves wear nothing but a small piece of blue cloth; I should think one yard would serve them a year; they pay no kind of respect to dress; you will see the most respectable amongst them going without shoes, and some of them with half-shoes tied on their feet with strings: all this is from custom, and having no communication with the world.

Notwithstanding, the people in general live very well, are rather hospitable, and have abundance at their tables; but it is chiefly the produce of their own plantations.

That these islands were of great importance to France, while that power possessed those of France and Bourbon, there cannot be the least doubt, not only as affording facilities for the annoyance of our trade in the East, but, also, as being admirably placed to keep up a constant communication between those islands and the Court of Persia, if the latter should, at any time, have entered into the hostile views of our enemy, against the British power. But, that any material advantages are likely to accrue, either to the colony of the Isle of France, or to Great Britain in general,

from intercourse with or possession of the Seychelle Islands, other than that of keeping the enemy out of them, I cannot possibly foresee.

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS.

Before I close, I shall beg leave to call your attention to the Admiralty Islands, lying a small distance to the S.W. of Seychelle Islands.

This groupe is so exceedingly ill placed in all charts, both with respect to longitude, and their bearings from each other, that no vessel can navigate the sea with safety in that neighbourhood; whereas, if a couple of small schooners were employed by Government a few months, in surveying them, their actual position would be easily ascertained; and, if an European vessel, in consequence of such survey, be preserved from shipwreck, more than the expense of the survey (independent of preserving men's lives) will have been saved.

Live Cattle. There are about two hundred head of bullocks and about one hundred sheep; the inhabitants

could spare, to ships in distress, about twenty bullocks, and about sixty sheep; it would take some years to replace the latter.

Poultry-One hundred dozen of ducks, fowls, and turkeys might be procured here. There are no other animals of any kind upon these islands, but rats, which are in abundance; there is no game of any kind, and but few birds; pigeons, doves and perroquets, seem the principal. There is no wheat grows in these islands; they raise Indian corn, cassada-root, and a sufficient quantity of rice, just to supply their own wants, and feed their slaves ; but I do not think at any time you could purchase ten bags of rice : the whole of the inhabitants might collect ten thousand pounds weight in grain, out of their different stores, to ships in distress.

There is a great variety of fish at all these islands, and seemingly very fine; salt is very scarce, consequently they are only for imme diate use.

SAN-YU-LOW;

OR, THE THREE DEDICATED ROOMS.

A Tale, translated from the Chinese, by J. F. Davies, Esq. of the Honourable Company's China Establishment.

[The Editor has great pleasure in introducing to the readers of the Asiatic Journal the following translation from the Chinese, by Mr. J. F. Davies, son of Samuel Davies, Esq. the Director, The translation places the talents and industry of Mr. Davies in a favourable point of view, and is in itself a laudable example of useful zeal, in a gen, tleman placed on the Chinese Estab.lishment, to become acquainted with the language of the country. As a romance of the people to whom it be

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longs, the tale is eminently charac teristic; and the value of such works, as picture national manners, has too often been asserted, to be argued here. The succeeding portions of the "Three Dedicated Rooms," will follow in un interrupted order.]

SECTION 1. ARGUMENT.-The garden and pavilion are sold before they are finished. The purchasers greedily desire to possess the whole property.

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