Seychelles

Seychelles, a group of eighty islands in the Indian Ocean, 1,000 miles east of Zanzibar. They are of granitic formation with encircling reefs of coral, and rise steeply from the sea. The total area does not exceed 50,000 acres, Mahe, the largest, comprising fully three-fifths of that amount. The vegetation is luxuriant, and though they are only three or four degrees below the eguator, the tropical heat is tempered by sea-breezes and the climate is healthy. All but half a dozen are un-inhabited. From 1742 to 1798 they belonged to France, but were conquered by the British, and are now under the government of Mauritius. Almost every tropical product can be raised, but cocoanuts and their oil, with sperm-oil and tortoise-shell are the only exports, the negro population being averse to labour. [COCO DE MER.] Port Victoria, in Mahe, is the chief harbour and the admistrative centre.