THE SEYCHELLES.*
IN this volume, which is published by authority, we have an abundance of materials for the future historian of the Seychelles. First are the old maps, the earliest, by Alberto Cantino, bearing date 1501. Thirty-seven of these have been reproduced, and are contained in a portfolio which accom- panies the volume of documents. The islands were first explored in 1742. Fourteen years afterwards the group was taken possession of for the King of France, and the Royal Standard raised. Then followed attempts to colonise, which met with very little success ; soon after a beginning had been made came the troubles of war. The last French Commandant was a certain Q1169,11 de Quinsy, who came out after the Revolution. In 1794 he had to capitulate to a British squadron. Like a true democrat, he consulted his National Guards ; they unanimously voted for peace. Some- thing of the same kind happened seven times, but he was not seriously disturbed. He kept two flags in use, one a Tricolour, which he hoisted when a French ship hove in sight, the other bearing the words " Seychelles : Capitulation," which served for an English visitor. A graver trouble was the arrival of seventy persons who had been deported from France in consequence of the attempt upon the life of the First Consul in 1801. The newcomers were fervent preachers of equality, an inconvenient doctrine when you have slaves. Thirty-five of the most zealous -were handed over to the Sultan of Anjouan ; of these, twenty-nine died in prison and Biz escaped. The majority of the remainder settled down as colonists. In 1810, after the surrender of the Isle de France, the group was formally annexed to Great Britain. No force, however, could be spared to occupy it, and M. Quincy, as he now calls himself, was left in peace for five years. In 1811 a French frigate, 'La Clorinde,' eluded its British pursuers, and put into the harbour of Mahe. M. Quincy did his best to help her, and was able to write to the French Minister of • Unpublished Documents Relating to the Seychelles Islands. Compiled by Mr. A. A. Faure. With Cartography, iho. Mahe, Seychelles : (iovernm eat Printing Office. Marine :—"La Clorinde part avec d'abondantes provisions; elle eat en tres bon etat." This was hardly straight ; but the Commandant was a Frenchman after all. In 1815 he formally took office under British rule, and governed the islands till 1827, when, as Mr. Fauve puts it, he died "full of years and discretion."
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