| Show islands far off mail steamers path in the indian ocean goo miles east of the coast ot of africa lie the islands so tar far out of the beaten track that the mail steamer seldom calls there are 60 islands in this remote group relates a correspondent in the cleveland plain dealer and although they were not discovered until the sixteenth century they seem to enjoy many of the amenities of modern modem civilization they are believed to be the remains of an ancient continent that once stretched from india across to africa vanilla grows wild on all sides may be found breadfruit mangoes manghes man goes cashew nuts and trees producing pepper beans cloves nutmegs and cinnamon the planters plante rs are light creoles cheoles Cr eoles descendants ants of french coloni colonials als from mauritius tar far to the so south uth of the seychelles les the islands are british but the language is ia french the negroes are descendants of slaves rescued by british cruisers putting down the slave trade on the african coast the negro women wear immaculately white garments with petti coats starched as stiff as boards board As they walk along with a swinging gait they make a noise like the th rustle of silk these women carry all burdens on their heads A harmless species of spider weaves a tough silky web strong enough to hold small birds the thread of this web is ia sent to madagascar where it is woven into a strong thick silky cloth the elephant tortoise is found in the seychelles les its only other known habitat is in the galapagos islands oft off the west coast of south america everywhere the villas are em bowered in bougainvillea begonia and hibiscus blossoms it is a veritable paradise for the botanist and entomologist |
