Seychelles

“ In the interstices were several [214] species of shells, worms, and Ophiurids, and two or three species of sponge.
At three o'clock in the afternoon we anchored at Mahé, the chief island of the Seychelle Group.
Seychelles, a term which is used to comprise the group of eighty islands, has been a British colony since the year 1794, when it was taken from the French by force of arms. Most of the land is in the possession of descendants of the old French settlers, men who have the reputation of being devoid of enterprise, and of squandering the produce of their land in habits of dissipation. ”

“ There is one good harbour in Mahé, on which stands Victoria, the capital, where steamers sometimes call on the voyage from Aden to Mauritius or from India to 50 Mombasa. Here is a general view of the harbour and here is a street in the little town. The whole group was 51 dependent on Mauritius and was given up to us at the same time as that island. The language of the people is still modified French. The Seychelles are fertile and beautiful and not unhealthy, in spite of their nearness to the Equator. ”

“ This property, if properly looked after, will pay itself, so that no loss can accrue to the Society. Land in Seychelles, however, is almost daily increasing in value, more especially land situated within a reasonable distance of the Harbour and Town. ”

“ A little island, one of a thousand in that sometimes smiling, sometimes devilish, sea--such as are in the Chagos Archipelago, or the Seychelles, or the Cormoras, and, like so many of those islands, untrod, unvisited by man. Unvisited because, where all are equally and bounteously supplied by Nature, there is no need for any ship to draw near this solitary speck that is guarded from all approach by those belts of coral, and also because, to this small island, there is no natural harbour should rough winds blow. ”

“ Submarine banks of Madagascar and the Mascarenhas. Foreign plants and animals have mostly been introduced from Mauritius and Réunion, whence have also come the inhabitants of pure or mixed European descent. Hence, although the Seychelles belong to England, the current speech is the French creole patois of Mauritius modified by some English words and expressions Negroes are also numerous, for the most part captives rescued by the British cruisers from the Arab dhows. ”

“ The following sketch of the Seychelles is principally from information afforded to me by Mr. Telfair during my short stay there, and any omission I hope may be attributed to the writer rather than to his obliging informant.
These islands, twenty-nine in number, form an archipelago which is the most considerable of the dependencies of the island of Mauritius; they [212] extend from 3° 33′ to 5° 35′ south latitude, and from 55° 15′ to 56° 10′ east longitude; they lie at a distance of 915 miles from Mauritius, 550 miles from Madagascar, and 1500 miles from the continent of India. ”

“ The crescent-shaped Seychelles shelf, which bears the individual islands formed of granite, does not fit into either Madagascar or India, the straight outlines of which denote rather an earlier immediate connection. ”

“ In proof of which, I would point to the cotton now grown on the Seychelles, and also to that produced on the coast line of the British colony of Natal.
Labour along the whole of the east sea-board of Africa has, for more than three hundred years, been found in such abundance that it has been forcibly transported to the great continent of America and the neighbouring Antilles. ”

“ To the north-east of Mauritius are a series of extensive shoals forming four large banks less than 100 fathoms below the surface, while the 1,000-fathom line includes them all, with an area about half that of Madagascar itself. A little further north is the Seychelles group, also standing on an extensive 1,000-fathom bank, while all round the sea is more than 2,000 fathoms deep. ”

“ Inhabitants.—Like Mauritius, Réunion and Rodriguez the Seychelles were uninhabited when first visited by Europeans; though fragments of ruins found on Praslin and Frigate islands may indicate the presence of man in earlier centuries. The islands were colonized by Mauritian and Bourbon creoles; the white element, still prevailingly French, has been strengthened by the settlement of several British families. The first planters introduced slaves from Mauritius, and the negro element has been increased by the introduction of freed slaves from East Africa. ”

“ This island is covered with wood to the very summit of the mountains.... In 1769 when I spent a month here in order to determine its position with the utmost exactness, Secheyles and the adjacent isles were inhabited only by monstrous crocodiles; but a small establishment has since been formed on it for the cultivation of cloves and nutmegs."—Voyage to Madagascar and the E. Indies by the Abbé Rochon, E.T., London, 1792, p. liii.
1772.—"The island named Seychelles is inhabited by the French, and has a good harbour.... ”

“ When the Ascension and the Union left the Seychelles they proceeded to Socotra, a savage, inhospitable land, whose Eastern outlines are fairly familiar to voyagers who proceed viâ the Red Sea to the Far East and to Australia. As up to that period no English ship had ever visited the country, the visitors created a considerable sensation. The captain of an Indian craft in harbour at the time found the presence of the English ships so disconcerting that he surreptitiously left the anchorage and put to sea. ”

“ Farther north, as all said now, but not to Bombay, since they had abandoned all hope of reaching that port in their present short-handed condition, and without obtaining fresh assistance--but towards the Seychelles. That was the harbour of refuge to which their thoughts and aspirations pointed at this time; the spot where, even though they should obtain nothing else, they would at least be in safety, and the one from which they could be taken off by some other ship if they were not able to find the means of working their own. ”

“ Before proceeding to the Seychelles, the ‘Firefly’ touched at the island of Zanzibar, and there landed our hero Harold Seadrift and his comrade in misfortune, Disco Lillihammer.
Here, one brilliant afternoon, the two friends sat down under a palm-tree to hold what Disco called a palaver. The spot commanded a fine view of the town and harbour of Zanzibar.
We repeat that the afternoon was brilliant, but it is right to add that it required an African body and mind fully to appreciate the pleasures of it. The sun’s rays were blistering, the heat was intense, and the air was stifling. ”

“ In 1810 with Mauritius, Bourbon, the Seychelles and other islands, Aldabra passed into the possession of Great Britain. The inhabitants are emigrants from the Seychelles. Goats are bred and coco-nuts cultivated, but fishing is the chief industry. With other outlying islands Aldabra is held under lease from the Seychelles government, the lessees having exclusive trading privileges. ”

“ In those days there was no regular communication between one point and another of the east coast of Africa and the neighbouring islands. Travellers had frequently to wait long for a chance; and when they got one were often glad to take advantage of it without being fastidious as to its character. Soon after the events above narrated, a small trading schooner touched at the port. It was bound for the Seychelles, intending to return by Zanzibar and Madagascar, and proceed to the Cape. ”

“ Of these only three are inhabited; viz., Darros (including the adjoining islet "St. Joseph," which is occupied by part of the same establishment of creoles) , Poivre Island, and Isle des Roches; the population consisting of French creoles and negroes imported from Seychelles, who make a livelihood by cultivating cocoa-nuts, and altogether do not exceed forty in number. ”

“ René banned the Seychelles Democratic Party in mid-March 1978 and announced a new constitution in March 1979 that turned the country into a one-party state
Communists: negligible, although some Cabinet Ministers espouse pro-Soviet line
Other political or pressure groups: trade unions
Member of: G-77, GATT (de facto) , IAEA, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMCO, IMF, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
ECONOMY GDP: $90 million (1978 est.) ; $1,330 per capita; 6% growth rate (1980)
Agriculture: islands depend largely on coconut production and export of copra ”

“ In Mauritius slavery has entirely ceased, so also in its dependency of the Seychelles.
Madagascar has had the gospel of Jesus Christ preached on its soil; the germ of civilization has been planted in that extensive island; and the slave-trade is no longer tolerated among the Malagasy people.
In the African dominions of the Imâm of Muskat the slave-trade is forbidden; spice-gardens have arisen, the cocoa-nut is cultivated, and large exports of simsim seed annually take place. ”

“ Growth slowed in 1998-2002, due to sluggish tourist and tuna sectors. Also, tight controls on exchange rates and the scarcity of foreign exchange have impaired short-term economic prospects. The black market value of the Seychelles rupee is half the official exchange rate; without a devaluation of the currency the tourist sector should remain sluggish as vacationers seek cheaper destinations such as Comoros, Mauritius, and Madagascar. ”

“ These islands are about 900 miles distant from the Maldives; and as Garcias ab Horto, in the sixteenth century, supposed, the nuts, many of which grow on rocky precipices overhanging the sea, drop into the waves, and are transported by the prevailing currents to other shores. It is a remarkable fact, that the trees will not flourish on any other of the adjacent islands of the Seychelles group. Many have been planted, but they merely vegetate, and are wretchedly inferior to the splendid natural trees of Praslin and Curieuse. ”

“ The sperm whale is found about the Seychelles, but the numerous whaling-vessels, both English and American, visit the Comoro Islands for supplies, being, I am told, deterred from entering Port Victoria by the heavy harbour dues. With the [221] large herds of cattle, and ample supplies of vegetables, to be obtained at these islands, it would be but a wise policy to make this port free to all vessels simply calling for supplies.
The domestic animals comprise the cow, sheep, dog and cat. ”

“ Of these the chief is Rodriguez (q.v.) , 375 m. east of Mauritius. Considerably north-east of Rodriguez lie the Oil Islands or Chagos archipelago, of which the chief is Diego Garcia (see Chagos) . The Cargados, Carayos or St Brandon islets, deeps and shoals, lie at the south end of the Nazareth Bank about 250 m. N.N.E. of Mauritius. Until 1903 the Seychelles, Amirantes, Aldabra and other islands lying north of Madagascar were also part of the colony of Mauritius. In the year named they were formed into a separate colony (see Seychelles) . ”

“ The result is, that nearly three hundred species of foreign plants have run wild in Mauritius, and have in their turn helped to extinguish the native species. In the Seychelles, too, the indigenous flora has been almost entirely destroyed in most of the islands, although the peculiar palms, from their longevity and comparative hardiness, have survived. Mr. Geoffrey Nevill tells us, that at Mahé, and most of the other islands visited by him, it was only in a few spots near the summits of the hills that he could perceive any remains of the ancient flora. ”

“ The slaves were landed, some of them being hired by the planters, while others set up for themselves on ground allotted to them by the government. Before leaving the Seychelles, Commander Curtis had the satisfaction of seeing the larger number of emancipated negroes comfortably settled, and several having agreed to keep house together were legally married. ”

“ But during 1905–1910 successful efforts were made to broaden the economic resources of the colony. A natural field for the energies of the surplus population was also found in colonization work in British East Africa. The islands were chosen in 1897 as the place of deportation of Prempeh, ex-king of Ashanti, and in 1901 Mwanga, ex-king of Uganda, and Kabarega, ex-king of Unyoro were also deported thither. Mwanga died at the Seychelles in May 1903. ”

“ Owing to an error of judgment in selecting a British commissioner as the pièce de résistance for one of his feasts, an expedition was sent to Ashantee, the country annexed to the British empire, and its ruler forced to exchange his skull-walled palace in Kumasi for a four-roomed, tin-roofed cottage in the outskirts of Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, where, surrounded by the huts of the chieftains who accompanied him into exile, he lives on the meagre pension granted him by the British Government. ”

“ Literacy: 60% adult; 75% school-age children
Labor force: 15,000 in monetized sector (excluding self-employed, domestic servants, and workers on small farms) ; 33% public sector employment, 20% private sector employment in agriculture, 20% private sector employment in construction and catering services
Organized labor: 3 major trade unions
GOVERNMENT Official name: Republic of Seychelles
Type: republic ”

“ Once a month, however, she inspects her cooking pots and pans, because, being made of copper, they have to be periodically tinned or they become poisonous, almost as many lives being lost in the tropics by the neglect of this simple precaution as by failure to have every drop of drinking water boiled. As there is no ice-making plant in the Seychelles, water is cooled for drinking by being placed in a porous earthenware vessel and swung to and fro in the heated atmosphere until, though still far from cool, it is a little less tepid and nauseous. ”