THE BRITISH SHIP ADOPTION SOCIETY. Contact with our " adopted " ship has been maintained since news last appeared in " The Peterite." Our last voyage with the " Holmpark " was a journey home with sugar from Mauritius, and extracts are printed below from letters from Capt. Richard and Mr. Martin about the island. Capt. Richard has been transferred to the " Wellpark," and, as usual, we have followed him. We have just completed our first voyage with this ship, a comparatively new flushdecked vessel somewhat smaller than the " Holmpark." Naturally, little can be said of this voyage, but it was made without damage from the enemy, and at the time of writing " our " ship is well away outward bound once more. Mr. Martin has also left the " Holmpark," but his correspondents are keeping in touch with him on his new ship, so we can look forward to some more of his interesting letters. We were glad to see him at the School in the summer, and hope to hear shortly that he has recovered from the attack of fever which has interrupted his latest voyage.
MAURITIUS. An island of volcanic origin, Mauritius is described by patriotic residents as " The Pearl of the Indian Ocean " and the " Rainbow Isle." Frequent showers in the hills ensure that the latter title is fully justified, and it is seldom that a day passes without providing at least one of these vivid splashes of colour. The island is situated to the east of Madagascar, and distant from Durban and Beira some 1,500 miles. Only 29 miles wide and 39 miles long, it seems hardly big enough to support a population of 400,000. Visitors may be tempted to give it a third title—" The Disappointing Isle." It is disappointing to find 300,000 Indians and 10,000 Chinese in such a spot. The other 100,000 include 70,000 Creoles of African or Malagasy origin, 20,000 Mauritians of French descent, and about 300 Britishers—mostly English. Great Britain won the island after an argument with the French in 1810. The chief products of the country are sugar, pineapples, copra, turtles, malaria and cyclones. The French language is used by all races, and it seems slightly improper to hear Indians and Chinese conversing in that tongue. 38
