Crags and Craters Ramblers in the Island of Réunion Classic Reprint William Dudley Oliver 9781333877057 Books
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Excerpt from Crags and Craters Ramblers in the Island of Réunion
To say that Réunion is mountainous conveys no adequate impression of its real nature. It is a mass of mountains, broken up by innumerable ravines. With the exception of a narrow belt of land round the coast, and the elevated plateaux in the interior, there is hardly a square mile of level land in the island. The highest point is the Piton des Neiges, feet, and several mountains attain an elevation of over feet. For its Size Réunion has almost, if not quite, the highest mountain in the world.
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Crags and Craters Ramblers in the Island of Réunion Classic Reprint William Dudley Oliver 9781333877057 Books
The full title of this book by William Dudley Oliver (WDO) is "Crags and Craters: Rambles in the island of Reunion". Originally published by Longmans, Green, and Co. in 1896 it has been republished by Bibliolife as an exact reproduction (i.e. it's not an OCRed copy). However Bibliolife made an error with the title and called it "RambleRs in the island of Reunion".The author spent six months in Reunion from July 1895 to January 1896. We never find out much about the writer or why he came to Réunion, although it would seem he knew previously the then British Consul on Reunion, Courtenay Walter Bennett. Apparently Bennett had been named Consul to Reunion in 1890. A British Consul on Reunion at that time would have had quite a lot of work as there were many indentured Indian labourers on the island, and as India belonged to Britain at the time, they fell under his jurisdiction.
Coming back to the author, as a 19th century white and (presumably) upper class male he came to the island with a baggage of colonial beliefs and prejudices rather typical of his upbringing, and this should be borne in mind while reading the book. However despite this, on the whole he is generally fair and decent in his written treatment of the island's inhabitants.
While on the island and not hiking he seems to have spent much of his time in Hellbourg at the Châlet Consulat due to the heat on the coast. "It is an absolute necessity for Europeans dwelling in a tropical climate to have some place to which they can go to recruit their exhausted energies"(page 46).
Possessed with a lot of energy and/or curiosity he hires a guide and some porters (who all walk barefoot!), and over the course of six months manages to visit most of Réunion's summits: the volcano, Piton des Neiges, the Salazes etc. When unable to reach a peak first time, he returns to try again! The only mountain that he didn't manage to conquer was the Gros Morne, unsurprisingly (it was only ascended for the first time in 1939).
For anybody who knows Reunion many of the place names he mentions will be very familiar : Cap Anglais, Belouve, Coteau Maigre, Cap Noir, etc. etc. However some things which have disappeared today are striking to the modern-day reader: for example WDO often uses the railway, and he makes a trip to the village of Mafate (in the eponymous cirque) which disappeared in 1913.
I'll leave the last word to the author, who was on his way to the cirque of Salazie: "... I felt that this drive alone was worth the voyage to Reunion. And yet, grand as it is, it is but a foretaste of the glories awaiting in this wonderful island." Sentiments with which a modern day visitor to Reunion might well agree.
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Crags and Craters Ramblers in the Island of Réunion Classic Reprint William Dudley Oliver 9781333877057 Books Reviews
The full title of this book by William Dudley Oliver (WDO) is "Crags and Craters Rambles in the island of Reunion". Originally published by Longmans, Green, and Co. in 1896 it has been republished by Bibliolife as an exact reproduction (i.e. it's not an OCRed copy). However Bibliolife made an error with the title and called it "RambleRs in the island of Reunion".
The author spent six months in Reunion from July 1895 to January 1896. We never find out much about the writer or why he came to Réunion, although it would seem he knew previously the then British Consul on Reunion, Courtenay Walter Bennett. Apparently Bennett had been named Consul to Reunion in 1890. A British Consul on Reunion at that time would have had quite a lot of work as there were many indentured Indian labourers on the island, and as India belonged to Britain at the time, they fell under his jurisdiction.
Coming back to the author, as a 19th century white and (presumably) upper class male he came to the island with a baggage of colonial beliefs and prejudices rather typical of his upbringing, and this should be borne in mind while reading the book. However despite this, on the whole he is generally fair and decent in his written treatment of the island's inhabitants.
While on the island and not hiking he seems to have spent much of his time in Hellbourg at the Châlet Consulat due to the heat on the coast. "It is an absolute necessity for Europeans dwelling in a tropical climate to have some place to which they can go to recruit their exhausted energies"(page 46).
Possessed with a lot of energy and/or curiosity he hires a guide and some porters (who all walk barefoot!), and over the course of six months manages to visit most of Réunion's summits the volcano, Piton des Neiges, the Salazes etc. When unable to reach a peak first time, he returns to try again! The only mountain that he didn't manage to conquer was the Gros Morne, unsurprisingly (it was only ascended for the first time in 1939).
For anybody who knows Reunion many of the place names he mentions will be very familiar Cap Anglais, Belouve, Coteau Maigre, Cap Noir, etc. etc. However some things which have disappeared today are striking to the modern-day reader for example WDO often uses the railway, and he makes a trip to the village of Mafate (in the eponymous cirque) which disappeared in 1913.
I'll leave the last word to the author, who was on his way to the cirque of Salazie "... I felt that this drive alone was worth the voyage to Reunion. And yet, grand as it is, it is but a foretaste of the glories awaiting in this wonderful island." Sentiments with which a modern day visitor to Reunion might well agree.
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