Description

Louis Laurent Simonin (1830–86) was a French mining engineer, writer, and traveler, who in this book, published in 1867, chronicled his impressions of four widely different places: the U.S. state of California; the British-controlled island of Mauritius; Aden (Yemen); and Madagascar. Simonin explained that these places would be of interest to European readers and that all four had shown economic development and other progress in recent years. He was impressed by California’s diverse population, and remarked on the state’s achievements in communications and transportation. Turning to ...