The Islet and its Monuments

   It is to be noted that both in January and August the island retained a reasonably clean aspect, the amount of accumulated rubbish being less than it was a few years ago. In January an unfortunate stray and starving dog was captured by the MSPCA (Mauritius Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) assisted by the Coast Guards. At the end of the August season the islet was left free of rubbish, some ten sacks having been gathered up by our workmen and kindly removed by the Coast Guard for proper disposal on the mainland (Fig. 7). The grass has again been cut over the area from the Landing Place and the base of the Upper Battery (Fig. 8) between the Store House and the Powder House as well on the top of the Upper Battery.

Survey and Excavation

   Survey was limited to accurately locating the West Ditch so as to add it on the site plan and to the occasional collection of surface finds. In January, Mr Yann von Arnim, assisted by Miss Natalie Summers, carried out some underwater survey along the edge of Ile de la Passe, discovering two anchors on the seabed but little else.

           Carefully targeted excavations (Fig. 9) were conducted in three locations:

       1. Inside the NW Battery where trench TR11, started in 2004, was completed.        2. Within the West Ditch where Trenches TR15 and TR16 were aimed at        recovering material dumped in the West Ditch, which was evidently used as a        kitchen midden.
       3. In the Central Area west of the Powder House where the main objective of        Trenches TR17 and TR18 was to look for evidence for theexistence of a timber        frame barrack building shown on an 18th Century map.
           All trenches were backfilled at the end of the season.

Recording Graffiti

   A central component of the research design at Ile de la Passe is recording of the graffiti (Fig. 10) that have been carved into the walls and, less commonly, the sides of rock-cut features. In January 2005, the database was designed by Earthwatch volunteer Karl Kirk while others from the team helped entering the data and archiving the digital photos (Fig. 11).
   In 2005 a decision was made to abandon the earlier program of trying to record systematically each carving on a wall-by-wall basis because this had been found too difficult due to differential preservation and legibility. The new system and database allows for the most readily identifiable and legible carvings to be recorded first. It also permits recording to jump from wall to wall, and indeed from structure to structure, as lighting conditions and weather change. After considerable experimentation progress was made but proper transcription from the photographs and notes will need to be followed by collation in the field.

Conservation and Restoration

   In August, repair of the Sentry Box has again demonstrated that small-scale conservation and restoration can be undertaken. The task was undertaken by Van Lanza with the help of a local mason, Patrick Pauline. Blocks that could be identified were put back in place and new blocks were cut to fit the voids (Fig. 12). Lime was mixed with sand to make up the mortar. However, the difficulty of loading and unloading equipment, tools and materials at the Landing Place and the absence of secure storage on the islet greatly limit what it is possible to do. We hope and expect that in future seasons it will be possible to undertake further work of this nature, and in particular to clean, excavate, record and restore the emplacements on the Upper Battery.
   It has to be noted that regular cutting back of grass and control of overgrowing vegetation (Fig. 13) limits damage to the exposed structures.

   The finds have been placed in temporary storage in the National History Museum in Mahébourg. At the end of the August season the team was provided with working space in a large lower floor room of this historic building. Here it was possible to sort out, label and pack the bones and shells (Figs 14 and 15).
   Owen Griffiths examined the small land-snail shells. No rare or extinct species were recovered. He reports:

     .  Large series of Tropidophora fimbriata. Endemic. Still survives on the island.
     .  Small series of Truncatella marginata. Native. Still survives on the island.
     .  2 x Melampus lividus. Native. Still survives on the island.
     .  Small bag of marine shells.

Pointe du Diable

   At Pointe du Diable a French battery, recorded on a map of 1759, complimented the defences of southern Mauritius at Ile de la Passe. This was destroyed by Willoughby in 1810. Later military structures were integrated with the 20th century defensive systems on Ile de la Passe in both the First and Second World Wars.
   A visit in January 2005 was followed up in   August by a  brief preliminary  survey (Figs 16 and 17). There is much recording to be done if all remains are to be documented and studied.