In the 1830s the British built five 'Martello' towers – copies of the tower at Mortella Point in Corsica (vowel order was apparently not a priority for the British) – to protect their young colony from predators (namely the French who were suspected of supporting a slave rebellion). Although the other towers have fallen into ruin, the one at La Preneuse has been converted into a small museum. Captions explain the tower's ingenious design – walls measure 3m in thickness and are crowned by a copper cannon that could apparently destroy a target 2km away.
