In early February, I published a story (post 91) about a memorable evening which I had spent at the Kyalami Ranch, a resort which was located near Johannesburg, in South Africa. Together with several work colleagues, I had travelled there on a business trip (in 1973) and Johannesburg was one of the cities where we had stayed. The purpose of this visit was to hold discussions with our counterparts in a steel company (ISCOR), with whom our company had always had a good business relationship. On our visits to South Africa, and on their visits to Australia, we had exchanged information on both our technical and our financial systems.
In the 1970s, the flights from Sydney to Johannesburg required an airline stop in Mauritius, which is how we were very fortunately able to visit that beautiful island in the Indian Ocean. I have very happy memories of our times there and I remember us staying in a resort on the south coast of the island, the Morne Brabant Hotel, from where we made trips by car to various other parts of Mauritius.
I went to Johannesburg, via Mauritius, with 3 colleagues, Austin, Michael and Harry, who were three very different personalities. Austin was an older man with a gravelly voice, a kind man who had worked on the factory floor for many years until he became a production manager. He was very experienced and knowledgeable and was well liked and respected by the people he worked with. Michael, on the other hand, was English, from Lancashire, well-versed in office politics and not liked by anyone. Harry was tall, quiet and reserved, a technologist who was totally focussed on his work. The four of us, who, in the normal course of things, would have had little to do with one another, had been thrown together on this factfinding mission to South Africa, and had suddenly found ourselves enjoying some time together on this fascinating island.
In this post I would like to tell you something about our stay in Mauritius, and about the island’s Dutch history and its music (the “Séga”), as well as about the “Pamplemousse gardens” and the now extinct “Dodo”.
Mauritius is only a small island, roughly 65 km long and 45 km wide, approximately 3% the size of Tasmania. It has volcanic mountains and beautiful beaches. I remember us flying in and, looking from above, seeing many big boulders spread out over the landscape. I understand that today there are no direct flights to Mauritius from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, but Air Mauritius has continued to operate a direct flight from Perth.
Mauritius is said to be one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world, with the population including descendants from Dutch, French and British colonists, as well as African slaves, indentured Indian workers and traders from other parts of the world. The official language is English but French, French-based Creole and other languages are also used.
The four of us enjoyed staying in our hotel on the south coast of the island. It felt more like a resort than a hotel, reminding us of similar resorts in Fiji, with some of the staff there appearing to be of Indian heritage. Most days we enjoyed our breakfasts there together. However, I do remember one morning, when Austin had arrived at the table when the rest of us had already almost finished our meal, and he had asked us if one of the condiments on the table was spicy. Austin did not like “spicy”. We had told him that it was not, although we knew that it was a fiercely hot chilli. Austin had then added the chilli to the eggs on his plate. The poor man nearly choked and was obviously distressed, but we had just laughed and thought it was funny. I remember this because I had Iater realised that it was not funny at all.
The island has an interesting history. It was known to Arab and Malay seafarers, well before any Europeans arrived. Other than that, it was believed to be largely uninhabited. Portuguese sailors visited it but never settled there. Of greater interest to me, however, is its Dutch connection.
The Dutch, who came after the Portuguese, took possession of the island in 1598 and stayed there for more than 100 years, until 1710. They named the island “Mauritius”, after Prince Maurits. Dutch readers would be very familiar with this name. Maurits became a governor (“stadhouder”) in Holland at the age of 17, after the murder of his father, William of Orange (Willem de Zwijger), who had been one of the most popular figures in the “Low countries” during the Spanish War.
Another interesting bit about Mauritian history, possibly already known to some Australian readers, is that, in 1638, Dutch navigator and explorer, “Abel Tasman”, had used the island as a base from which to explore the world further eastwards. Mauritius, under Dutch rule, was a safe place for Tasman, with plenty of fresh water and timber, for repairs to his ship. Tasman stayed there for 4 weeks, after which he left, using the “Roaring Forties” to help push his ship along as fast as possible. He sailed eastwards and reached the west coast of Tasmania, near Macquarie Harbour (see post 95. Gordon River). He named the land which he discovered “Van Diemen’s Land”, a name which was not changed to honour his own name until more than 200 years later.
When the Dutch arrived in Mauritius in 1598, they noticed the presence of flightless birds, the so-called “Dodo” birds, which were endemic to the island and which the new settlers hunted for food, as they were easy to catch. As a result of this and a number of other factors, the dodo birds, sadly, disappeared completely from the island (and the world), with the last reported sighting being in 1662. The dodo birds of Mauritius are now extinct and are known worldwide as a powerful example of the impact that humans can have on nature.
After the Dutch, the French occupied the island and renamed it “Île de France” (1715-1810). They brought in slaves from Africa to work in the sugar plantations and they developed Port Louis, the main city on the northwestern coast, as the capital city. We did travel there by car, and I found it an interesting place, with old French colonial architecture.
Another memory I have is of us driving on country roads and arriving in a township with the name “Curepipe”. I only remember this because of its unusual name. I’ve looked it up and found that the name is likely to have come from the French phrase “curer sa pipe”, meaning “to clean one’s pipe”, as 19th-century travellers and soldiers stopped there to refill their tobacco pipes. I think it was in Curepipe, that we had lunch in a delightful, French roadside restaurant. I remember thinking then that the French really knew how to live elegantly and well, wherever they were in the world. They even exhibited the concept of “savoir-vivre” in this, what to me seemed to be, faraway place.
Close to Port Louis, we visited the “Jardin Botanique de Pamplemousses” (Pamplemousse Gardens), which the French had established in 1735, to grow fresh food for their sailors and for the local people. The gardens are believed to be the oldest surviving gardens in the Tropics. The Pamplemousse plants were originally introduced to Mauritius by the Dutch (who brought them from Java) and the fruit itself looks like a large grapefruit. The gardens were beautiful to walk through, with the waterlilies being one of the features I still remember.
The French rule of the island came to an end in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars, when the British attacked and overpowered the French. The British rule of the island lasted from 1810 to 1968, with the name the name of the island changing back from “Île de France” to “Mauritius”. When they arrived, the British had promised to respect the French laws, language and traditions.
The British abolished slavery on the island in 1835 and compensated the French plantation owners for the loss of their slaves. They then arranged to replace the slaves with “indentured” labourers from India, as well as from other countries.
The main music and dance which I heard and saw being performed on the island was the “Séga”. It seemed to be everywhere. The Séga is played on traditional instruments and has its origins in the music of slaves. It is danced without the feet ever leaving the ground. Instead, the rest of the body sways. I found the music monotonous, but hypnotic.
The British rule ended in Mauritius in 1958, when it became an independent country. Then, it further changed its form of government in 1992, when it became a republic.
Writing about our own few days in Mauritius brought back happy memories of our brief experiences there. Sadly, my three companions have now all passed away and I am the only one left to record some of our precious, shared moments. I hope this simple record may be thought to be valuable by those who read it, sometime in the future.
O.P.
P.S. The next post will be published on Sunday morning, 26 April. It is a story about brothers, which is also obvious from the title: “Brothers”.