Social intercourse does not flourish in the Mauritius. There is not even a club here: the chief reason may be that the society consists of French and English in almost equal numbers—two nations whose characters and modes of thinking vary too much ever to amalgamate freely.
Besides this chief obstacle, there are other minor hinderances; for instance, the late dinner-hour, and the great distances between the various houses. As I have observed, the usual dinner-hour is between seven and eight o’clock, and thus the whole evening is lost. In other hot countries, when it is customary for people to live in country houses outside the town, the gentlemen generally come home from their business at five o’clock, and dine at six, so that at seven people are ready to receive visitors and friends.
But here all visits are paid before dinner, as it is too late to do so afterward, and whoever wants to assemble a few people for the evening must invite them solemnly to dinner. These dinners are conducted with great ceremony. Every one appears in full dress, the officials generally in uniform, as if they had received an invitation to court. At table, one is frequently seated between two perfect strangers, and after suffering the horrors of ennui for hours, a move is made at past nine o’clock into the reception-rooms, there to suffer ennui for some time longer. Music is very seldom introduced. Packs of cards are every where displayed on the tables, but I never saw them used. Every guest seems to be waiting with impatience for the time when he may take his leave without appearing rude: he is devoutly thankful when the evening has come to an end, and then accepts the next invitation with the greatest pleasure.
These dinners do not take place very often; for, ready as the good folks are to put up with the dreary ennui in consideration of the good company and the well-furnished table, the generous giver of the feast has to remember that each cover costs him at least from eighteen to twenty-four shillings. Nor is the thirst of his honored guests to be appeased on easier terms; for Frenchmen and Englishmen are alike judges of good grape-juice, and the Mauritius would be no English colony if the rarest wines of Europe had not found their way there.
If the fortunate guest be not the fortunate possessor of a carriage and horses, a dinner of this kind puts him to some expense likewise; for he has generally four, or six, or more English miles to go, and the hire of a coach costs fifteen shillings at least.
There is more hospitality to be met with in the country than in the town, but its practice is not universal. I received many invitations, among the rest one from the governor, Mr. Higginson, who has a country house at “Reduit,” seven miles from the capital. Most of these invitations I declined, particularly those in which I suspected more etiquette than real friendliness. I have never been an advocate of ceremonious visits and stiff parties, but a small circle of kind, educated persons I am always glad to join. In this respect I was gratified in some houses, particularly in those of the English families Kerr and Robinson, who lived in the Mocca district.
Mr. Kerr had lived long in Austria, and with the language he had acquired all the friendly ways of my dear countrymen; and his wife, too, was quite free from the proverbial English reticence. I came to this friendly family with all my little requests, and felt really at home with them. The Robinsons were also very good, friendly people, and musical withal.
The district of Mocca has an advantage over the other divisions of the island in its agreeable climate, especially in that part distant five or six miles from the town, where the land rises a thousand feet above the sea-level.
The region around is very romantic. The volcanic mountains exhibit themselves in the strangest shapes. The vegetation is most luxuriant. A peculiarity which I rarely noticed in the other districts was the presence of deep, broad clefts, forming gorges or defiles. I explored several of these; among others, one on a little plateau near Mr. Kerr’s country house. It varied from eighty to two hundred feet in depth, and was about forty feet broad at the bottom; at the top the breadth was much more considerable. The sides were richly decked with stately trees, graceful shrubs, and climbing plants, while below, a foaming crystal streamlet, rushing onward, formed several pretty cascades.
One of the finest views, perhaps, in the whole island is to be obtained from Bagatelle, Mr. Robinson’s country seat. On one side the eye rests upon picturesque mountains, on the other it roams over fields luxuriant in verdure, stretching over a sunny plain to the boundless ocean. It is said that on a clear day the island of Bourbon can be discerned from this point.