Defence.—Mauritius occupies an important strategic position on the route between South Africa and India and in relation to Madagascar and East Africa, while in Port Louis it possesses one of the finest harbours in the Indian Ocean. A permanent garrison of some 3000 men is maintained in the island at a cost of about £180,000 per annum. To the cost of the troops Mauritius contributes 51⁄2% of its annual revenue—about £30,000.
History.—Mauritius appears to have been unknown to European nations, if not to all other peoples, until the year 1505, when it was discovered by Mascarenhas, a Portuguese navigator. It had then no inhabitants, and there seem to be no traces of a previous occupation by any people. The island was retained for most of the 16th century by its discoverers, but they made no settlements in it. In 1598 the Dutch took possession, and named the island “Mauritius,” in honour of their stadtholder, Count Maurice of Nassau. It had been previously called by the Portuguese “Ilha do Cerné,” from the belief that it was the island so named by Pliny. But though the Dutch built a fort at Grand Port and introduced a number of slaves and convicts, they made no permanent settlement in Mauritius, finally abandoning the island in 1710. From 1715 to 1767 (when the French government assumed direct control) the island was held by agents of the French East India Company, by whom its name was again changed to “Île de France.” The Company was fortunate in having several able men as governors of its colony, especially the celebrated Mahé de Labourdonnais (q.v.), who made sugar planting the main industry of the inhabitants.[3] Under his direction roads were made, forts built, and considerable portions of the forest were cleared, and the present capital, Port Louis, was founded. Labourdonnais also promoted the planting of cotton and indigo, and is remembered as the most enlightened and best of all the French governors. He also put down the maroons or runaway slaves who had long been the pest of the island. The colony continued to rise in value during the time it was held by the French crown, and to one of the intendants,[4] Pierre Poivre, was due the introduction of the clove, nutmeg and other spices. Another governor was D’Entrecasteaux, whose name is kept in remembrance by a group of islands east of New Guinea.
During the long war between France and England, at the commencement of the 19th century, Mauritius was a continual source of much mischief to English Indiamen and other merchant vessels; and at length the British government determined upon an expedition for its capture. This was effected in 1810; and upon the restoration of peace in 1814 the possession of the island was confirmed to Britain by the Treaty of Paris. By the eighth article of capitulation it was agreed that the inhabitants should retain their own laws, customs, and religion; and thus the island is still largely French in language, habits, and predilections; but its name has again been changed to that given by the Dutch. One of the most distinguished of the British governors was Sir Robert Farquhar (1810-1823), who did much to abolish the Malagasy slave trade and to establish friendly relations with the rising power of the Hova sovereign of Madagascar. Later governors of note were Sir Henry Barkly (1863-1871), and Sir J. Pope Hennessy (1883-1886 and 1888).
The history of the colony since its acquisition by Great Britain has been one of social and political evolution. At first all power was concentrated in the hands of the governor, but in 1832 a legislative council was constituted on which non-official nominated members served. In 1884-1885 this council was transformed into a partly elected body. Of more importance than the constitutional changes were the economic results which followed the freeing of the slaves (1834-1839)—for the loss of whose labour the planters received over £2,000,000 compensation. Coolies were introduced to supply the place of the negroes, immigration being definitely sanctioned by the government of India in 1842. Though under government control the system of coolie labour led to many abuses. A royal commission investigated the matter in 1871 and since that time the evils which were attendant on the system have been gradually remedied. One result of the introduction of free labour has been to reduce the descendants of the slave population to a small and unimportant class—Mauritius in this respect offering a striking contrast to the British colonies in the West Indies. The last half of the 19th century was, however, chiefly notable in Mauritius for the number of calamities which overtook the island. In 1854 cholera caused the death of 17,000 persons; in 1867 over 30,000 people died of malarial fever; in 1892 a hurricane of terrific violence caused immense destruction of property and serious loss of life; in 1893 a great part of Port Louis was destroyed by fire. There were in addition several epidemics of small-pox and plague, and from about 1880 onward the continual decline in the price of sugar seriously affected the islanders, especially the Creole population. During 1902-1905 an outbreak of surra, which caused great mortality among draught animals, further tried the sugar planters and necessitated government help. Notwithstanding all these calamities the Mauritians, especially the Indo-Mauritians, have succeeded in maintaining the position of the colony as an important sugar-producing country.
Dependencies.—Dependent upon Mauritius and forming part of the colony are a number of small islands scattered over a large extent of the Indian Ocean. Of these the chief is Rodriguez (q.v.), 375 m. east of Mauritius. Considerably north-east of Rodriguez lie the Oil Islands or Chagos archipelago, of which the chief is Diego Garcia (see [Chagos]). The Cargados, Carayos or St Brandon islets, deeps and shoals, lie at the south end of the Nazareth Bank about 250 m. N.N.E. of Mauritius. Until 1903 the Seychelles, Amirantes, Aldabra and other islands lying north of Madagascar were also part of the colony of Mauritius. In the year named they were formed into a separate colony (see [Seychelles]). Two islands, Farquhar and Coetivy, though geographically within the Seychelles area, remained dependent on Mauritius, being owned by residents in that island. In 1908, however, Coetivy was transferred to the Seychelles administration. Amsterdam and St Paul, uninhabited islands in the South Indian Ocean, included in an official list of the dependencies of Mauritius drawn up in 1880, were in 1893 annexed by France. The total population of the dependencies of Mauritius was estimated in 1905 at 5400.
Authorities.—F. Leguat, Voyages et aventures en deux isles désertes des Indes orientales (Eng. trans., A New Voyage to the East Indies; London, 1708); Prudham, “England’s Colonial Empire,” vol. i., The Mauritius and its Dependencies (1846); C. P. Lucas, A Historical Geography of the British Colonies, vol. i. (Oxford, 1888); Ch. Grant, History of Mauritius, or the Isle of France and Neighbouring Islands (1801); J. Milbert, Voyage pittoresque à l’Île-de-France, &c., 4 vols. (1812); Aug. Billiard, Voyage aux colonies orientales (1822); P. Beaton, Creoles and Coolies, or Five Years in Mauritius (1859); Paul Chasteau, Histoire et description de l’île Maurice (1860); F. P. Flemyng, Mauritius, or the Isle of France (1862); Ch. J. Boyle, Far Away, or Sketches of Scenery and Society in Mauritius (1867); L. Simonin, Les Pays lointains, notes de voyage (Maurice, &c.) (1867); N. Pike, Sub-Tropical Rambles in the Land of the Aphanapteryx (1873); A. R. Wallace. “The Mascarene Islands,” in ch. xi. vol. i. of The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876); K. Möbius, F. Richter and E. von Martens, Beiträge zur Meeresfauna der Insel Mauritius und der Seychellen (Berlin, 1880); G. Clark, A Brief Notice of the Fauna of Mauritius (1881); A. d’Épinay, Renseignements pour servir à l’histoire de l’Île de France jusqu’à 1810 (Mauritius, 1890); N. Decotter, Geography of Mauritius and its Dependencies (Mauritius, 1892); H. de Haga Haig, “The Physical Features and Geology of Mauritius” in vol. li., Q. J. Geol. Soc. (1895); the Annual Reports on Mauritius issued by the Colonial Office, London; The Mauritius Almanack published yearly at Port Louis. A map of the island in six sheets on the scale of one inch to a mile was issued by the War Office in 1905.
(J. Si.*)
[1] See Geog. Journ. (June 1895), p. 597.
[2] The total population of the colony (including dependencies) on the 1st of January 1907 was estimated at 383,206.