O09 



yielding dyes and varnishes. He laid out tlie garden in a 

 picturesque manner, and planted it with native, African, Indian, 

 Malayan and Australian plants. He also made a network of irri- 

 gation canals for the proper supply of water. In 1769 Poivre 

 sent out M. Provost, a former ' writer ' of the French East India 

 Company's fleet, on a collecting expedition, which proved very 

 successful. In June, IT TO, the two ships under his command 

 returned with 400 nutmeg plants, 10 clove plants and a case of 

 clove seeds. 



Another expedition under Provost in June, 1771, was even 



more productive. In June, 1772, the ships returned with 



numerous nutmeg and olove plants, which were distributed in 



the lie de France, Bourbon, the Seychelles and Cayenne. 



Poivre ow^ed much to the advice of Philibert de Commerson, 



the distinguished naturalist, who had travelled round the world 

 with Bougainville, and who settled in the He de France ; also to 



Charpcntier de Cossigny, whose property, Palma, had become 



a veritable nursery, and who generously presented to the Botanic 

 Garden all the varieties which had succeeded at Palma. 



Many explorers and men of science visited the Island, and 



some of them introduced new plants, such as the Indian Almond 

 (Terminalia Catappa), the mango, mulberry, allspice, ravensera, 

 peach trees, and the sago palm, while Sonnerat, who stayed at 

 Mon Plaisir with Poivre tor some time, introduced the bread- 

 fruit, cocoa, mangosteen, and many other fruit-bearing or resin- 

 yielding trees. 



The Pamplemousse tree was a sort of orange (Citrus decwmana), 

 probably brought from Java by the Dutch. Its fruit, a 

 large orange of slightly bitter-sweet flavour was called u bambol- 

 mas" in Tamil, perverted into "pamplemousse,'' and gave its 

 name to that district of the Island rendered so famous by the 

 author of " Paul et Virginie." 



Bernaidin de Saint Pierre paid more than one visit to Mon 

 Plaisir, and though he was to give up his original idea of 



Mo 





he was inspired by a local anecdote, combined with the beautiful 

 natural surroundings, to write the delightful arcadian pastoral, 

 " Paul et Virginie." To this day there is shown in the Pain- 

 plemousses Garden the so-called tomb of Paul and Virginia, 

 which is in reality only the stone of an ancient altar to the 

 goddess Flora, erected by Governor Barthelemy David. (Plate ix.) 

 Although Poivre had spent a fortune on improvements and new 

 installation at Mon Plaisir, he handed over the property to the 

 Government on his departure in October, 1772, for the same 

 amount as he had spent on its purchase, and refused to accept a 

 larger sum. 



Cere. — Before his departure Poivre recommended, as his 

 successor, his pupil and friend Jean Nicolas de Cere, who had for 

 some time efficiently collaborated with Poivre in the work of the 

 Garden. 



Cere was a Major of Infantry, Commandant of the Pample- 

 moussee District, Director of the Royal Gardens, Chevalier of the 

 Legion of Honour, Corresponding member of the Philippines 



