MAURITir- 



MAUIiY 



an<l bajwlts Abound, and volcanic lake*, an Grand 

 Bamin, are not uiu-oiiini"n. During MM rrcrioh 

 occupation (1715-1810) Maudlin", >r. as they 

 called it. We of Franco, was well wooded. 



. , 



irewiue Iwautv forms tin- appropriate 



moid of Bernardin Si Piei re's idyl. /'-"/ ,.;/ \ ./ 

 aimia, and is well de*cril.ed in Besant Ud I: 

 novel. .I/-/ l.illlr Hirl. But during the litli century 

 tl,.. ... ,-ut down to make rcxim for sugar 



cane plantations. OoMMMBtb but I'" 1 '' "' thl ' 

 native flora remain*. HMl of that which now 

 tliinrUlira has been Introduced. The more conspicn- 

 0.1-. trees and plants are the el~.ny tr.-o, cocoa nut 

 and other palms, hamboo, benzoin. Ironwood, aloe, 

 traveller's In-.-, and numerous tranfad fruits, t>esides 

 food plant*, mich an ragar. vanilla, c..hVo, cocoa, 

 maize. rice, yarn*. lunnioo, \-e. Tl ..... xi-tmj; fauna 

 ntirely of im|H>rted domestic 

 animiil-. The extinct fauna enihra ..... 1 the interest- 

 ing !)<><lo i 'i v. i. tin- rail called Aphanaptoryx, and 

 a short-wii.ge,| heron. Kow.il tortoises .if great M/- 

 have been discovered. The birds raeembM thOM 

 of Madagascar; and the neighbouring seas swarm 

 with fish. tlwin;: t<> the deforesting of the island 

 the rainfall i* uncertain. Though pleasant enough 

 in tin- cool months, tl ..... limate i" very hot during 

 tin- rainy season ( Dooeinlier to April or May i. and 

 terrilir cvclones an- common, though less common, 

 it in U-lieve.1. since the woods have been felled. 

 At Port Louu the annual mean is 78 K. ; l>ut at 

 Curepipe (pop. 7880), on the central plain of the 

 uplands (IB(J() feet), the thermometer is generally 

 T or 8* lew, and the climate resembles that of the 

 outh of France. lii 1HT>4 the cholera carried off 

 17, (KJO |eople, and tliirteen years later 30,01)0 

 perished of a malignant fever. The up|ier classes, 

 very intelligent, rultureil, ami well e<lucate<l, are 

 mostly de.-eiidi-d from the old French colonists, 

 except that the government officials, with a few 

 other, are Kn-li-h. There is a lare numlwr of 

 half-casU-x, and a nwUanU* Ixxly of Negroes, 

 M iliiKft^y. Sin-lialiiw, Malays, Chinese, >V<-. Mut 

 the ^r.-at.-r ]uirt of the |M>|iulation coUBiste of 

 Intlian ooolieo, who work the suRar-fields. Pop. 

 (1WU) 35U.874; (1891) 3T-J.WV4. ,.| |,.,m BM.4H 

 werr Hiinlu-. Tlie people of Kuropfan origin are 

 -lly It ..... all Cathidi<-( 108,000); there are 8000 

 ri..t<--tant. The chief towns are Port I.ouis (i|.v. ), 

 the i-apital. on the northwest e.ia-l. |iar!ly ruined 

 ),, the ,1,-strurtive cyclone of April 18W: Curepipe. 

 to which the government an<i merchant* of the 

 capital retire in the hot season : anil MaMbmifg 

 (4490) on the smiih roa>i. This last town is run 

 nected by rail with Utth the pm-iilin^ ; the line 

 then sweeps round noithward- to tlie mouth of 

 IH| Itn.-r mi tin- i- These, willi a 



(Miuple of In. in. !> In..'- in the -.mill, make a total 

 of VI inilrn. The one j;reat crop of the island i- 

 Mljfar, whieh is ex|N>rt.Nl to the value of I'l.HtiT.tKKI 

 <m an a\--ia^e every year. Itnin also i e\|irled 

 I., tlii- annual value of t'IS.IKKI. CIM-IUI nut oil to 

 . a. vanilla JCI4.:I40. whilst the exjMirt of aloe 

 lihrm (known in eommeri-e as Mauritius hemp) has 

 rben to .K.(ICK( in home yenrs. Tlie total export* 

 var.i in > ..! fnim I,800.(XM) to 3,000,000, nnd 

 tlie' total iin|H,rt from 1 .AOO.OHO to 2,000,000. 

 nr. dniK*, caoiitchonr, \r., nre exjiorteil t.i 

 it Britain to the annual value ..f f'.'s-J.Tso 

 in ii-tuin for eotlon and iron PMM!S. eoali.. 

 mwliineiy. and i-lnthin^. to the annual value 

 ..f t' - ."."i.iv.'> The eniwn etdoiiy of Mauritius, 

 with ii ileiN-iiili'iii-ii'* the SeyrhelleH Islands, 

 l:.-ii 1,-nr/., INego (iarria, and several minor 

 iln IJ- a governor, aideil hy 



an exwutive <.. um-il. There is also a Council 

 i.f i. ...eminent, fiiii-i-tini: of the governor and 

 twenty-neven menilieni, of whom ten are elected 

 (since the amended constitation of 1885 came into 



nine are appointed hy the crown, and ei-ht 

 are ex Jfefa Tliere is a military force of MOM 

 60O men and a police force of 700. Besides 144 

 primarv schools, there is the Koyal Colh-.- Iss 

 pupils in 1888), with a couph- of piepuratoiy M-|,.MI!S 

 altaehnl There i- a Uoman Catholic bbhop 01 

 Port Louis, and a Protestant bishop of Mauritius. 

 The island was di-roveied by Mascarcnhas ( whence 

 it an<l the iiei^liluiiiii^ islands are called the 

 Mascarenes) in l."iO7 : at that time it was iinin- 

 babiu-d. The 1'oituj.mese having abandoned it 

 after ninety years' |...->rs-mn. it was soi/..-d by 

 the Dutch in i.">!, whoname<l it after their Prince 

 Maurice (i|.v.); but they ill their turn aMBMOM 

 it in 1710. It as the Kreneh governor Mahe de 

 Labourdonnaial 1735-46) who introduc i .1 the M 

 cane, and laid the foundation of its prosperity as a 

 colony, during the French occuiiaUoii. Theodore 

 Hook' was treasurer in 1812-18, 



See work by Grant (1801). Hemyng (1862), Ryan 

 (18641, Boyle (1867), J. O. Baker (1877), and (i. Clark 

 (1881). 



Manrorordntos. or M AVROOORDATO, a Fan- 



aiiote family, distinguished for ability and polll 

 iiillueiice, nild descended bm Greek inerchaiits of 

 Chios and ConMantinojile. .\I.KX.\NHKI: MAI 

 r<iltl>AT()S (rirrn Ki.'iT ITO'.'i studied ineilicine in 

 Italy, and, having a talent lor languages and 



diplomacy, l>ecanie drag an or interpreter to the 



Porte in 1681, ami rendered valuable service in the 

 negotiations with Austria of the immediately 

 following years, his labours Boding their cul- 

 mination in the treaty of Carlovit/ > ItlU'.K For 

 some time after that he was one of a triumvirate 

 in whose hands all power in the Ottoman empire 

 rested. His son, NIUHII.AS (died 1730), WM i hi- 

 fi ht Greek who was bospiKlar of Moldavia and 

 Wallacliia. COXSTAXTISK, son of Nirholas, lie- 

 came hospoilar of \Vallachia in 17l, and aUilisbed 

 serfdom in that country. His brother's grandson. 

 ALEXASUKI: MAI -IIOCIIKIIATIW, born at Constan- 

 tinople on l.">lh February 17SM, t(Kik an active part 

 in the Greek struggh- for lilierty, and prepared the 

 declaration of imlependenre and the plan ol a pro- 

 visional government, l>eiiig himself elected presi- 

 dent of the executive IHM| V . Then he undertook 

 in lS'2-2 an expedition to Kpinis, which ended in 

 the unsuccessful battle of Pel a: but lie sa\ r,l the 

 Peloponnesus by his resolute defence ofc Misso 



lon-hi i ivj-.' _':(). Notwithstanding li [.position 



nf Col<M'otroni and I limitrios Vi.silauti. he labouri-d 



earnestly in the cause of Greek Independence and 



union. But unpopularity dogged Ins efforts, lie- 

 cause he was a steadfast admirer ol F.nglish poliey 

 and institntioiis, and a tierce opjioiient of the pro 

 Ku-siaii government of Capo Dlstiia. Afler the 

 accession of King (Mho, ho was at different times 

 cabinet-minister and ambassador ot Greece at 

 various courts. At the outbreak of the Crimean 

 war he was placed once more at the head of the 

 government a dignity, however, which he soon 

 icsignod. He died at .Kgina, 18th August ISC.:.. 



llillir>. -iKAN SlFFKKlN. Fri-nch orator and 

 prelate, was IMIITI on 26th .luno 1746 at Valriaa 

 idept. Vllllflusel. and. his studies completed at 

 Avignon, he went to Paris. Kloi|Uent .7o.,,v on 

 the dauphin, Charles V. of France. St I.ouis. Si 

 Vincent do Paul, anil others gained him the 

 abbacy of Frinade. and ill 17H4 admission to the 

 my. In 1786 he was made prior of I.ihons- 

 en Santerte, and in 1789 was sent by the neighbour- 

 ing clergy to represent tin-in in the Slates general. 

 IWd, confident, vehement, gifted with a magnifi- 

 cent voice and an imposing presence, and master of 

 the resources of the skilled orator. Maiiry was the 

 worthy rival of Miralieau, and sometimes got the 

 of him in a parliamentary Imut. At the 



