37 ° 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
Letter of Baron Grant.—Journal of M. I'Abbe de la Cattle , during his Voyage 
from the Cape of Good Hope to the Isle of France; and his Operations there. 
LETTER XII. 
Isle of France, 15th August, 1753. 
Ou r Governor, M. David, left us, and we greatly regret him: he is succeeded 
by his brother-in-law, M. Bouvet. I have given up my plantation in the Plains of 
Willems to M. de Ruviere, and am now in the quarter of Pamplemousses. The 
plantation which M. David procured for me is called L’Epreuve. I have there 
the best house in the island, and the only one built of hewn stone,* except the 
magazines, and the Governor’s residence at the port. It is not, however, stone that 
is wanting here; on the contrary, there is a superabundance of it; but we have 
few workmen, and no masons. Besides, the wood, which is very common, is more 
readily worked. 
Heretofore I procured my provision of coffee from the Isle of Bourbon, at fifteen 
livres the bale; t at present it is worth thirty-two livres at the warehouse; but if I 
could obtain permission to embark a bale for France, I should not regard the price. 
We receive raw sugar from India, which costs us about six sons the pound; we 
think it very good here, but I believe you would not prefer the coffee which is 
sweetened with it: I use sugar-candy when I can procure it. The Dutch sometimes 
bring it at nine sous the pound ; but with as much thread as sugar. 
M. M. Vigoureux de St. Malo have established an handsome sugar work, but 
it is so ill conducted, that the sugar has the appearance of Norman honey : it 
costs two sous the pound, and is quite disgusting; but we entertain the hope that 
the manufacture will improve. This sugar is employed to cover houses in the 
Italian manner, and being incorporated with chalk, forms a kind of mastich; and, 
being spread on fine planks, becomes hard as a pavement. The Indians alone know 
how to make this composition. 
* Since that time many other houses have been built of stone. f An hundred pounds weight. 
