Mauritius News, Mauritius Weather and Links ( Mauritian News and Mauritian Weather )

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The New York Times, February 5, 1861:

THE MAURITIUS

Some Interesting facts about the Island--Its Immense Sugar Crop

Capture of a Slaver--Cruise of the Dacotah


Correspondence of the New-York Times:

    United States Ship Dacotah, Point de Galle, Island of Ceylon, Dec. 5, 1860.

    I write to you from the quaint old town of Galle, Ceylon, the coal dépôt of the East India Company. Our stay is limited to the time needed for repairs and to coal-ship. We will then proceed to Penang, thence to Hong-Kong, via Singapore.

    We sailed from Port Louis, Mauritius, on the 22nd ult., leaving the harbor crowded with vessels shipping off the year's produce, consisting of 260,000,000 pounds of sugar. It is almost inconceivable to realize the idea that so small an island should yield such a large crop. When we consider that the production of the soil is not its only resources, we can understand the great care that Great Britain takes of her "pearl of the Indian Ocean."

    The prevailing opinion in Mauritius was that the French forces in China will, after adjusting the existing difficulties, proceed to Bourbon, where arrangements are in progress for the equipment or an expedition for the subjugation of Madagascar. No doubt the Emperor again has outgeneraled old Palmerston, and by possessing Madagascar he will keep England in constant alarm for the safety of the colonies.

    The facilities which Mauritius affords for repairing and provisioning a fleet, and the loss suffered by the commerce of India during the last war, induced Great Britain in 1810 to to fit out a formidable expedition to capture it. Mauritius then formed the connecting link between the Cape and the Indian colonies. In military, as well as commercial point of view, its position is most important. For [with] the colonies connected England commands the sea, and can at short notice concentrate a large force upon a given point.

    France, in occupying Madagascar, severs this link, [and] menaces both the Cape Colony and Mauitius, where anti-British feeling predominates. England, foreseeing the gathering storm, has selected the port of Mahebourg, Mauritius, for the site of a military post. Admiral Keppel and Governor Stephenson had, during last October, visited and reported in favor of the locality.

    I have said the soil of Mauritius is not its only wealth. A large revenue is derived from the repairs of vessels. No less than three dry docks are in constant operation. The island of Mauritius is situated in the hurricane regions, so that the distressed vessels of all nations put into Port Louis to refit. The dock lately constructed in Simon's Bay will deprive Mauritius of the crafts disabled off the Cape of Good Hope, but even then Mauritius will reap from the disastrous effects of the hurricanes.

    Five American vessels were repaired in Port Louis during the year 1858, and seven during 1859. On the 22nd ult. the following American ships were there refitting: A whaler; ship Western Ocean, Simons, Philadelphia; ship Waban, Harbridge. The latter ship will be sold, as the refitting would cost more than her actual value. The Western Ocean was bound to Calcutta; her cargo of salt was one-third damaged.


    The slaver Manuelita, alias Sunny South of Boston, was in port, a prize to H.M. steamer. Her model is beautiful, and her great speed attracted Admiral Keppel's notice. He purchased her for Government purposes. On dit, that after using the Sunny South as a cruiser, the Admiral intends to send her to England, that the naval architects will have a superior model to copy from. The Maunuelita had over 700 slaves when captured. She showed Mexican colors.

    The United States steamship Dacotah made the passage from Mauritius to Ceylon in eleven days. This is considered a good trip. The Dacotah will answer as a dispatch-boat, but she is totally unfit for a man-of-war. Her constant rolling disbles the battery.

    So much for gun-boats.

Your obedient servant
LEVANT.


Area of Mauritius: 2,040 sq km almost 11x the size of Wash., DC

Population of Mauritius: 1,309,448 (2023) | 1,250,882 (2007)

Languages of Mauritius: English, French both official
Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bhojpuri

Mauritius Capital: Port Louis


PORT LOUIS WEATHER
All of Mauritius
is one time zone at GMT+4,
with no Daylight Savings time.

  Mauritius News


    Although known to Arab and European sailors since at least the early 1500s, the island of Mauritius was uninhabited until 1638 when the Dutch established a settlement named in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU. Their presence led to the rapid disappearance of the flightless dodo bird that has since become one of the most well-known examples of extinction in modern times. The Dutch abandoned their financially distressed settlement in 1710, although a number of formerly enslaved people remained.

    In 1722, the French established what would become a highly profitable settlement focused on sugar cane plantations that were reliant on the labor of enslaved people brought to Mauritius from other parts of Africa. In the 1790s, the island had a brief period of autonomous rule when plantation owners rejected French control because of laws ending slavery that were temporarily in effect during the French Revolution.

    Britain captured the Island in 1810 as part of the Napoleonic Wars but kept most of the French administrative structure, which remains to this day in the form of the country’s legal codes and widespread use of the French Creole language.

    The abolition of slavery in 1835 - later than most other British colonies - led to increased reliance on contracted laborers from the Indian subcontinent to work on plantations. Today their descendants form the majority of the population.

    Mauritius remained a strategically important British naval base, and later an air station, playing a role during World War II for anti-submarine and convoy operations, as well as for the collection of signals intelligence.

    Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968 as a Parliamentary Republic and has remained a stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record. The country also attracted considerable foreign investment and now has one of Africa's highest per capita incomes.

    Mauritius’ often fractious coalition politics has been dominated by two prominent families each of which has had father-son pairs who have been prime minister over multiple, often nonconsecutive, terms. Seewoosagur RAMGOOLAM (1968-76) was Mauritius’ first prime minister and he was succeeded by Anerood JUGNAUTH (1982-95, 2000-03, 2014-17); his son Navin RAMGOOLAM (1995-2000, 2005-14); and Paul Raymond BERENGER (2003-05), the only non-Hindu prime minister of post-independence Mauritius. In 2017, Pravind JUGNAUTH became prime minister after his father stepped down short of completing his term, and he was elected in his own right in 2019.

    Mauritius claims the French island of Tromelin and the British Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory). Since 2017, Mauritius has secured favorable UN General Assembly resolutions and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion relating to its sovereignty dispute with the UK.

    CIA World Factbook: Mauritius

  Mauritius Reference Articles and Links

Wikipedia: Mauritius - History of Mauritius
BBC Country Profile: Mauritius
US State Department: Mauritius Profile

WikiTravel: Mauritius

  Mauritius News Websites

ABYZ: Mauritius News Links

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