Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 35. (1982)
LY-TIO-FANE, Madeleine: Contacts between Schönbrunn and the Jardin du Roi at Isle de France (Mauritius) in the 18th Century. An Episode in the Career of Nicolas Thomas Baudin
Contacts between Schönbrunn and the Jardin du Roi 99 3rd July 1789 and visited Céré and his family at Belle Eau. The results of these contacts can be observed in the manuscripts he left, and principally in the Mémoire sur la maniére de faire les envois de graines et de plantes des Pais chauds. Etat des Arbres de la Chine dönt on désirerait avoir de bonnes graines pour élever dans les jardins de Sa Majesté. Instructions au subré- cargue du Vaisseau de la Compagnie. Dessins de caisses propres ä ramener des graines31). The trip from Isle de France to Trieste was however an auspicious one. Leaving Port Louis on the 8th of December 1787, ‘La Pepita’ reached Bourbon on the 15th, negotiated the difficult passage to the Cape within 20 days and anchored there on the 10th January 1788. Ready to leave the Cape in the first days of February, Baudin planned to stop in Malaga to refit before sailing to Trieste which was apparently reached on the 18th of June 1788 to the great satisfaction of everyone concerned37 38). Before their departure, Céré had written to Cobenzl to inform him that he was getting on board more than 250 crates, each containing several plants selected from those naturalized in the Pamplemousses Garden and including clove and nutmeg seedlings, as well as the indigenous collected by Boos. There was also a classified collection of seeds, and specimens of indigenous and exotic woods; shells and madrepores from neighbouring and distant seas; insects and butterflies from the Indies, minerals and crystals from Madagascar; living animals, birds and fishes. He was disappointed that the articles ordered from the Philippines and China had not yet been received. If these arrived at the next season they would be sent to Vienna through the good offices of the Imperial Ambassador at the Paris Court, the Comte de Mercy d’Argenteau. To this initial group was joined the collection Boos had made in Bourbon and left in the care of Pamy39). At the Cape, Boos was confronted with the enormous collection brought together by Scholl, and Baudin felt he needed a more capacious ship than ‘La Pepita’. It was then resolved that only 30 or 40 crates containing the more precious plants, and all the animals, which included zebras and ostriches, would be embarked. Scholl was ill at the time and Boos decided to leave him there to continue his research40). Kronfeld mentions both the arrival in Trieste on the 18th June and the deed signed by Boos with the firm Bartolomeus Suppaneck, Franz Pleschberger and Simon Starr for the trans37) Bibliothéque de la Ville de Génévé Ms. 6/2 föl. 100-106. Vide Louis Dermigny Les Mémoires de Charles de Constant sur le Commerce ä la Chine (Paris 1964). 38) The calendar is derived from letters of Céré to Boos, of the 23rd March 1788 (vide note 35) and of Baudin to Céré of the 26th January 1788 (vide note 32); the date of arrival of collections to Trieste from Kronfeld Park und Garten von Schönbrunn 102. 39) Céré to Cobenzl, 1st December 1787: Lettres V fol. 165-168. - The letter of the 12th December 1787 (Lettres V fol. 169-170) announcing Boos’ departure, accompanied by instructions on the cultivation of exotic plants, was sent care of Mercy d’Argenteau on the 12th December, fol. 168. 40) Baudin to Céré, 26th January 1788: Lettres V fol. 210-211. 7*
