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 97 ‘C’est avec la plus grande satisfaction que j’y ai vu ce que vous avés bien voulu écrire en ma faveur ä M. le Comte de Cobenzl. Je me flatte de faire tout ce qui dépendra de moi pour que M. le Ministre sóit convaincu que vous n’avés rien dit de trop’32). As further proof of his zeal in the Emperor’s service, he had during his stay at the Cape brought together a selection of curiosities (birds, insects and naturalized animals) which he intended on his arrival in Vienna to present to Cobenzl for the Imperial Cabinet of Natural Histoiy. The correspondence reveals besides the nature of the relationship between Baudin, Céré and Oury, and contributes to a larger understanding of subsequent events. A reference to the rapidity of the passage of Boos and Baudin to the Cape leads to the comment that it precluded a landing in Mozambique and (should one read between the lines) a further incursion in the slave market: ‘Vous jugerés facilement que nous n’avons point touché ä la cöte de Mozambique par la courte traversée que nous avons faite pour nous rendre en cette rade, ainsi point de détail ä vous donner sur notre atente’. There is also mention of the hasty sale of a herd of cattle, Baudin’s property, which had been attacked by parasites, a deal effected by Oury on the advice of Vicomte d’Houdetot, Céré’s son-in-law: ‘Le germe de la gale étoit sans doute dans le troupeau de M. Bary, ce qui 1’aura déter- miné á le vendre plutöt que de chercher ä guérir une aussi grande quantité de bétes, M. le Vicomte d’Houdetot a done bien fait de conseiller ä M. Oury de vendre la partié que vous en aviés achetée afin de vous en faire retrouver la valeur primitive dans quelque tems; je crois que nous allons aussi étre obligés de nous défaire par la mérne raison des 60 vaches que nous en avions achetées avant vous quoiqu’elles soient par- quées ä plus d’une lieue de la plaine oú étoient les votres qui est pourrie de carapattes, et qu’on fera bien de laisser sans troupeau quelque tems’33). These allusions to the private interests linking the three men explain the choice of Baudin as the captain for the trip to Trieste. Oury’s undertakings in the East which extended to the Indies and China, and in the West to the Mediterranean, interlinked with Proli’s business network, made it essential that the Emperor’s interest should be maintained and his protection ensured. Céré was the key personage in these transactions; his intimacy with Boos imparted to him full knowledge of the Emperor’s designs for the stocking and embellishment of Schönbrunn. He thus was fully informed of the results of the various collecting journeys to the Antilles, North and South America, ordered by imperial authority34) which, in addition to the present one, would 32) Baudin to Céré, 26th January 1788: Lettres V fol. 210. 33) Céré to Baudin, 29th March 1788: Lettres V fol. 212. 34) These are the expeditions listed by Reichardt Hof-Pflanzengarten (vide note 1) pass.: 1754-1759, sent by Francis I, the expedition of Richard van der Schot and Nicolas Jacquin to Martinique, Grenade, St. Vincent, San Domingo, St. Eustache, St. Martin, St. Bartholomä, Aruba, Jamaica, Cuba, Curasao, Venezuela, Carthagena; 1783, sent by Joseph II, the expeditions of Professor Franz Joseph Marter and Franz Boos to Philadelphia, then to Florida, Boos in the Bahamas, Märter in San Domingo; 1784, sent by Joseph II, Franz Bredemeyer and Joseph Schiicht to Martinique, meeting MärMitteilungen, Band 35 7
