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 AT ISLE DE FRANCE (MAURITIUS) IN THE 18TH CENTURY

AN EPISODE IN THE CAREER OF NICOLAS THOMAS BAUDIN*)

By Madeleine Ly-Tio-Fane

I. Pierre de Proli’s visit to Isle de France on the ‘Ville de Vienne’, 12th April to July 1782. - II. The African journey of Franz Boos and the meeting with Baudin, Captain of ‘La Pepita’, 1787 (p. 89). — HI. The sojourn of Boos in Isle de France and Bourbon, 27th March to 8th December 1787 (p. 92). - IV. The voyage of ‘La Jardiniere’, 2nd May 1792 to circa June 1794 (p. 100). -V. Epilogue (p. 108).

I

In an age subdued by the personality of Linnaeus and marked by the fascination of the great for the curiosities of nature, the Jardin du Roi at Isle de France (Mauritius), situated at the confluence of the sea routes between Europe and Asia, acquired great fame.

The naturalist Pierre Poivre had, on assuming duty as Intendant of the Mas- carene Islands (Isle de France, Bourbon, Rodrigues), bought a property in the

*) I am much beholden to the österreichisches Staatsarchiv Wien and to the Royal Society of Arts & Sciences of Mauritius for permission to quote from documents in their collections. This study has been realized with the help of many specialists in the field, in particular of my colleagues in the österreichisches Staatsarchiv Wien, Archives Nationales Paris, Mauritius Archives, Bibliothéque Centrale du Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris, the British Museum of Natural History London, and the British Library London. - I wish to thank in particular Dr. Leopold Auer for the interest he has taken in the subject; M. Jean Martin who explored the Baudin file and Proli Papers and arranged for photocopies of documents to be communicated to me; Mr. James Armstrong of the Library of Congress Field Office in Nairobi for documentation related to Colonel Gordon; Univ.-Doz. Dr. Harald Riedl of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien for information on the Schönbrunn botanists. - I am especially indebted to the Australian National University which, on the recommendation of Professor Wang Gungwu, then Director of the Research School of Pacific Studies, awarded me a Visiting Fellowship in the Department of Pacific and South East Asian History. This award gave me the opportunity to research in Canberra and in Sydney at the Mitchell Library. I should like to thank the Library Council of New South Wales and the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle du Havre for gracious permission to reproduce the portrait of Baudin from Lieut. King’s notebook (M. L. C767 f. 12) and the drawing by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (n. 15003). - Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my assistants, Jugdish Sonatun and André Mercier, for their support and patience throughout the initial preparation of the study which entailed the deciphering of difficult manuscripts, and to my friend Marie-Thérése Rae for typing the text.