IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION 1803-1810

SUB THEMES
1. Colonial Society at the Turn of the Century
2. Defending Ile de France
Mauritius has been a cosmopolitan society from the very beginning of its settlement. Although the
tendency has been to describe Mauritius between 1722 and 1810 as being the French period, this
refers more to its system of administration rather than being a reflection of Mauritian society or the
origins of its population. Most people who lived on the island in the 1700s were not French, but of Asian
and African origin.

1. Colonial Society at the Turn of the Century

The sources we have at our disposal are unfortunately very heavily bent towards the elite among them:
those who belonged to noble families, rich traders and famous sea captains and in the legal profession.
We know very little about how the average Frenchman lived in Ile de France. The first free (French)
people who came to settle in Mauritius under the French administration were described as being simple
people imbued with good faith and indifferent to riches. Later however, it is believed that there arrived
a much more varied mix of people, officials, nobles, speculators who even though they may have been
poor, did not want to mix with those they considered to be of an inferior class: the sailors, merchants
etc.i Later, during the French wars in India, another wave of immigration ensued. This time, the island
took in bankrupts, libertines, thieves and wretches. By 1789, French colonial society was described as
being profoundly immoral, there were few married people in town and most women came to town only
rarely at Easter or for a ball. limmoralit des gens est pousse lexcs. Le mlange de tant de
nations, le libertinage des colons, le luxe et le peu de retenue des femmes.ii. If before the Revolution,
the lifestyle of the elite under Royal administration had been characterized by unthinking and gay living
with a love of pleasure and libertine behaviour, the years following them were more sober. In the
decade before and after 1800, political matters came to the forefront. In 1790, a Revolutionary
Assembly had been created and for the first time, French colonists had had a chance to choose their
own elected representatives. Among the French colonists, there had been an influx of people after the
French Revolution: there were royalists or those issued of noble families as well as adventurers and
corsairs. Trading activities had expanded with the isolation of the island from France and the corsairs
had become increasingly active after the 1790s and especially after 1802. There was thus an interesting
mix of people that had arrived with very different conceptions from those who had lived on the island
previously. War in Europe had led to other nationalities coming into Mauritius, such as neutrals (the
Danes and the Americans) whose presence before had been negligible. Between 1783 and 1793, 145
foreign ships arrived in Ile de France.
The social structure had undergone important changes as the comparison of population figures for 1797
and 1807 shows. There had been a huge rise in the slave trade and also in the rise of the Free
population, which changed the cultural landscape of Mauritius. Increased economic activity also
contributed to a greater movement of people in and out of Port-Louis and in the county-side. Under the
Napoleonic regime established in 1803, under Governor Decaen, they went back to a system of

authoritarian rule but less than ten years later, in 1810, the island was to change hands again and an
even more drastic change in administration occurred with the British conquest of the island. This upset
certain French colonists so much that many refused to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown
and left Mauritius.
Table 1
Composition of the Mauritian Population in 1797 and 1807
Whites
1797
1807

6,237
6,489

Free
Coloured*
3,703
5,912

Slaves
49,080
65,367

* Free Coloured includes free blacks and those of issued of mixed unions.
Slaves formed over 83% of the population and included African, Malagasy and Indian.
Source : Baron DUnienville, Statistique de lIle Maurice, vol. 3.

1. Race, class and residence in Port Louis

Port-Louis, in the 1800s, presented a view of extreme cultural diversity. Despite racial segregation, in
everyday life, there was a great deal of interaction between different sections of the population. If one
were to analyze society through the study of emerging social and economic classes, one could observe
there was much intermingling among the lower strata: between poor whites, Free people and slaves.
Though marginal new social classes were emerging within the three dominant groups and contributed
to the cultural diversity of the town.
Racial and class divisions were manifest in the residence patterns. These were heavily influenced by race
and were morally and legally sanctioned. In other words, the correlation of race and residence was
established by laws, which tried to separate ethnic groups not only physically, but also socially, by
forbidding marriage between them. In Port-Louis and to a lesser extent in Mahbourg when it was
established in 1803, each ethnic group lived in separate quartiers. There were correspondingly better
facilities and amenities in the wealthiest parts and the least services in the poorer parts. The wealthy
Europeans possessed the best part of Port-Louis. The centre of Port-Louis was reserved for them and
was called Ville Blanche. The Les Remparts area became the most fashionable and wealthy part of
Port-Louis and St Georges Street, the street where all the most beautiful houses were situated. The area
around the Petite Montagne was the business district.
The most insalubrious were the marshy areas and in these lived Africans and Indians.
The peripheral suburbs were divided into :
the Indian Camp which comprised the Camp des Malabards and the Camp des Lascards was
located in the East near Rivire des Pucelles crossing the Desforges Street. Inhabitants received land
grants or concessions to build houses. In Camp des Malabards, the plots given were tiny. A garden
was built in what is today Plaine Verte and described as a cordon sanitaire, to separate the
Western suburbs from the Eastern suburb.

 the Free Blacks Camp or Camp des Noirs Libres as located between the Ruisseau des Croles and
the Montagne de la Dcouverte.
the Camp des Noirs du Roi Affranchis were in the north near the Lataniers River, called Camp
Yoloff.
The Black Maroon Hunters Camp or Camp des Noirs de Detachement
Further up near Lataniers River, was a piece of ground for African slaves. This correlation between race
and residence continued throughout French rule and was even more pronounced in the last years of
French rule, under the Governorship of Decaen. Segregation was practised also in the occupations each
ethnic group was allowed. Slaves had no freedom of choice concerning employment, but even free nonwhite people had certain occupations barred to them. Free blacks were not given licenses to hold any
business, which sold liquor: whites owned all such shops only. Neither were Free blacks allowed to
obtain licenses as hawkers. This was because the authorities felt they would not be able to differentiate
a slave from a free black. They were not recruited in the Army and for the Free people, the highest
positions in the Civil Service were as petty clerks. As in all slave societies, the barriers imposed by
legislation and Government were not followed strictly, not only by the people but by force of
circumstance: for example, domestics had to go to work in the white quarter, and white soldiers,
sailors and workers came to live in the Free Blacks quarter where they had partners among the
women. Under Governor Decaen, the separation of races was enforced more strictly however, when
stringent laws were passed. The Free population was particularly hard hit by these laws.
Among whites there were also class divisions: sailors and workers lived in what is today Corderie and
LEglise Streets. Other small renters and workers lived in the quartier of Petite Montagne and all along
the road up to Plaine Verte. Socio-racial residential segregation continued well into the 19th century
even after the abolition of slavery. Pridham who published, according to Toussaint, the first decent
historical work on Mauritius, wrote in 1846 that the Central zone was reserved for English civil servants
and Franco-Mauritians. The Eastern Suburb or Camp Malabar was inhabited, mainly by Indians while
the Western Suburb by the Coloured population. The epidemics put an end to this type of segregation
for everybody who could afford to move out of Port-Louis did. According to him, the only aspects in
which the British changed the face of Port-Louis were in building roads, in transferring the market to its
present site and in building Fort Adelaide (today known as the Citadelle).
Free Indians
Contract workers were also brought from India in the 18th century. The first Indians seem to have come
as early as in 1729 as slaves and as free persons. There were also many Topaze, i.e. those who were of
mixed French and Indian descent. The earliest labour contract that has survived in the Archives dates
from 1734 although there were many more earlier. Indians were mainly Malabar, Kalingas and Bengalis.
Indian slaves were mainly domestics, cooks, footmen, washermen and coachmen. Labourdonnais had
brought Indians in large numbers from Pondichery. In 1758, the Etat des Malabards au service de la
Compagnie give details of the names and occupations of Indians: there were 35 masons, 24 coolies, 7
bricklayers, 19 carpenters, 10 blacksmiths, 6 rattan makers, 5 boiler-makers, 2 plumbers, 1 writer and 52
messengers (couriers) 1 stable boy, 3 menottes, 1 guard, in all some 166 workers. Aside from them,
there were also the seamen that Labourdonnais had brought to work on the shipyards. But
Labourdonnais did not only bring in servile labour: a number of free Indians were also allowed to
establish themselves in Mauritius as jewellers, shoemakers and tailors. Very few wanted to engage in
any agricultural work as travellers and writers noted such as Milbert at this time. Many were fishermen,
however and the women sold the fish at the market as well as shells and salted fish. A very large

number were pions a sort of messenger who did a host of odd jobs and ran errands. These were
described as men who wore a dagger at their side and carried a baton. The term given to them was
Malabards even though they come from other parts of India and not just the Malabar coast. Many of
them never settled permanently on the island and returned to their families. A greater number stayed
and they formed at first a very distinct group in Mauritius. By the end of the 18th century however, the
situation was quite different as many had inter-married with other ethnic groups, adopted Christian
names or adopted Western styles of dress, or eating habits. Many of them merged with the Free
population emerging from slavery.
In 1806, the Malabards as they were called, numbered some 1,615 persons and even formed a syndic.
The head of the syndic was Denis Pitchen. Apart from Indian artisans, there were also sailors and sepoys
recruited from Bengal and Pondichery. There were also about 200 Muslim sailors at the time, described
by the French as lascards. Both groups lived in the Camp Malabar. Most came alone. In one instance,
when a ship was about to set sail for Mauritius, the families requested that a portion of the sailors
allowance be given in advance to them. The sailors received 494 livres, 14 deniers and 8 sols (i.e. 31
livres per month) while the sepoys 1,292 livres and 10 sols (24 livres per month). Most sailors were
brought in gangs rather than as individuals. Governor Labourdonnais is believed to have brought up to
150. The gangs were made up of three to five men and headed by a tandel. The tandels in turn were
in turn led by the Sarangue. By 1760, there were 467 such sailors in Camp Malabard and also 1,850
Company slaves. Their economic situation does not show much improvement by 1767. Most were
fishermen. Others had been asked to perform agricultural work. It is also believed that many left
Mauritiusiii. We have little information so far on what happened to them. There are a few manumission
certificates, police reports and notarial deeds, but their history remains to be written. As many were not
Catholic, it is difficult to trace family histories as only the civil status of Catholics (i.e., birth, deaths and
marriages as recorded. They seemed to have been able to keep their faith despite the fact that Roman
Catholicism was the only authorised religion. There were even priests among them. The first according
to Jumeer, was Mandarsa Lalita. Later there were Manique and Abdool Raman, both also fishermen.
Celebrations of the Yamse had taken place since the 1760s. This ceremony had become blended into
the life of Port-Louis and it became a combined religious festival as well as a carnival. Muslims also
petitioned the Governor Malartic to obtain a piece of land to build a mosque. They thus received what is
believed to be the first group concession, in other words, a concession given to a group of people
rather than to an individual.
Most Indians seem to have come out of their own free will though several cases of kidnapping were
noted. This means, therefore that there were more cases. Compared to those who had been freed from
slavery, these Free Indians were able to implant themselves in the economic sector by engaging in
independent activity after work. They exploited their skills to the maximum. With the shortage of French
labour, the additional work they performed must have been welcome. Slave-owning, land-ownership,
money-lending were some of the activities they engaged in.
It was extremely rare to find a free Indian who did not possess a slave, although white people had
proportionally, 10 times more slaves. Some Indians had 10-50 slaves which they hired out to others.
Indians also obtained grants of land but these tended to be small plots, between 25 and 100 toises. In
rural districts, the plots were larger. Malepa got 40 arpents in Plaines Wilhems, while his son was
granted 100 arpents. They charged exorbitant interests for those wishing to borrow money. They had
begun to extend the scope of their economic activities, as the 1806 census shows. By 1806, there were
in the Camp des Malabards, 747 heads of household - 271 men and 471 women and 868 children, half of

them had been born in Mauritius - which gives an indication of the process and extent of acculturation
that was taking place at the turn of the century.
The convergence and concentration of such a variety of cultural and religious traditions in the tiny
geographical space that Mauritius, and Port-Louis in particular, could not but result in some friction
between these potentially divergent interests. The process by which a dominant culture attempted to
control, restrict the maintenance and spread of other cultures has yet to be documented for the French
period. Indians, Hindu and Muslim, resented not being able to bury/cremate their dead according to
traditional funeral rites. One of the first demands was to establish their own cemetery. Cipayes Brls
and the Cimetire des Lascards in Valle des Prtres both owe their existence to the wish of nonCatholics to honour their dead in accordance with their religious faith. The Lataniers River also became
important for Muslims because the water was used to perform the Karbala, related to the Yams
festival funeral rites. There was even an attempt to establish a mosque but the petitions in 1788 and
1802 were refused, and finally granted by Decaen in 1805. This can be considered as a surprising move
withstanding the fact that Decaen was at the time reducing the rights of the Freed and because the
Roman Catholic faith was in law the only recognised religion in French colonies. The desire to maintain
the culture they had brought with them seemed to have been strong, for many maintained their dress,
jewellery and culinary habits. Indians thus formed a distinct group in the streets of Port-Louis - women
wore saris, men turbans and dhotis. The Yams or Ghoon was celebrated by many, and not just by those
of Muslim faith.
But many French colonists could not tolerate this display of non-French culture or assertion of cultural
identity. They had never for example wanted to recruit Indian sailors to work on board French ships but
had been forced to because of the high mortality rate among French sailors. In 1793 some members of
the Assemble Coloniale attempted to stop Indian sailors from wearing their turbans in the French
Army. It was decided that they would separate the Indian soldiers among the various divisions so as to
ensure uniformity in exterior appearance of the units. The same anti-turban faction led by P.M.
Lenormand also campaigned for a control on Indian immigration.
The First Mauritians
Cultural animosity which heightened at the end of 18th century was partly due to economic factors. But
it also reflected the intrinsic contradictions within colonial society. Complete domination could only
occur when the barriers between the dominated and those dominating, between those who owned and
those who did not, between white and black were firm. This would be, according to some, the ideal
situation for the maintenance of order. But few colonial societies were able to create such societies - in
fact the general rule was that the barriers were continually crossed. This had begun with the colonizers
themselves who depended on non-European labour in their homes, their plantations and construction
projects. Inevitably, people of Asian and African origin aspired to become property owners and accede
to positions that their masters or employers occupied. At the end of the 18th century, a huge section of
the Free and Indian populations had achieved a higher economic and social status. They had also begun
to assert their own cultural identity and newly-acquired rights. This could only bring some resentment
and even overt hostility from French colonists. Colonial authorities from the beginning of settlement
seemed to have preferred cultural homogeneity or assimilation to French culture but by the end of the
18th century, this was clearly not the road that Mauritius was to take. As far as people from India and
Africa were concerned, despite their different regional ethnic and linguistic origins, their identities were
officially subsumed under one or two categories, Malabards or Lascards while all ethnic groups
subsumed under African, Mozambique, Guine or Malgaches etc. In the Camp des Malabards, Tamil,

Bengali and Urdu were the most widely spoken languages. In 1806, 115 persons came from Pondichery
while 122 from Bengal. This assertion of identity also brought fragmentation within the Camp des
Malabards community between those who adopted Western lifestyles and those who maintained their
original cultures, between those who had been freed from slavery and those naturally free or born free
etc. There was thus a restructuring of the economy and society of Free population at the end of the 18th
century. On the original classifications imposed colonial classifications and new emerging classifications
of people began to arise in a new society.
A new group began to emerge that derived its roots and inspiration from Mauritian soil itself. This
group was composed of those of Indian, African, Malagasy origins, of various ethnic or linguistic groups
but who for one reason or another had chosen not to identify with their ancestral culture or had not
been allowed to. Many of them adopted, outwardly at least, western style dress and language. But we
know very little of their internal world. The limitations of the observations of travellers or visitors are
obvious. They observed only what was visible but rarely interacted with the non-Europeans they
encountered. This group had also one other distinctive characteristic. Most were emancipated slaves
and their offspring who described themselves as Creoles. They were a heterogeneous group and first
seem to have emerged from the Camp des Malabards. Also part of this group were those who lived in
the Camp des Noirs Libres people who had not all been slaves. Many of the ex-slaves remained close to
the masters they had been emancipated from and the French Revolution had allowed them to press for
their rights and given them an indication of what was possible. Their rise is one of the most significant
chapters in the history of Mauritius in the eighteenth century.
2.

Defending Ile de France

The French retained Ile de France until 1810 with much difficulty. Governors were in constant fear of the
Mascarene islands being attacked or taken over by the British and a string of batteries and forts were
built all along the coast line. Some of these were at Grand Bay, Pointe aux Canonniers, Petite Rivire,
Black River, Pointe du Diable, Tombeau Bay. In Grand Port Bay, the Ile de la Passe was fortified.
Whenever a ship was sighted, there was general alarm and several incidents arose as a result of this
concern for the security of the island. Anglo-French rivalry was intense in this period not just in the
Indian Ocean, but in Europe and in the Caribbean. By 1763, France had lost Canada and her Indian
possessions, consecrated in the Treaty of Paris of 1763. But the French Foreign Minster, the Duc de
Choiseul, had only one ambition: to take his revenge on England. In this perspective, he believed the
Mascarenes would play a strategic role.
In 1789, Port-Louis was made the capital of French possessions east of the Cape of Good Hope signifying
the failure of the French In India. But at the end of the 18th century therefore, the conflict between
Britain and France intensified as Napoleon tried to establish a French empire in India where the British
were carrying on a profitable trade. The Sultan of Mysore, Tippoo Sultan, had made an alliance with the
French. However, the new Governor General of India, Lord Minto, in 1807 not only continued this policy
of extending the British hold in India, but also tried to gain control of neighbouring countries. Thus Java
and Sumatra were taken from the Dutch as were a few other South East Asian countries. The British
could not keep this supremacy over the Indian Ocean without destroying the last bastion of the French
which was the Mascarenes because all the islands were being used as bases to attack British ships going
and coming from India and the East Indies. The ships were attacked and raided and the goods, some of
which were very precious, were sold in Port-Louis. Many ships thus came to Port-Louis solely to buy
these goods to save them from going all the way to India and East Indies.

The French Governors in Mauritius encouraged these attacks on the British and those who carried out
these attacks were given lettres de marques by the Government, in other words, a permission to attack
other ships. Those who carried out these raids were called corsairs, a nicer term than the word pirates
which is what they were. They have been, however, glorified by a certain strand of Mauritian
historiography, and given the status of heroes. Between 1793 and 1802, there were about 111 raids in
which some 2,500000 worth of goods were taken. The British responded at first, very mildly to these
raids since they were preoccupied with the wars in India but by 1800, they tried to limit these raids by
establishing a blockade around Ile de France. In other words, they tried to stop French ships from
entering or leaving the 3 islands. This proved difficult and not very effective more so since in the cyclonic
season, the blockade was less tightly enforced and French ships could thus enter or leave at leisure.
From 1803 to 1810 there were 82 expeditions and many famous names are linked with this period:
Lememe, Le Nouvel and Robert Surcouf. The latter alone captured 47 ships and was known as the King
of Corsairs. He had suggested to Napoleon to give up the idea of one big battle to defeat the British and
instead to launch a series of attacks on trading ships to annihilate British commerce. Napoleon however,
did not agree with this. Decaen was prepared to launch a full scale attack on India but did not have the
resources needed. Moreover, the Linois squadron which had been stationed in the Indian Ocean, left
causing a weakening of French forces in the Indian Ocean. Decaen was thus forced to turn to the
corsairs for ships. In 1806, the British captured the Cape of Good Hope. this was a blow to French
interests since it meant that corsairs could not operate as freely as before. By 1808, most corsairs had
either been captured or destroyed. Decaen realised that the next move for the British would be to try to
gain control of the Mascarenes. He asked Napoleon for troops and funds to fortify Ile de France.
Napoleon sent a squadron of 6 ships led by Commodore Hamelin. Among these were the Venus Manche
40, Caroline 40. The Diane was sunk soon after leaving Bordeaux.
The French Army in Mauritius
In 1734, the Army was composed of 4 infantry divisions: one was stationed in Mauritius and was
composed of 74 men. There were 3 others stationed in Runion. When Labourdonnais arrived, he
established 3 divisions in Mauritius and kept only 2 in Runion. They were not of much use as they were
poorly trained. Despite a plea for a more rigorous selection, thirteen years later not much had changed.
Lt. Colonel Gurin de Frmincourt complained that the people he was supposed to train to support
Lallys expedition was made up of bad subjects. As the building of barracks was not completed until
1763, the soldiers roamed about Port-Louis. The Headquarters of the Infantry was at Central Barracks,
opposite the Caudan. It was only in the period of Royal Government rule that the French army became
important.
At the beginning of the Seven Years War there were some 30 batteries scattered along the coast. An
iron foundry had also been established and supplied gunpowder, canons and other war materials to the
Army. An Ordinance of 1st August 1768 obliged all male residents aged between 15 and 55 years to
serve in the militia. There were also a police force and a National Guard. Each Quartier was divided up
into several divisions, dragons, made up of wealthy inhabitants. At the head was a Commandant. In
1773 there were 1,150 men in 1779 there were 1,400 men of which 800 were for Port-Louis. The
National Guard was established under the Revolutionary administration 1790 there were 1,800 men in
Port-Louis, in 1797 4,014 men for the whole island. The organization of this National Guard changed
slightly under Decaens administration.
While there had been at least some 4,000 troops in previous administrations, Decaen had only 1,200
troops at his disposal. He therefore wrote asking for at least 3,300 additional men. Those on the island

were suffering from fevers and poor nutritional status. They did not receive any meat or bread and were
not properly clothed, as uniforms had not been sent from France. Clothes thus began to be made locally.
To add to the regular troops, Decaen tried to organise auxiliary troops, from Runion but there does not
seem to have been much enthusiasm for this recruitment drive compared to previous ones. The main
reason was that the privileges that had been granted before, such as promise of land or allowing one
slave to follow the soldier had not been offered to new recruits. By 1806, Decaen had recruited only 281
men. Decaen then tried to form an auxiliary division of Free people and then to fuse them with the first
division. This failed and also contributed to the failure of the first recruitment drive.
Although Free people also formed part of other divisions there are no statistics on how many there
were. Before 1809, no slaves were used as auxiliary. But with the failure to recruit Free people, Decaen
decided to enlist slaves. With an order of 1st June 1806, he asked all Commandants to made all colonists
give up part of their slaves to make up a force of 650 men. Those who formed part of Maroon
detachments would automatically be part of the division. Each quartier was to supply at least 52 slaves.
Colonists did not object to slaves of the Maroon detachment being part as they had not taken part on
field work and there was the added privilege for the owner of becoming an officer. Decaen called
them the African Battalion. By 1809, the forces available on the island were 1,613 White troops, 965
Free (Coloured) and an additional force of reserves made up of 483 White and 222 Free (Coloured)
troops.
A larger number of slaves took part as sailors and naval squadrons going to India.iv Another 50 slaves
worked on board the Hannibal to take part in the expedition to India in 1781. Darifat mentioned that
he had lent 400 slaves to the King for his Indian campaigns.v Attached to the army however was also
the Bureau du Gnie, where engineers, draughtsmen laid out plans for the construction of Port -Louis.
The Gnie was organized into 15 workshops in all which involved carpenters, barrel-makers,
ironsmiths, locksmiths, nailers, painters, plumbers, stone breakers, and masons. The Bureau was
composed mainly of slaves although some workshops were reserved for free workers only: masons,
rattan-makers, plumbers made up of mainly Indian labour. These slaves and free workers built the town
of Mahbourg. The Gnie also carried out public works: roads, bridges and the maintenance of public
buildings. Around 1780, the coastal batteries were completely renovated. By 1810 when the British took
over, there were 32 of them: 7 in Port-Louis, 5 in Pamplemousses, 3 in Flacq, 4 in Grand Port, 2 in
Savane and 6 in Black River.

Defending the island

Decaen had come to Ile de France in the wake of increasing tension between France and England. The
island was not equipped for any kind of naval warfare despite its image as a naval base. He followed the
proposals made by Abbe Raynal to fortify the two ports and to link up the two. Port-Louis or Port NordOuest as it was known then had to have two types of defences: one to defend the port and another for
the town. The natural contours and islets of the port were used: Ile aux Tonneliers Island, Poudriere
islet, Trou Fanfaron, Caudan and Fort Blanc were fortified. The mountain encircling Port-Louis provided
natural barrier and it was proposed to build a fortified wall all along linking Batterie Dumas on
Montagne des Pretres and the batterie at Trou Fanfaron. A small barracks was also built as well as a
hospital. Ile de la Passe off the coast of Mahebourg was believed to have the best fortifications.
He was never able to turn her into the naval port that would welcome French warships because of the
lack of infrastructure and materials to repair ships. In 1807, for example, there was no rope for the La

Semillante and she had to be disarmed.vi Decaen was able however to organize corsair activity. The La
Semillante took part in 5 battles and her last prize was a merchant ship filled with sugar worth between
6-7,000 piastres. The merchants of Port-Louis financed much of corsair activity and the law of prairial an
XI (22 May 1803) regulated the operations. Once back in Mauritius, the Prefet Colonial and his staff
were n charge of selling the goods and distributing the profits among all concerned. Handsome profits
were obtained by all those engaged in it and there was so much enthusiasm for privateering that
soldiers and sailors working for the Government deserted to join corsair ships. How far corsair activity
harmed British shipping and commerce is still a matter of debate among historians. Prentout, for
example, believes considerable harm was done to British shipping quoting figures and stating that
insurers no longer wanted to insure ship unless they were protected by the British navy. Some 2 million
were thus stolen from British merchants by French corsairs based in the Mascarenes.vii The loss of
British merchants ships and their cargo is also one reason advanced for the British decision to start a
blockade from 1804 to slow down French shipping in an around the Mascarenes. The British were only
able to capture minor prizes, according to Prentout. Although there were conflicting British opinions
about what to do with Mauritius, the decision to take over Mauritius became firm when Lord Minto
became Governor-general of British India in 1807. By that time, it was being realized that the British
blockade was not having much effect because British ships had to go to India or the Cape to replenish
supplies of food and water and undergo repairs, thus leaving French ships free to circulate. Rodrigues
caught their attention and it was captured mainly to serve as a rest station for British ships. Decaen and
his men only began to despair when Runion was taken: by then the island was in a poor financial state,
the troops were weak having never been supported by the Government at home. Mauritius was
described by French officials as the boulevard of France in the Indian Ocean was in no state to fend off
a British attack.

C. Pridham, Statistical Account, 176.

Toussaint, Histoire des Mascareignes, 104.
iii
M. Jumeer, Les Affranchis et les Indies libres, Part 3 : Les Lascards, 334-464.
ii

iv

MA: OC 6 in the capture pf the Grand Duc de Toscane in 1781.

MA: OC 72/A/13, ff 49.
vi
Prentout, Decaen, 495.
vii
Prentout, Decaen, 509.
v