Reseach papers available on this page:

1. The story of the survivors of a shipwreck who saw Dodos in 1662?

2. The story of the so-called Dodo Tree of Mauritius

3. Did pirates hide their treasure near Mare-aux-Songes

The story of the survivors of a shipwreck who saw Dodos in 1662?

An abridged version of recent research by Alan Grihault (2005)

On the 23rd December 1661 seven ships left Batavia to return home to Holland, but during the voyage the ship Arnhem began to founder, and by the time the longboat, with 108 men on board, had pulled away, the ship sank. At this time they were about 1500 miles SE of Mauritius, for which they set their sail. During the journey some unfortunates were thrown overboard, and others went mad and died because they drank salt water.

On the 20th February 1662 they saw land, and later that day they landed on Mauritius after 9 days of surviving in the boat. They immediately found fresh water in a river, and settled down to sleep on the grass for the night, but the next day a cyclone struck and they found a cave for shelter.

During the first few days the eighty survivors kept together, but they then began to separate into smaller groups. One of these groups, including Volkert Evertsz, found their way along the coast and eventually waded out to an island which was blessed with fresh water. As this island offered everything they needed, they built a hut and lived there for three months. They later described how they found goats, tortoises and many birds, including Dodos. It is because Evertsz and his companions found Dodos on an un-named island which makes this part of Mauritian history of interest to Dodologists, who have tried to determine which island it was that the survivors found so amenable 350 ago. Various islands have been proposed including Ile aux Aigrettes, Ile aux Bénitiers, Ile aux Cerfs, and Ile d’Ambre.

In his account, Evertsz could not name any of the places where he actually was, but he did give a few clues:

• They landed near river with no apparent shelter nearby.
• After several days they found quite a large hollow rock or cave.
• They abandoned this place and went on to a large stream where they built a hut.
• After five days they decided to move and about half a mile away they observed some small islands; one being higher than the others and overgrown.
• They waded out to this island which had a small rivulet with fresh water.
• A hut was built under the canopy of a large tree.
• The island supported goats, Dodos and land and water turtles.

The landing site of the survivors is difficult to determine as the only clue is that they touched land near a river where they drank fresh water for the first time in nine days. Their boat was coming roughly from a south/south-east direction so, depending on the winds, they probably sighted the south/south-east coastline, and like all boats approaching Mauritius, they would have had to look for a safe landing place.

Early on in his account, Evertsz makes mention of moving further up from the seashore towards the mountains. This does not mean that the group travelled far from the shore, but at least we know that they could see mountains that must have been reasonably near to the coastline. As a cyclone developed during their first few days, it is probable that the initial large group of survivors travelled westward i.e. with the prevailing winds. On the third night of their stay they found a cave or rock overhang, so it is important to consider the existence of this feature in our search.

One would suspect that the survival groups, although wanting their own space, would not want to be very far away from each other, as it must be remembered that contact was necessary in case a ship called and was able to take them home. Evertsz does mention that some were within hailing distance of each other, and others were visited at various times of their stay. At first the men had to eat everything raw, until one old man managed to produce fire by putting dry moss on the pan of his pistol and creating a spark which he blew on to create a large flame. From then on the flame was shared among the groups, which surely would have stayed reasonably close together.

It must also be remembered that the men had been subjected to nine days of cramped and starving conditions in a boat; not the best of preparations for hiking long distances over an unknown coastline. For other practical reasons there seemed little point in the groups travelling great distances as food was plentiful, and their main concern was to keep alive in order to return home when a ship anchored off-shore. With this in mind, it is unlikely that any parties moved very far from the dwellings they made.

The pivotal part of the account reports that after some time they managed to wade out to a small island. As only half of Mauritius’s coastal waters supports islands that are close enough to the shore to allow them to be reached by walking at low tide, this again limits our study to certain parts of the coastline. The writer visited all the islands of Mauritius, and viewed them from the shore, in order to gain a survivors eye-view to ascertain whether they would have been tempted to make the effort to wade out to them.

After surveying all the islands, the writer proposes that the Evertsz group may have camped on Ilot Fourneau, in the shadow of Le Morne Brabant, which is the highest of the islands within walking or wading distance from the shores of Mauritius. It is 28 acres (28 arpent or 11.5 hectares) in area, about 100 feet (31m) high, and about 540 yards (500m) from the shore.

The most important find on this island was water, in the form of a spring, on the western side facing out to sea. There is a large tree on this same side; a Tamarind tree with a girth of 13 feet (4m), with the spring water only a little way along the beach. Under this tree is a flattened area where Evertsz and his companions could have built their dwelling, and although it is too much to claim that this tree was the same tree, it does show that the island can host large trees similar to one our explorers found there. There is still the remains of a modern half-built dwelling under the tree, which was abandoned about 30 years ago. Villagers remember goats being kept on the island, and more recently pineapples were grown there.

Evertsz tells us that they found many wild goats and all kinds of birds, including Dodos, which were not afraid and came up close to them. They also caught land and sea turtles, and cut palm hearts for eating and making palm wine, which obviously gave them a “flourishing and careless condition, forgetting even the name of the months and the days of the week.”

The island commands good views of the sea and of ships that may attempt to pass round Le Morne Brabant. The island was used to look out for slaves being illegally smuggled into Mauritius during the time of Governor Farquhar (1810-1823), so it was an ideal place for survivors who were looking for ships to rescue them.

Once this island had been proposed, the next task was to trace the journey of the survivors before they waded out to the island. One uncertainty is the distance they walked from where they initially landed, but it must be remembered that they were dehydrated and tired after their deprivations in the boat, so they probably would not have walked more than 25 miles (40km) on either side of the island they later discovered.

The cave where they sheltered from the cyclone is probably the one at Pointe Corail de la Prairie (Trou Miguel), just east of Le Morne Brabant. Nowadays this series of caves consists of a pothole, and the lower caves are full of water, but the fact that the horizontal caves have many stalactites and stalagmites shows that they were dry at sometime during their formation. On either side of the almost vertical caves are significant overhanging rocks which would have comfortably protected the survivors the cyclone and the sea winds.

Before wading to the island, Evertsz mentioned that they walked a short distance and left this part of the island completely. Could this have meant they walked towards Le Morne Brabant, standing out as it does from the main coastline? As they rounded Pointe Corail de la Praire the scene would have been dominated by the massive rock mountain, with Ilot Fourneau nestled in the bay of this dramatic corner of the island.

Like all good stories, this account would not be complete without recording what finally happened to the survivors. One of them called Andries Stokram gave us valuable information about ships that called and left Mauritius while they were waiting for rescue. He recorded how they saw the ship Truro arrive, and having taken several days to reach a point where he could signal it, his group and the Evertsz group managed to embark on this ship in May 1662, after surviving in Mauritius for three months.

In his account he also mentions Dodos:

“The island also breeds pigeons, herons, grey parrots and a sort of bird, which is as big as a swan. It has a big head with pelt and in the place of wings (which they do not have), there are 3 to 4 black plumes and instead of tails, they have 4 to 5 grey curly feathers on the backside.”

The purpose of this research is to propose Ilot Fourneau as a contender for the island where Evertsz and his companions made their home from February to May 1662. We must remember that their main concern was for survival and rescue, and little did they know that their observations of the bird they called the Dod-aerson would have created so much interest, and reserved them a place in Mauritian history for ever.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BERNARDIN, Jacques Henri de Saint-Pierre. 1773, Journey to Mauritius, translated with an introduction and notes by Jason Wilson, (2002), Signal Books, Oxford.
CHEKE, Anthony. 2004, “The Dodo’s last island – where did Volkert Evertsz meet the last wild Dodos?” in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius, Vol. VII.
EVERTSZ, Volkert. 1679, ‘MS English translation of most of the Evertsz account’ (Olearius, 1699) found in the Mackenzie Collections (Ex India Office; 1822 collection, No 13a) now at the British Library (Cheke, 2004).
GRIHAULT, Alan. 2005, Dodo – the bird behind the legend, IPC, Mauritius.
HUME, Julian Pender. 2003, ‘The Journal of the Flagship Gelderland – Dodo and other birds on Mauritius 1601’, Doctorate Research.
LALOUVIERE, Philippe la Hausse de (Ed). 1998, Coastal Fortifications, Heritage, Mauritius.
NORTH-COOMBES, Alfred. 1979, The Vindication of Francois Leguat, Société de L’Histoire de L’Ile Maurice.
PANYANDEE, Sitradeven. 2002, The Dutch Odyssey – Encounter with Mauritius, MGI, Mauritius.
SORNEY, Pierre de. 1950, Isle de France – Ile Maurice, General Printing and Stationery Co Ltd., France.
STAUB, France. 1996, ‘Dodos and Solitaires, myths and reality’ in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Science of Mauritius.
STOKRAM, Andries. 1663, A short description of the unfortunate return voyage of the Ship Arnhem, originally published by Cornelis Joosten Saegman, Amsterdam, translated by S. Panyandee, 2002.

INTERVIEWS, EMAILS, etc
BAISSAC, Pierre. Information on Ile aux Aigrettes.
DESVAUX, Yves Roland. Information on cave on his property at la Prairie.
HURON, Alain. Blue Penny Museum.
LALOUVIERE, Philippe la Hausse de. Telephone and email information.
LATIMER, Bob. Information on islands and the Trevessa shipwreck.
MEDINE SUGAR ESTATE. Various employees.
MIDDLETON, Greg Dr. Email information on caves.
SOOBRAYEN, Manoj. Fisherman from Chemin-Grenier.
VILLAGERS of Baie du Cap, Black River, Grande Rivière Sud-Est, Le Morne, Plaine Magnien, Tamarin, Trou d’Eau Douce, Vieux Grand Port. BRIAN – guide to the island.
PLUS the many people I spoke to along the way.

The story of the so-called Dodo Tree of Mauritius
An abridged version of a Research Paper by Alan Grihault

"He pointed to where a tall, silver-trunked tree grew at the side of the track. It was obviously old and in places it was starting to rot, for there were cracks in its buttress roots. It was some fifty feet high, ending in a tangle of branches and dark green leaves.”
(Durrell, 1977)

After Dodos flew to Mauritius several million years ago, they found a constant food supply on the forest floor, precluding the need to fly. From then on Dodos could afford to eat large fruits and seeds as they didn’t need to worry about their weight. Over time they developed huge, powerful beaks, which enabled them to tackle fruits and seeds that smaller birds would have been forced to leave on the ground.

Trees and plants produce seeds for their own genetic survival, so how did the endemic trees of Mauritius adapt themselves to make use of the two largest animals on the island; the Dodo and the Tortoise? One of the trees which has been linked to the Dodo is the rare Tambalacoque Tree (Sideroxylon grandiflorum), which became known as the Dodo Tree.

When Europeans arrived on the island records show that the Tambalacoque was well represented in the lush forests, but since that time it has become quite rare. Since that time some strange myths have developed about the tree:

• “In 1973, it was thought that this species [Tambalacoque] was dying out. There were only 13 specimens left, and all of them were about 300 years old.” (Web - Wikipedia, 2005)
• “… this is a Tambalacoque tree, you see. It is one of the oldest Mauritian trees and there are only about twenty or thirty left.” (Durrell, 1977)
• “Now the Tambalacoque was very common during the time of the Dodo and the theory goes that the Dodo liked to eat the fruit of the tree. As the flesh was digested, the gastric juices got to work on the hard seed and by the time the Dodo passed the seed out of its body, it was soft enough to germinate.” (Durrell, 1977)
• “The Mauritian ‘calvaria’ tree, soon after the dodo became extinct, stopped sprouting seeds, and it appeared that it would soon face extinction itself.” (Maddox, 1993)
• “They’ve tried to germinate these seeds, but for some reason they can’t grow the damn things…” (Durrell, 1977)

In order to compensate for these myths, it is important to note some facts about the tree:

• The Tambalacoque is a large, endemic tree of Mauritius.
• As early as 1941, Vaughan and Wiehe had recorded 33 Tambalacoque trees of various stages of growth, and Friedmann (1981) estimated that there was a population of several hundred trees.
• The plum-sized fruit is sweet smelling and would have been attractive to large birds and tortoises.
• The curious-looking seed is the size of a chestnut. It is pale biscuit brown and on one side it is fairly smooth, while on the other it looks as though someone has started to carve it into an oriental face and has stopped halfway. The seed is quite heavy and hard.
• Hill (1941) noted that Tambalacoque seeds germinated without any abrasion of the hard endocarp, which simply splits along a pre-determined line.
• The Tambalacoque has no annual rings so it is difficult to determine its age.
• Many tree seedlings are now being germinated in Mauritius.

It was perhaps the work of Dr. Stanley Temple which drew attention to the Tambalacoque tree which was an endemic tree of Mauritius. After some consideration, he came to the conclusion that the hard seed-casing of the tree needed to be swallowed by a Dodo, and to pass through its gizzard in order for it to germinate. After experimenting with turkeys the research by Dr. Temple were far from conclusive. His work was given attention largely because it made an interesting story, but his research was flawed when he chose to ignore previous researchers and their findings.

There is no doubt that Tambalacoque trees are getting very rare. There maybe several reasons for this, but the most obvious is that the forests where they used to grow are not there any more. Deforestation has been taking place for several centuries, and introduced plants such as sugarcane, guavas and privet have now taken their place. To add to this, animals have been introduced such as deer, pigs and monkeys, all capable of destroying germinating seeds and young saplings.

This sad chain of events has now been countered by the work of the Biodiversity Unit of the Forestry Service, and the Native Plant Propagation Centre belonging to the National Parks and Conservation Service, who are collecting and germinating seeds. Initially, the nurserymen tried germinating the seeds by hammering or sawing them to help the germination process, but it was found that this had little effect on the success rate. So far, the best germination success rate was 17 seeds which germinated from 43 seeds planted in 2001 (37%), and they will soon be placing these young saplings in their natural habitat.

One of the mysteries still surrounding this tree is the strange shape of the endocarp of the seed. Mother Nature always tries to look after itself. Any mutations, adaptations and evolutionary developments are brought into play for the betterment of the species. It is completely against Nature’s creative will for it to develop something which would interfere with the propagation of the species. Thus, with the Tambalacoque seed; there is a reason for it having a hard and unusually shaped endocarp. It is beautifully curved and glossy on one side, whereas on the other side it is pitted with large teeth-like nodules. Perhaps this stone-hard endocarp adapted its shape so as it could be used as the grinding stone inside the gizzard of the Dodo. The smooth side would have nestled against the gizzard wall, while the rough side would have been used in the grinding process necessary for extracting the nutrients from the ingested food. The seed may have remained in the gizzard until the Dodo died by which time it germinated from the rotting body of the dead Dodo.

Another possibility is that the polished side was in some way a protection against the wet ground and protected the endocarp from rotting, similar to the underside of a boat, whereas the upper irregular side allowed moisture and air to aid germination.

These hypotheses have no more evidence to support them than the turkey experiments put forward by Dr. Temple, but the unusual shape of the seed forces us to search for answers as to why Nature should make it this way, and it would be interesting to make some small connection between the Dodo Tree and the Dodo.

You can see Tambalacoque trees in the following places in Mauritius:
• Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam (Pamplemousses) Botanic Garden – a young tree grows in area between Belle Eau Avenue and Sir John Pope Hennessy Avenue within the Park.
• The Biodiversity Unit, Forestry Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Jardin Botanique Road, Curepipe – two young trees in the Office garden (planted 1977).
• Curepipe – mature tree in private garden (request only).
• Black River Gorges National Park – Brise Fer Mountain – scientific research area.
• Curepipe Botanical Gardens – young tree in Children’s Play Area (planted 1977).

The largest number of Tambalacoque trees can be found at Brise Fer Mountain which has been set aside as a scientific research area for the endemic trees of Mauritius. Constant weeding of rogue plants is necessary to keep this forest as near as possible to the ancient forests of the island, which takes specific and expert management. Access to this forest is limited, but details can be obtained from the Pétrin Information Office (Tel: 507 0128) between 08.00 to 15.15 on weekdays and 08.00 to 11.00 on Saturdays.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACHILLE, L. Carl. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden, Pamplemousses, Mauritius.
DURRELL, Gerald. 1977, Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons, William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd, Glasgow.
FRIEDMANN, F. 1981, ‘Sapotacees’ in Flore des Mascareignes, 116.
GRHAULT, A. 2005, DODO – the bird behind the legend, IPC Publishers, Mauritius.
HERHEY, David R. 2004, ‘The Widespread Misconception that the Tambalacoque or Calvaria Tree Absolutely Required the Dodo Bird for its Seeds to Germinate’ in Botanical Society of America: Plant Science Bulletin, Vol 50 No 4.
HILL, A. W. 1941, ‘The genus Calvaria, with an account of the stony endocarp and germination of the seed, and description of the new species’ in Annals of Botany, New Series 5.
MADDOX, John. 1993, ‘Bringing the extinct Dodo back to life’ in Nature, vol 365.
TEMPLE, Stanley A. 1977, ‘Plant-animal mutualism: Coevolution with dodo leads to near extinction of plant’ in Science, 197, 885-886.
TEMPLE, Stanley A. 1979, ‘The dodo and the tambalacoque tree’ in Science, 203, 1364.
VAUGHAN, R.E. and WIEHE, P.O. 1941, ‘Studies on the vegetation of Mauritius III. The structure and development of the upland climax forest’ in Journal of Ecology, 29.
WITMER, Mark C. and CHEKE, Anthony S. 1991, ‘The dodo and the tambalacoque tree: an obligate mutualism reconsidered’ in Oikos, 61:1.

PEOPLE WHO HELPED
GOPAL, Suraj V. Native Plant Propagation Centre, National Parks and Conservation Service.
GUNGADURDOSS, Arveen. Forest Guard. Excursion to Brise Fer.
JUMOORTY, Raffick Forester. Excursion to Brise Fer.
MUNGROO, Yousouf. Director, National Parks and Conservation Service.
FLORENS, Vincent. University of Mauritius. Research not available until April 2006.
SEECHARRAN, Ranjit. NPCS, Nurseryman.
SOUCHON, Georgina L.M. Original garden in Curepipe where Stanley Temple collected his seeds.

DID PIRATES HIDE THEIR TREASURES NEAR MARE AUX SONGES?

The Mon Trésor Sugar Estate has been in the news of late because it is the proud owner of an ancient marsh which we now call Mare aux Songes or Mare aux Dodo. This is the remote marsh where Harry Higginson and George Clark found the first physical evidence that the Dodo had really existed in Mauritius in 1865.

A recent find of Dodo and Tortoise bones in October 2005, has prompted a Research Team of Mauritian and European experts to work at the site throughout June 2006 in order to reconstruct the habitat of the Dodo before its extinction in the late 1600s. While this important research work is going on, it maybe of interest to pause awhile and imagine what went on in this area when the pirates were active around our shores.

The Island which was Mother to the Dodo was thrust out of the sea nearly eight million years ago:

“The huge primary shield-volcano that covered Plaines Wilhems collapsed, and its ruins were submitted to erosion for thousands of years. Later secondary eruptions sent lava-flows rolling south to meet the sea from Baie du Cap to Mahébourg.” (Staub, 1993)

After several million years of weathering the volcanic rock became a fertile place for vegetation to take seed and grow:

“During the Dutch and French occupations the land was covered with an unbroken evergreen forest, extending from near the sea-shore up to the summit of the mountains…” (Koenig, 1912)

This volcanic action, together with erosion and decomposition, left the island of Mauritius with a rugged landscape of mountains, deep ravines, cliffs and rushing rivers, tempered with rolling hills and lazy beaches. Hidden amongst all this was a small, insignificant marsh we later called Mare aux Songes, which became an oasis for tortoises and birds.

When George Clark was alive, 140 years ago, the marsh had changed considerably as it had become part of the Plaisance Sugar Estate and much of the original forest had been cleared:

“A luxuriant growth of fern, sedge, and flags have spread from the borders over the deeper parts of the marsh, forming a mass sufficiently compact to allow of a person’s walking across it. This covering, by preserving anything beneath it from the action of the atmosphere, is probably a principle cause of the perfect state of preservation in which the bones under it were found.”

The marsh is fed by water seeping through the rocks and soil from the surrounding higher ground, which then finds its way to the sea via a creek which penetrates inland from the Cul de Chaland (now Blue Bay), near the present Shandrani Hotel. The creek used to reach further inland, but in recent times it has been blocked by falling rocks, sand dunes and a variety of road structures.

As the Dodos began to die out towards the end of the 1600s, other activities were taking place in this remote area called Mon Trésor Mon Desert in the south-east of Mauritius. Early maps show Mare aux Songes as Fallow Land, and perhaps for this reason it was also included on pirate maps as a good placed to hide treasure, where it would be well protected from prying eyes. Tradition has it that pirates used to row up the creeks from Cul du Chaland and hide their treasures in caves and rocks further inland. In 2003, treasure seekers were very active on private land adjoining Mare aux Songes, but as the owners are still growing tomatoes in the area, there is little evidence that any treasure was found.

Map 1: Reproduction of part of a Treasure map drawn in 1781
Private collection

A Naval Officer, and a probable pirate, Bernardin Nagéon de L’Estang (nicknamed Butin), inherited several treasure maps and treasures while serving at sea during the 1700s. After his father died in 1750 Butin inherited about 45 acres of land situated on Ruisseau des Caves, a creek off what is now named Blue Bay, and it is here where he was supposed to have buried the Indus Treasure. In order to safeguard the precise instructions to finding the treasures, Butin wrote separately to three trusted members of his family, although he actually left the main bulk of his treasure to his nephew, Justin de l’Estang. In a letter to Justin he wrote:

“With the help of our influential friends, go to the Indian Ocean, to Île de France, at the place marked in my Will.”

He wrote another long letter to his brother where he explains how he obtained so much treasure:

“During my adventurous life, and before embarking on the ‘l’Apollon’, I was one of those corsairs who did a lot of harm to Spain and our English enemy. Together we have made some good hauls, but during our last confrontation with a large English frigate on the Indian coast, the Captain was shot, and on his death bed he confided in me his secrets, and the documents which will lead to the buried treasures in the Indian Ocean, and asked me to use them to help the corsairs fight the English; however he first made sure that I was a Freemason.”

Part of a letter to another nephew reads like this:

“I am leaving to enrol and defend my country. In the event of me being killed, I am writing my will, and giving it to my nephew, Jean-Marie Nageon de L’Estang, Officer of the Reserve, the following -

Half a plot of land at Riviére La Chaux at Grand-Port, Île de France, and the following treasures rescued by the Hindus: I capsized in a creek near Point Vacoas, and I went up a river, and left in a cave all the treasures saved by the Hindus, and they are marked B.N. which is my name.”

No one knows in which creek Nageon capsized his boat, or whether he managed to rescue all his treasure from the creek and hide it in a cave, but Map 2 shows the land bought and owned by Nageon at the time:

Map 2: Reproduced map showing land belonging to the Nageon family in the 1700s

Nageon died in 1775, but no one knows whether the treasure was claimed or found, although hunters have searched the area surrounding Mare aux Songes and near the airport. The stream called Ruisseau des Caves has now been incorporated and filled-in as part of the airport.

Another possible treasure site in the area of Mon Trésor is the small island known as Ile des Deux Cocos, lying near the entrance to Blue Bay. This island was a favourite weekend retreat for the British Governors in Mauritius, as there was an official beach house there. One of the Governors, Sir Hesketh Bell, Governor of Mauritius from 1916 to 1925, often stayed at the 18th century Moroccan-style villa without the company of Lady Bell. It is said that he was never lonely as he used to meet his mistresses there. One was a Miss Adam, who worked at Reduit, and later conceived his child in London.

Governor Bell read that treasure was once buried on the island and asked his gardener to dig in various places. The story goes that when eventually the gardener hit a box with his spade, Governor Bell gave him the afternoon off and told him to go home, saying that he would finish the digging himself. He supposedly found some treasure, and transported it to his official residence at Reduit. He left the island shortly afterwards and returned to England. Did he take any treasure with him? No one knows.

At the far end of La Cambuse Public Beach one can be find the remains of a number of caves which have fallen in to give a series of quite deep pits. As caves were a natural hiding place for Pirate treasure, the base of these pits was investigated by treasure seekers in 1926. They were drawn to this particular spot by a Portuguese inscription carved on a flat rock due east of Pointe Vacoas, and situated on the seaward side of the caves. The inscription must have taken a considerable amount of time to carve on the hard rock, which shows that whoever was responsible stayed around the area for some time.

Readers may be interested in translating the inscription. Some basic attempts have been made and some of the words have been deciphered:

“We came here by sea … a … ocean … we will go…stitch to sailor … listen to Him who is next to you. Uncle.”

Mauritius is rich in pirate history, and it is our privilege to be able to preserve this heritage. There are probably no treasures to be found, but that is not the point, there is a feeling of curiosity, excitement and interest by visiting these sites…and Mauritians...it is free!

Alan Grihault

BIBLIOGRAPHY
D’ESPAIGNET, Jacques Tursan. 2001, ‘Mon Trésor Mon Desert: The last abode of the Dodo’ for a book project on Lonrho PLC and its subsidiary Lonrho Sugar Corporation with the focus on the late René Leclézio.
CHEVREAU, Philippe. 2002, Personal conversations and notes.
GRIHAULT, Alan. 2005, “DODO – the bird behind the legend”, IPC, Mauritius.
GRIHAULT, Alan. 2005, ‘A Study of Mare aux Songes in Mauritius: the site of the first discovery of Dodo bones in 1865’, Unpublished Paper.
GRIHAULT, Alan. 2006, “The Pirates and Treasures of Mauritius”, Unpublished book.
KOENIG, Paul. 1912, ‘Economic Flora’ in Mauritius Illustrated, edited by Allister Macmillan, Collingridge, London; re-published by AES, New Delhi (2000).
STAUB, France. 1993, Fauna of Mauritius and Associated Flora, Precigraph Ltd., Mauritius.