Interesting Trivia
First Colonial Stamp (Post Office Stamps)
The Mauritian Kestrels (A success story in wildlife preservation)
The Second Oldest Racecourse (Champ de Mars, Mauritius)
Malcolm de Chazal (Great Poet, Philosopher and Painter)
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The first colonial stamp in the world was issued by Mauritius on 21st September 1847 |
| Mauritius, 1847,1 p and 2 d. The first colonial stamp in the world was issued by Mauritius on the 21 September 1847. There were two stamps, 1 penny and 2 pence. They have been given the nickname "Post Office stamps" because of the text on both sides of the motif depicting Queen Victoria. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagascar, and was a British colony at the time these stamps were issued. The Governors wife, Lady Gomm, wanted to invite a large number of guests to a ball. She commissioned the English engraver and miniature painter James Barnard (1816-1865) to design the stamps that would be used to decorate the envelopes with the invitations to the ball. Barnard worked in his home at Port Louis, and used a very original production method. He engraved both of the stamps side by side on a copper plate. Then the stamps were printed one at a time. In this way, pairs and other greater units could not be produced. Due to the nature of the assignment the issue was very limited; 500 of each stamp were made. But only 27 have been preserved. Of the 1 penny value, there are 15 known stamps of which two are in mint condition. And of the 2 pence stamp, there are 12 of which four are mint. This stamp production caused a deficit for Mauritius. The manufacturing costs exceeded the revenue because the issue was very small and with relatively low face values. The first time that a philatelist came across these stamps was in 1864, when Mme Bouchard at Bordeaux discovered both of the stamps on letters from her husband. She had difficulty placing them in her album and therefore swapped them for two stamps from Montevideo. |
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Mauritius is well known for its efforts to preserve rare flora and fauna. Despite its small size, there have been many successful trials of species saved from extinction. |
| The Mauritius Kestrel only exists in the
wild on the island of Mauritius, the former home of the
extinct Dodo Bird. As a result of habitat loss and
pesticide contamination this small falcon was reduced to
only four known wild birds in 1974. Through captive breeding and release, and management of wild pairs, the population increased to about 100 pairs in 1996 with an estimate of 400 kestrels in the overall population. With the help of the Mauritian Wildlife Appeal Fund, The Peregrine Fund, and other cooperators a fantastic recovery has occurred.
Send your donations to The Peregrine Fund (Click logo above for more info) |
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dodo n., an extinct
flightless bird, once a native of the island of
Mauritius. |
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| In the year 1598 AD, Portuguese sailors
landing on the shores of the island of Mauritius
discovered a previously unknown species of bird, the
Dodo. Having been isolated by its island location from
contact with humanity, the dodo greeted the new visitors
with a child-like innocence. The sailors mistook the
gentle spirit of the dodo, and its lack of fear of the
new predators, as stupidity, and dubbed the bird
"dodo" (meaning something akin to a simpleton
in the Portuguese tongue). Many dodo were killed by the
human visitors, and those that survived man had to face
the animals (such as dogs and pigs) that became feral
when introduced to the Mauritian eco-system. By the year
1681, the last dodo had died, and the world was left
worse with its passing. The dodo bird, historically, has been viewed as a rather plump bird, weighing approximately 20-23 kilograms. Grey in colour, the dodo is quite distinct from the solitaire (a relative of the dodo which lived on the island of Reunion.) The dodo had a large, hooked beak, and a plume of white feathers adorned the rear of the dodo. What distinguishes the dodo from many other birds is not just its size, but that it was flightless. Despite its large build, the dodo had small, weak wings which could not lift it into the air. Thus it was easy prey to the Portuguese invaders who would club the bird to death as it approached them seeking friendship. Few bones or relics remain of the dodo today. Without complete skeletons, it is impossible to estimate the true size of the dodo bird. While modern estimates range around from twenty to twenty-three kilograms, initial portraits of the bird show a much slimmer creature. Work has been done by museum curator Andrew Kitchener which suggest that the dodo could have been as light as between thirteen and seventeen kilograms. By analysing dodo bones, he has come up with a prediction that shows the dodo wasn't a fat plump bird at all. Our opinions had been based around European portraits of the bird may have been a romanticsised version, or that those dodo removed from their natural environment may have been fattened up. The nests of the dodo bird were, by neccessity, built on the ground as the bird was flightless. The dodo's young were afforded little protection on the ground against introduced predators, such as the feral dogs and wild pigs left behind by sailors. Dodo eggs were trampled and eaten by such creatures, and the ability to repopulate the species after mankind's hunting of the bird was seriously affected. While the dodo had existed for centuries or more in the natural Mauritian environment, the impact of mankind through hunting and the introduction of new predators placed too great a strain upon the dodo, and it was lost to the world. The tragedy of the dodo highlights the potential effects mankind can have upon the environment, and the ease with which humanity can disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem by eradicating whole species. As one of the earliest examples of modern ecovandalism, the impact of the Portuguese sailors on Mauritius not only wiped out the famous dodo, but further disrupted nature in unexpected ways. The Mauritian "calvaria"tree, soon after the dodo bird became extinct, stopped sprounting seeds, and appeared would soon face extinction itself. While it was not initially apparent, the calvaria would only sprout seeds after having been eaten and digested by the dodo bird. When it was realised that the dodo bird was such an integral part of the environment, turkeys were used to digest the seeds, and the calvaria was saved. This story serves to highlight the dangerous implications of animal extinction, and why humanity must work to safeguard the environment and nature. The bio-diversity of our world must be protected, both for current and future generations. The dodo was such a unique species of bird, that some three centuries later, it is still remembered as a symbol of the harm mankind can bring to the environment. As the memory of the dodo and the legacy of ecovandalism lives on, we must not forget to take heed of such a warning - particularly as more and more species are brought to the point of extinction. Quality images of the dodo are hard to come by. The collector has a small collection of dodo images, from dodo paintings to illustrations of the dodo from "Alice in Wonderland", as well as dodo relics. These images have been found on other dodo pages, as well as several from that of museums. Should you find any other images you feel should be part of the Dodo Image Archive please drop a note at : dodo@fan.net.au Information obtained from The Dodo Fan Homepage |
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The second oldest race club in the world after the English Jockey Club |
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| In 1812, Colonel Draper founded the
Mauritius Turf Club, which opened the first racecourse in
the southern hemisphere and the second in the world.
Today, the Champ de Mars is world renowned for its
magnificent race track which is almost circular in shape,
allowing punters wherever they are situated within the
centre area or in the stands to watch every moment of the
racing action. Every year, horses are imported from all
parts of the world, namely from South Africa, England and
Australia, and allocated to the various stables. Jockeys
come from all parts of the world. Many of the well known
Australian jockeys have had a stint in Mauritius. Betting
is now based on the Australian betting systems, with a
flourishing bookmakers' industry. Every year, the Draper's Mile is run to commemorate the founder of the Mauritius Turf Club. The racing season starts from May until December. Currently, works are being undertaken on a state-of-the-art racecourse at Les Pailles. Punters will really enjoy the atmosphere of the Champ de Mars, with its unique blend of catering facilities reflecting the diversity of the Mauritian Community. |
Malcolm de Chazal-Great Mauritian Poet, Philosopher and Painter
An introduction to a great Mauritian writer, Malcolm De Chazal (1902-1981) (Thanks to Maurinet for extract)
The selections below are taken from the English translation by Irving Weiss of Sens-Plastique (Paris: Gallimard, 1948) by the great Mauritian writer and painter Malcolm de Chazal (1902-1981). The first translation appeared in 1971 with a foreword by W.H. Auden, who considered Chazal "the most original French writer to emerge since the end of the Second World War." An expanded translation, still available, was published in 1979. Chazal's aphorisms are considered by literary critics to express the most remarkable correspondence between words and things, between language and nature, ever attempted.
Chazal's paintings celebrate the magical island spendor of Mauritian sunlight, flora, fauna that inspired his observations.
"No matter how much leaves are fixed face to face they always look at each other aslant, whereas all fruits end up head-on however carelessly jumbled. A bunch of flowers is a house of colored cards. A heap of fruit is a hive of colored bees." (p. 149). "Flowers are both knowing and innocent, with experienced mouths but childlike eyes. They bend the two poles of life into a divinely closed circle." (p. 7)
"All flowers have two eyes like us, but one is on the obverse, the other on the reverse side. On the obverse the flower's eye is wide open, on the reverse its lids are lowered - but as with the eye of the seraph its gaze burns on behind the apparent curtain. The reason flowers have no real back is that their back-to-back eyes make a circular face." (p. 114)
"The flower has no weekday self, dressed as it always is in Sunday clothes." (p. 27) "The eyes takes good color pictures but wretched technicolor movies. It's impossible to grasp the movement of forms without letting some color escape." (p. 17) "The crown of petals is the flower's panties. Rip them off and you will have public indecency. They were the pre-adamic fig leaf of nature before the first Eve wore that leaf as her own crown of petals." (p. 117)
"The light would reach us more quickly in the morning and fade more slowly at night if the whole earth were divided into vast flower beds that called forth the light at dawn and clutched it longer at nightfall. Nature instituted summer for flowers long before man took summer over for his own uses." (p. 40)
"Flowers are always peerlessly dressed, formal in splendor, at the height of elegance on all occasions except at the first appearance of the fruit when they change into something skimpy." (p. 56).
"The butterfly swims with its legs and tail, tries to crawl with its body, and beats its wings - the
threefold progress of fish, reptile, and bird all in one. Tripartite kingdom. An isoceles triangle of
animal." (p. 47).
Great Quotations from Malcolm
Idealism: "The idealist walks on tiptoe, the materialist on his heels".
Laughter: "We sometimes laugh from ear to ear, but it would be impossible for a smile to be wider than the distance between our eyes".
Words: "Our expression and our words never coincide, which is why the animals don't understand us."
(extraits de "Sens magique" © Lachenal & Ritter)
L'eau dit à la vague :
« Tu me bois. » - « Comment le pourrais-je ?
Repris la vague
Je suis ta bouche. »
La rosée Dit au soleil :
« Tu me vois ? »
« Non, dit le soleil, Je suis tes yeux. »
Elle mit Sa robe
Et puis
Le bleu de sa robe
Et elle alla
À un rendez-vous d'amour.
- Et quand elle revint ?
- Elle avait perdu
Sa robe
Elle avait gardé
Le bleu.
- Et depuis ?
- À chaque fois
Qu'elle n'est pas
En robe bleue
Elle se sent
Dévêtue.
La mer
Avait
Ouvert
Ses cuisses
Et on sentait
L'odeur
Des algues.
You are invited to submit items for inclusion, together with contact address, telephone & fax numbers, email etc.
Please email your requests to:
Madeleine or Clancy Philippe at philippe@enternet.com.au
Tel:03 9782 4990 Fax: 03 9782 4906
Email us at philippe@enternet.com.au
Designed and compiled by Madeleine and Clancy Philippe
Information contained in this homepage is given as supplied and in good faith. No responsibility is taken for any losses or misgivings which may arise from the use of any supplied information. We welcome emails bringing to our attention any inaccuracies or suggestions for improvement.
Copyright Clancy J Philippe - Compiled January 1997
