A crystalline blue winter sky greeted the members of the Historical Society of Mauritius, gathered at St James Cathedral in Port-Louis last Saturday, for what was to be the start of a fascinating journey through the capital?s past. The congregation, composed mostly of elderly people with a sprinkling of twenty-, thirty- and forty-somethings, meets twice a year to indulge its passion for discovering more of the island?s surprisingly rich past. As someone once said, ?He who refuses the lessons of the past will be condemned to live the same disasters.?

Phillipe La Hausse de Lalouvière, an erudite Society member, commenced the proceedings with a dissertation on the commemorative plaques that adorn the walls of the cathedral, or La Poudrière, as it was known under the French colonial rule (at that time it was the biggest gunpowder store in the Indian Ocean). It became an Anglican place of worship nearly 38 years after Reverend Sheppard, the Church of England chaplain, envisaged its transformation in 1812.

The marble plaques, in memory of some 70 politicians, functionaries and their families, are the sole guardians of a host of stories ? some tragic, some touching, none banal. For example, one is dedicated to the seamen, William Cawsey, William Hutchinson and Charles Hansen and their heroic yet doomed attempt, off Barkley Island, to aid the unfortunate passengers of the shipwrecked SS Taher.

Another plaque is dedicated to Francis William Tidy, a nine-year old who died in Simonstown in the Cape region of South Africa. La Hausse de Lalouvière elucidated the reason for the presence of Tidy?s name on the cathedral?s walls by recounting the travails of his grandfather, a certain William Wade West, who was a member of the Port-Louis municipal council in the 19th century.

<B>Opulent galas</B>

France Staub?s bittersweet history of Kerivel House, which was located on a plot of land next to the cathedral and where the St James Building now sits, followed. Captain Nicolas Baudin, Staub?s essay explained, spent his last days in the house and left it to his brother, Captain Augustin Baudin, as well as his most cherished possession, the Oriental Neptune, which contained the most accurate charts of the Indian Ocean and the China Seas. The history of Kerivel House revealed the colourful and sad lives of several 19th century families as well as the political and societal conditions of that epoch.

After St James Cathedral, the congregation of history aficionados convened in the garden opposite St Francois Xavier church in Abercrombie where Emanuel Juste, a perspicacious elderly gentleman who once worked at l?express, was to share his knowledge of the Despeaux ghost-house. His superb account, read with great poise by his son, told how the French military surgeon, Francis Despeaux, bought 15 acres of land in the sixth district of the capital in 1774. He built a grand home with a French garden and orchards on the land where he hosted opulent galas that were to be remembered long after his death in 1782.

When the Treaty of Amiens, which signaled the end of hostilities between the British and the French, came to an end, the house was transformed into a prison where British prisoners of war and their wives were interned. Juste told the poignant story of Matthew Flinders, a Royal Navy commander, who spent two years (1803-1805) in the Despeaux prison. It is called a ghost-house because no one really knows where it once sat; yet tales of its existence abound.

The Society?s history enthusiasts were then spirited off to the picturesque Vallée des Prêtres as the setting sun danced merrily on the contours of the mountains surrounding the valley. There, they visited another anecdote-rich dwelling, before proceeding to Caudan Waterfront where a discussion on the transit of Venus was held. All in all, a very informative and entertaining day. These biannual events offer a lot more than a string of dates and names. Instead, they provide a glimpse of bygone times when life was simpler. ?I cannot conceive of a more stupid quarter to be posted than Mauritius, their only amusement being a couple of ball courts, in very bad repair, and perhaps an occasional game of cricket. The men were prone to drink, as a man could be drunk for a penny?, observed the history journal of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Whether or not one agrees, the insight into centuries past is amusing.