Spices, vanilla and the Pamplemousses Garden

The spice monopoly

In the 18th century nutmeg and cloves were worth a fortune, and the Dutch jealously controlled their production in South-East Asia. The French wanted to break that monopoly, and the Isle de France (Mauritius) became their testing ground.

Pierre Poivre, the aptly named intendant

Born in Lyon in 1719, Pierre Poivre ("poivre" means pepper) was appointed intendant of the Isle de France and Bourbon (Réunion); he settled in Mauritius in 1767 and stayed until 1772. He had already travelled across Asia in search of clove and nutmeg plants, and sources say he did not shy away from smuggling to obtain them. In Mauritius he had the plants acclimatised in a nursery, the first step towards spreading them across France's colonies.

A garden is born

The Mon Plaisir estate at Pamplemousses had been acquired in 1735 by Mahé de La Bourdonnais, who created a vegetable garden there to feed his household, Port Louis and passing ships. Pierre Poivre occupied it from 1768, bought it in 1770 and turned it into a true botanical garden with the naturalist Philibert Commerson. His successor, Jean-Nicolas Céré, devoted much of his fortune to it.

The garden today

Renamed the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden on 17 September 1988, in honour of Mauritius's first prime minister, it covers about 37 hectares. Highlights include the famous pond of giant water lilies (Victoria amazonica), some 85 kinds of palm, and the spice trees that are Poivre's legacy. The samadhi of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, cremated there in 1985, also stands in the garden.

What about vanilla?

Vanilla is an orchid native to Mexico. Outside its home range it would not fruit, for lack of a pollinating insect. In 1841, on neighbouring Réunion, a 12-year-old enslaved boy, Edmond Albius, devised a method of hand pollination that made large-scale cultivation possible; the technique is still used today. He never profited from his discovery and died in poverty in 1880. In Mauritius, vanilla mainly flavours the famous local tea, which appeared in 1919, and infused rums.

Visiting tips

The garden is large and hot: come early and bring water. An official guide will help you find the spice trees and let you smell the nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves.