"TREASURE VIEWING IN MAURITIUS"

Museum Collections:

EUREKA HOUSE at Moka is an independent museum featuring antiques furniture, old lithographs and other objects from private collections. There are also public museums with collections of natural history, naval, historical and literary items, which come under the aegis of the Mauritius Institute.

 This was set up in 1880 to establish and incorporate a Public Institute, a Public Museum and a Public Library, for the purpose of promoting the general study and cultivation of the various branches and departments of Arts, Sciences, Literature and Philosophy and for the instruction and recreation of the people.

The HISTORICAL AND NAVAL MUSEUM is at Mahebourg, housed in an old French country house, built around 1722 and itself having an interesting history. It was in this building that the two wounded commanders of the English and French squadrons, the Admirals Willoughby and Duperre were treated during the naval battle of Grand Port in August 1810. The museum was opened in 1950.

Its collection of naval relics was created in 1939 and located in Port Louis until 1942. Also on display are pieces of furniture and objects of local historical interest, old maps, stamps, engravings and water colours depicting the scenery and customs of Mauritius in the past.

The only Memorial museum which exist in Mauritius is the ROBERT EDWARD HART MUSEUM at Souillac. This charming seaside bungalow built out of coral was the home of Mauritian poet, Robert Edward Hart (1891-1954). It was opened in 1967 and contains a collection of the poet’s memorabilia.

The treasure of the Institute lies in its library, a collection of books begun with the bequest of Sir Virgil Naz, an imminent Mauritian lawyer, and formally opened in 1903. It is housed above the Natural History Museum, reached by a stairway at the back of the building, and is free and open to the public.

In 1905, a reference library of works of local interest on the Mascarenes, Madagascar and the Indian Ocean was created. This collection has been added to regularly and can be studied in the room at the back of the lending-library section. The library of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences, stored in the building since 1885, is also open for study. In 1947 and Oriental Language section was also added.

The NATIONAL ARCHIVES once stored in Port Louis, are now housed in conditions not conducive to their preservation on an industrial estate at Coromandel.