Absolute Seychelles 2019

(John Hannent) #1
ABSOLUTE

SEYCHELLES


and the settlers facing starvation as their
commanders lost control. The grandly named
Jardin du Roi spice garden project ended
in fiasco. In May 1780, a ship was sighted
from Mahé. Believing it to be English and
not wanting the garden to fall into enemy
hands, the gardens were burnt to the ground.
When the ship sailed closer it was discovered
to be French after all. But by then it was
too late: the gardens and the spices, save

a cinnamon tree or two, were completely
destroyed. Other man-made destructions
occurred in those early years: the tortoise
population on Mahé was decimated with
many hundreds of tortoises shipped to
Isle de France or eaten by the settlers. By
1778 they were almost completely wiped
out on Mahé. The endemic Seychelles
crocodile was also hunted to extinction
as were several species of birds.

The colonies saw
some very hard
times over the first
few years, with
harvests failing
and the settlers
facing starvation as
their commanders
lost control.
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