Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Welcome to Paradise
The first visitors to the uninhabited island were probably Malay, Arab and European mar-
iners, none of whom stayed. Then, in 1642, the French took the decision to settle the is-
land, which at the time was called Mascarin. The first settlers arrived four years later,
when the French governor of Fort Dauphin in southern Madagascar banished a dozen
mutineers to the island.
On the basis of enthusiastic reports from the mutineers, King Louis XIV of France offi-
cially claimed the island in 1649 and renamed it Île Bourbon.
However appealing it seemed, there was no great rush to populate and develop the is-
land. It was not until the beginning of the 18th century that the French East India Com-
pany and the French government took control of the island.
Coffee, Anyone?
Coffee was introduced between 1715 and 1730 and soon became the island's main cash
crop. The island's economy changed dramatically. As coffee required intensive labour,
African and Malagasy slaves were brought by the shipload. During this period, cereals,
spices and cotton were also introduced as cash crops.
Like Mauritius, Réunion came of age under the governorship of the visionary Mahé de
Labourdonnais, who served from 1735 to 1746. However, Labourdonnais treated Île de
France (Mauritius) as a favoured sibling, and after the collapse of the French East India
Company and the pressure of ongoing rivalry with Britain the governance of Île Bourbon
passed directly to the French crown in 1764.
After the French Revolution, the island's name was changed to La Réunion (meaning
'Joining' or 'Meeting').
