Beachcomber Magazine 05

J . M. G. Le Clézio describes Le Morne Brabant in his novel Le chercheur d’or ( The Prospec- tor ): “ Morne did not have any trees or plants on it; it rose straight out of the sea like a lava stone. ” Stan- ding at 555 metres, the spectacu- lar mass of Le Morne mountain overlooks the beaches and la- goons that surround it on three sides. At the southwest tip of the island of Mauritius, its steep cliffs and flat top form a stone citadel in the shape of a sugar loaf, virtually inaccessible. Long devoid of any human life, Le Morne is home to a unique ecosystem where endemic species grow, like Trochetia bouto- niana , a rare shrub whose flower has become a national emblem of Mauritius. THE MOUNTAIN AS REFUGE Le Morne is more than just a natural sanctuary or a magnificent landscape for tourists and surfers. It was also the scene of a far darker period in Mauritian history. Because it was impregnable, its heights were for many years a refuge for escaped slaves, known as “Maroons”. Introduced by Dutch colonists in 1638 to cut down ebony trees for their wood and cultivate coffee and sugar cane, slavery continued when the island passed into French and later English hands. Not until 1 February 1835 was it abolished in Mauritius. During these two centuries of human trafficking, many slaves rebelled, fled and lived in hiding in the island’s mountains. Several archaeological digs have indicated the presence of Maroons on Le Morne. Skeletons, traces of en- campments and even of crops show that these men and women lived here, totally self-sufficient. In 1769, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, author of Paul et Virginie , wrote in his Voyage à l’Isle de France – as the island was called at the time – that Le Morne was “ surrounded by black Maroons ”. He added that “ forty of them ”, when chased, “ rather than surrendering, preferred to hurl themselves into the sea ”. These rebel Maroons, who often attacked plantations and killed colonists, were hunted mercilessly. When caught, they couldbebranded, whipped, mutilated, and even decapitated. Several attempts to remove them failed. One of these punitive expeditions turned to tragedy, when a group of Maroons chose to throw themselves off the cliff rather than fall into the hands of their persecutors. Another version of this episode has it that this collective suicide happened when they saw a troop of British officers, who in fact had come to announce the end of slavery… UNIVERSAL SANCTUARIES Whatever happened, Le Morne has become the symbol of the slaves’ suffering and their struggle for freedom. It has given rise to a wealth of imaginative stories. In the villages, tales and legends of its history are still told. The great Mauritian writer Malcolm de Chazal often came here to paint and write, particularly his Contes du Morne- Plage , a book for children based onmyths and dreams. The imposing volcanic rock of Le Morne is truly the guardian of human memory. The Mauritian Creole poet Sedley Richard Assonne hails it as an “ eternal sphinx / unchanging witness / stands / facing the horizon / like a huge refusal ” of oppression. Two Mauritian poets, Malcolm de Chazal and Sedley Richard Assonne, serving the same cause: freedom. Deux poètes mauriciens, Malcolm de Chazal and Sedley Richard Assonne, pour servir une même cause : la liberté. 