MAURUA, one of the Society-Islands in the South Sea. It is a small island, entirely surrounded with Mauritius, with a ridge of rocks, and without any harbour for shipping. It is inhabited; and its productions are the same with those of the neighbouring islands. A high round hill rises in the middle of it, which may be seen at the distance of ten or twelve leagues.

MAURITIUS, or MAURICE, an island of Africa, about 500 miles east of Madagascar. It lies in the latitude of 20 and 21 degrees south; the climate warm, but very wholesome; the soil flaky. It is encumbered with high rocks and lofty mountains along the coasts; but within land it is tolerably flat and fertile, exceedingly well watered, abounding with fish, fowl, and cattle, plentifully stored with ebony and other valuable woods, and, in point of extent, large enough to invite and support a considerable colony. In the beginning of the 16th century it was discovered by the Portuguese, who, knowing that Pliny and other ancient writers had mentioned the island of Cerne in these seas, took it for granted that this must be it; and accordingly we find it called Cerne, or Sirne, in their maps; but, notwithstanding this, they did not think fit to settle it; and indeed their force was so small, in comparison of the vast dominions they grasped, that it was very excusable. However, according to their laudable custom, they put some hogs, goats, and other cattle upon it, that in case any of their ships either going to the Indies, or returning to Portugal, should be obliged to touch there, they might meet with refreshments. The Dutch, in the second voyage they made to the East-Indies under their admiral James Cornelius Vanneck, came together with five ships on the 15th of September 1568; anchored in a commodious port, to which they gave the name of Warwick Haven; and gave a very good account of the place in their journals. Captain Samuel Cailleton, in the Pearl, an English East-India ship, arrived there on the 27th of March 1612; and taking it to be an island undiscovered before, bestowed upon it the name of England's-Port, though others of his crew called it Pearl-Island, and in the account of their voyage, written by John Tatton the master of the ship, celebrated it as a place very convenient for shipping, either outward or homeward bound, to refresh at. This they sometimes accordingly did, and brought some cargoes of ebony and rich wood from thence, but without fixing any settlement.

At length, in 1638, the Dutch seated themselves here; and it is highly remarkable, that at the very time they were employed in making their first settlement, the French sent a vessel to take possession of it, who found the Dutch before-hand with them, and refused the assistance of an English Indiaman, wooding and watering in another part of the island, who very frankly offered it, to drive the Dutch from their half-settled posts. They continued for some time in quiet possession of the places they fortified in this island, to which they gave the name of Mauritius. But having engaged the French, who were settled on Madagascar, to steal 50 of the natives, and sell them for slaves, for the improvement of the Dutch settlements here, this proved the ruin of both colonies: for the negroes surprized and massacred the French in Madagascar; and the slaves in Mauritius fled into the centre of the island; from whence they so much and so incessantly molested those who had been formerly their masters, that they chose to quit a country where they could no longer remain in any tolerable degree of safety. The East-India company, however, from motives of convenience, and a very imperfect notion of its value, disapproved this measure, and therefore ordered it to be resettled; which was accordingly done, and three forts erected at the principal havens. Things now went on somewhat better than they did before; but they were still very much disturbed by the revolted negroes in the heart of the island, whom they could never subdue. One principal use that the company made of this place, was to send thither state-prisoners, who, as they were not men of the best morals, quickly corrupted the rest of the inhabitants, and rendered them such a race of outrageous smugglers, the situation of the place concurring with their bad dispositions, that, after various ineffectual attempts made to reform them, orders were at length given to abandon Mauritius a second time, which, after some delays, were put in execution in the year 1710.

In this deserted situation, it was occupied as a derelict, we cannot precisely say when, by the old French East-India company, who bestowed upon it the name of the Isle of France; by which, amongst their other possessions, it was granted to the present perpetual company of the Indies, who caused it to be settled, and, as if it had been a place of great significance, procured an edict for establishing a provincial council there, dependent upon that in the Isle of Bourbon; both which councils, however, were in all respects below the very meanest corporation in this country, yet that of the Isle of France was by much the meaner of the two. In truth, it had cost so much, and was considered in every light worth so little, that it had been more than once under deliberation, whether, after the example of the Dutch, they should not leave it again to its old negro inhabitants; which sooner or later in all likelihood would have been its fate, if, in 1735, the famous Mr de la Bourdonnaye had not been sent thither, with the title of governor-general of the French islands.

He found this island in the worst state possible, thinly inhabited by a set of lazy people, who equally hated industry and peace, and who were continually flattering this man to his face, and belying him wherever and as far as they durst. He gave himself no trouble about this, having once found the means to make himself obeyed; he saw the vast importance of the island; he conceived that it might be settled to great advantage; and, without so much as expecting the thanks of those for whom he laboured, he began to execute this great design. His first step was to bring over black boys from Madagascar, whom he carefully trained up in good principles, and in continual exercise; by which he rendered them so good soldiers, that he very quickly obliged the Marones, or wild negroes, either to submit, or to quit the island: he taught the planters to cultivate their lands to advantage; he, by an aqueduct, brought fresh water to the sea-side; and whereas they had not so much as a boat at his coming thither, he made a very fine dock, where he not only built sloops and larger vessels, but even a ship of the burden of 500 tons. However incredible it may seem, yet it is certainly fact, that in the space of five years he rendered this country a paradise, that had been a mere Mauritania, mere wilderness for 5000; and this in spite of the inhabitants, and of the company, who being originally prejudiced by them, behaved ill to him at his return. He soon made the cardinal de Fleury, however, sensible of the true state of things; and compelled the company to acknowledge, though they did not reward, his services. He afterwards returned into the Indies, and perfected the work he had begun; and to him it is owing that the Isle of France is at present one of the finest, as it was always one of the most important and improveable spots upon the globe.