Mauritius: A Tourist's Paradise(a)|模里西斯：观光客的天堂

Mauritius: A Tourist's Paradise

by Brian Foden

Mauritius is an island nation full of natural beauty and has a rich multi-lingual culture.

　　It's an idyllic island nation with more than 150 kilometers of white, sandy beaches situated in the Indian Ocean 2,000 kilometers off the coast of Africa. Home to a diverse array of rare plants and animals, the country has a tropical climate with a humid summer and a cool, dry winter. Mauritius is perhaps most famous for something it lost centuries ago. It used to be the only habitat of the dodo, a flightless bird that gained fame for becoming extinct. In many ways, the demise of the dodo speaks volumes about the early history of Mauritius.  

　　When the Portuguese discovered the island in 1507, there were no human inhabitants and no other land mammals, either. The Portuguese had little impact on the island, though, as they soon lost interest in it. The Dutch, on the other hand, established a colony on the island in 1638, and they gave the island the name of Mauritius after Prince Maurice van Nassau of the Dutch Republic. It was the Dutch who would also have a big influence on the fate of the dodo. Faced with no predators until the arrival of the Dutch, the dodo didn't have nor need the ability to fly. This meant it could be captured easily and eaten by sailors and the animals they introduced to the island. From the first time the dodo was mentioned by Dutch sailors to the last time it was recorded as being seen in 1662, less than 65 years had passed.

　　After the Dutch abandoned Mauritius in 1710, the French assumed control of it, but they were forced to give it to the British 100 years later as a condition of their defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. Mauritius proclaimed its independence in 1968, but the country kept its ties to Britain and remained a part of the Commonwealth until 1992.

模里西斯：观光客的天堂

模里西斯是一座充满自然之美，并具有丰富的多语言文化的岛国。

　　这是一座美丽宁静的岛屿国家，拥有一百五十多公里的白色沙滩，座落于非洲外海两千公里的印度洋上。该国是各式各样稀有植物和动物的发源地，它拥有夏季潮湿而冬季凉爽干燥的热带气候。模里西斯最有名的大概就是它在好几个世纪前失去的某样东西。它过去曾是渡渡鸟唯一的栖息地，这是一种不会飞的鸟，后来因绝种而声名大噪。在许多方面，渡渡鸟的死亡充份说明了模里西斯早期的历史。

　　葡萄牙人在 1507 年发现这座岛屿时，当地并没有人类居住，也没有其他陆生的哺乳类动物。然而，葡萄牙人对这座岛屿的影响并不大，因为他们很快就对它失去了兴趣。而另一方面，荷兰人于 1638 年在这座岛上建立了殖民地，他们以荷兰共和国的模里斯王子之名为此岛屿命名为模里西斯。荷兰人也对渡渡鸟的命运产生了很大的影响。渡渡鸟在荷兰人到达之前并没有天敌，牠不具备飞行的能力，也不需要这项能力。这意味着牠们可能会轻易地被水手及其引进到岛上的动物捕获并吃掉。从第一次荷兰水手谈到渡渡鸟，到最后一次于 1662 年记载有人看见牠，前后时间不到六十五年。

　　就在荷兰人于 1710 年舍弃模里西斯之后，法国人便接掌了它，但一百年后他们被迫将其让给英国，作为拿破仑战争中法国战败的条件。模里西斯于 1968 年宣布独立，但该国一直到 1992 年都与英国保持关系，且仍然归属大英国协的一员。（编按：1992 年，模里西斯共和国成立，最后一任总督林嘉杜成为临时总统。1992 年六月三十日，卡萨姆．乌提姆成为模里西斯共和国首任正式总统。）