George Gardiner Alexander

“ The walls are unpapered; but the whitewash forms a pleasant contrast to the dark, dry, polished floor; and though the tables may not groan beneath the glorious sirloin, or display a very remarkable amount of plate, the whiteness of the cloth is dazzling, and a variety of fruits and flowers form an embellishment which to a “nature-loving eye” leaves nothing to be desired. Added to all this, there is an emancipation from the solitary system, and, as on the Continent, people eat, drink, and talk cheerfully and sociably together. ”

“ In the first instance, however, before I knew that I had a single friend upon the island, I had taken up my quarters at the Hotel d’ ——, which had the reputation of being then, as it possibly may have the reputation of being now, the best in Port Louis.
I like these tropical hotels. No heated, close coffee-rooms, permeated with that indescribable flavour, towards the support of which an unceasing contribution has been levied on the animal and vegetable kingdoms for, it may be, a quarter of a century. ”

“ I do not know a more delicious island than this self-same Mauritius. To a visitor it is full of charms, of which—happier than the resident, who is generally a victim to ennui—he has not time to become weary. ”