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11 Dec 57 John Mauritius Mother ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Mauritius
Decr 11th 1857
My dear Mother
Our last mail, instead of leaving as it ought to have done on the 10th of Novr did not leave till about the 25th, so that you will not get the letters I wrote early in November until after New Year’s day.
The contractors for carrying the mail have declined carrying on the Postal service any more, so that we are all abroad at present for means of communication with England. There are steamers passing up almost every week to India, but the Post Office people are very negligent and rarely make up mails by these vessels and when they do send letters, merely give notice after the vessel has gone that a mail has been sent.
I am now spending a fortnight in the country at the house of a bachelor here named Brennan. He is a capital fellow and has always been great friends with the military. He began life as an indigo planter in India, but his health would not allow of his remaining there, so he came down here and after a time became manager of a sugar estate, and according to custom here, as he is resident manager, instead of receiving a salary, he has a share in the estate (one fifth) given him. He has been here some thirteen years and expects in a year or two, to be able to retire on from two to three thousand a year.
If Peter comes back here without getting employment, I shall try and persuade him to take to sugaring. For the first year or so he would only get about £80 a year with house, servant and table found, but he would soon rise to be overseer who I make out gets £200 a year or more, besides board and lodging and in Peter’s case, being as gentleman and intelligent, in six or seven years he would become manager of an estate and as there is always a good house on the estate all profit is real gain as living costs planters next to nothing unless they want come out swells with carriages and horses. In which case they must bleed pretty freely.
I have often thought of throwing up soldiering and taking to sugar myself, but having got on so far while so young, it seems a pity to throw away the chances I have of getting on in my profession. However, be that as it may, I go down to the sugar mill daily and learn all I can about the details of making sugar, for I think there is nothing like picking up all the information that is to be got and stowing it away in my ‘knowledge trap’. It may come in handy one day and even if it never does, it is just as well in my head as not.
It is now very near the rainy season and all planters are very hard at work to get in their crops – not because the rain would damage the crops but because it would make the roads soft and impassable.
We had a very smart touch of a hurricane last Sunday, which was accompanied, as is usual, with torrents of rain and when Brennan began to look rather blank as he saw the state his roads were in, I told him it was the effect of one day’s rain. He might now imagine the state we were in, in the Crimea after four months of it. And he then began to realise our sufferings when I explained to him that we had to walk through seven miles of that slush every day to get something to eat.
I am questioned very often about the Crimea here as they have not been inundated with great numbers of Crimean heroes, although they have a great idea (there being so many Frenchmen in the island) that the French did everything and we looked on: about which little fact I am rather inconvincible, and go rather to the opposite extreme, saying that the French only did very easy things & that they talked more than they worked.
I have not bought a horse yet, but I shall soon as I think we are likely to stay here now. So as soon as I see anything that I like I shall purchase and then apply for forage as I.M. * For it will not do to let claims be dormant too long, otherwise difficulties are thrown in the way of their being allowed when put in.
I cannot write any more just now, feeling very uncertain when the mail will leave, so for the present I will leave off and take a stroll down to the sugar house. They do not call them mills here.
There is a chance I believe of sending this letter by one of the steamers that has stopped here to coal and is now about leaving on its way to India with troops. I am supposed to be assisting at a marriage today and there is to be a party tonight to celebrate the wedding. All the actors are colored people, so I do not anticipate enjoying myself much at the dance. My leave was up yesterday but I applied for two days more in order to be present on this interesting occasion.
I hope to hear better accounts of my Father by the next mail, which is overdue more than ten days and which we do not expect to arrive for at least five more. I shall also be glad to hear that Arthur has passed for the Indian army. No more news of Peter and nothing about Julius in the Gazette as yet.
With kind love and best wishes to yourself and Helen and all the family.
Believe me ever
Your affectionate Son
J Wimburn Laurie
Decr 21st 1857
* I. M. – Inspector of Musketry