The origin of learned societies in Mauritius dates back to the 18^th century when the very first mention was that of an Academy, the model of which had been drafted by Philibert Commerson, one of the world’s greatest botanists, travelling as naturalist on the Bougainville expedition around the world (1766 -1769). Pierre Poivre, then Intendent of the colony, had arranged for his friend to drop off here.

On the 15^th March 1801 the two ships forming the Nicolas Baudin expedition to the Australian waters stopped in Mauritius. A number of naturalists and scientists decided, tired and unwell after many months navigation, to stay in the colony for some time before returning to France.

Motivated and stimulated by this new arrival the intellectual community of the island decided to form in June of that same year the first learned society of the colony, the concept of which was drawn from Commerson’s vision. This was called the Société des Sciences et des Arts de l’Isle de France. The objectives were essentially the research and documentation of our natural history, and natural resources, meteorology, geography, medicine and the development of agriculture and industry. Thus, the principle objective was to undertake research and encourage its application for the greater benefit of the community. Already a very altruistic position. Unfortunately, this society lasted only until 1803.

In 1805 the Société d’Emulation was created, adopting the same programme as the previous one. It wrapped up its activities in 1818. The first British Governor of Mauritius, Sir Robert T. Farquhar, was the last president of this Society.

Interestingly enough, in 1817, probably foreseeing the end of that learned society, Farquhar was already investigating on the ways to create and organize an institution of public utility, the objectives of which would be to promote the advancement of the sciences, the arts, commerce and manufacture, favoring the modernization of agriculture and the expansion of the sugar cane industry.

It is only in 1829 that the conditions were again favorable for the creation of a new learned society, mainly due to the enthusiasm of a close collaborator of Farquhar, Charles Telfair, who gathered together a number of learned friends to form the Société d’Histoire Naturelle de Maurice. In 1846 the Society changed its name to the Société des Arts et des Sciences de Maurice (the Royal Society). In July 1847 the Society was given the Royal Charter by Queen Victoria to be called from thereon the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius.

The first publication of the Royal Society, then the Natural History Society of Mauritius, was released in 1830 with the title of First Annual Report on the Works of the Natural History Society of Mauritius. Thirteen of these reports were published between 1830 and 1842. From 1842 to 1846 these reports and other communications were produced in the form of unpublished Minutes of Meetings.

In August 1847 the first volume of the official publication of the Royal Society, the Transactions of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius, was published. Since then the Transactions appeared under different titles and formats until 1949 when the last volume was published.

In 1949 the Royal Society ceased to publish the Transactions and began a new series, the Proceedings of the Society, with Volume I: years 1949 – 1955. Seven other volumes were subsequently published on an irregular basis, the last one being Volume VIII in 2014.

These series represent a rather remarkable and diverse mix of names, numbering, quality of published articles, and publication formats offering a confusing discontinuity for those who either follow our publications, for example libraries, research institutions and universities, or those who would like to build collections or update themselves.

Since the 1930s, other Mauritian publications have accompanied the Royal Society in this process of promoting the country's natural sciences. In 1935 the Board of Directors of the Mauritius Institute, now the Port Louis Natural History Museum, decided to produce a publication, the Mauritius Institute Bulletin, to publish the natural history research of the Institute and other organizations in the fields of ecology and the biology of the flora and fauna of Mauritius and its outer islands. Volume 1 was released in 1936. The last issue, Volume 9, was released in 1984 and to be followed by the final volume more than 15 years later in 1999-2000. Since then the Museum of Port Louis has ceased all publications.

The University of Mauritius, whose objectives are teaching and research, should also participate and publish its research and encourage young researchers and theses producers to publish articles in one of the University's journals. Unfortunately, for many years now, no journal has been published by this institution. This means that the publication of the Royal Society remains the only one in the country to continue this work.

During the second half of the 20^th century many education and research institutions were created in post-independence Mauritius, largely taking over these roles earlier self-attributed by the learned societies, namely the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius. However, one very important role that remained was the publication of its journal.

Thus, in 2018, so as to fulfill these responsibilities and obligations, the Royal Society took the decision to fully maintain its own publication while taking on those of the Port Louis Natural History Museum and papers from the University of Mauritius in the fields that will be given below.

The Royal Society also took the decision to a) restructure the journal to be in line with modern standards of journal publication and b) to progressively renew with the old practice of the Transactions of publishing one volume per year.

As the publication is bilingual in French and English the name was changed to Journal of the Royal Society of Arts & Sciences of Mauritius, the term Proceedings being obscure for French authors and readers. The first issue under that name was published in early 2019 as Volume 1, 2018.

The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius is an independent peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal which aims to disseminate objective information related to the fields of interest to the Society covering research in all areas connected with the arts and natural sciences including archaeology, biodiversity and conservation, climate, ecology, geology, oceanography and zoology, an emphasis being placed on articles concerning the taxonomy, ecology and environmental issues relating to the fauna and flora of Mauritius and the Western Indian Ocean.

Whereas the Journal seeks to incorporate materials from its meetings, it welcomes submissions on other issues that are pertinent for Mauritius, the Western Indian Ocean and its islands.

Though the Journal will abide by the Rules and traditions of the Royal Society, its contents are not subject to scrutiny for approval by the Executive Committee of the Society. The Journal is thereby fully independent.

Pierre de B. Baissac

Editor

12.5.2020.