Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais born in St. Malo, Brittany, France arrived in the island on 4 June 1735. He was appointed by the Compagnie des Indes – the vassal of the King of France – to replace Governor Nicolas de Maupin. Labourdonnais’ arrival on the island attracted many settlers from his native province, Brittany.
Mahé de Labourdonnais, bought some 209 ‘arpents’ or 80 hectares of land and created the estate of Mon Plaisir in 1736. He began an Experimental Garden using mainly food plants introduced from Europe, Asia and as far away as Brazil to supply for the resident population as well as also to feed the crews of visiting ships.
Mahé de Labourdonnais had a system of water supply built in his Garden, and the cultivation of vegetables and useful plants begun.
He introduced amongst other species; Cinnamon (Cinnamonum zeylanicum) from India, Pepper (Piper nigrum and the Myrobolan (Terminalia bellirica). Manioc was acclimatized on the state of Mon Plaisir in 1741 as Labourdonnais wanted French settlers to begin growing it as a regular food supply.
The estate of Mon Plaisir was not yet at this time a Botanical Garden. Mahé de Labourdonnais is known for having developed the Isle de France under many respects including the town of Port Louis and agriculture especially the sugarcane industry by setting up two factories: one in Villebague in the North and in Ferney in the South East.