Isaac Johannes Lamotius or (1653–1710) was governor of Mauritius from 1677 to 1692. Lamotius was interested in arts and knowledge and became an ichtyologist; he made 250 drawings of fishes which are kept in Paris.

Life

Isaac was the son of Johannes Lamotius, who played a main part in the capturing of Dutch Malacca

Dutch Malacca

Dutch Malacca was the longest period of Malacca under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the Napoleonic Wars . This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay kingdoms due to the understanding earlier on...

 (January 1641) and married in Batavia the widow of Matthijs Quast

Matthijs Quast

Matthijs Quast was a Dutch explorer in the seventeenth century. He had made several voyages for the VOC to Japan, China and Siam.-Pacific Expedition:Matthijs Quast has become known for an unsuccessful expedition to the Pacific....

. As a sergeant major

Sergeant Major

Sergeants major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, Sergeants Major are usually appointments held by senior non-commissioned officers or warrant officers...

 he was stationed in Dutch Formosa (september 1642-?). In 1653 Johannes lived in Beverwijk

Not much is known about the early life of his son Isaac. In September 1677 he arrived on the island. In 1682 Joan Huydecoper II

Joan Huydecoper II

Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen II was the eldest son of burgomaster Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen I and the brother-in-law of the collector Jan J. Hinlopen and the sheriff Jacob Boreel. He was mayor of Amsterdam for 13 terms between 1673 and 1693...

 strongly urged the colonial administrators to undertake botanical research and stimulated the production of drawings of plants on the spot. He gave him instructions how to start an herbarium

Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

. In 1685 Huydecoper requested subtropical plants. A cucumis

Cucumis

Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the Cucurbitaceae family which includes the cucumber, true melons, the horned melon, and Cucumis anguria, the West Indian gherkin...

 arrived the year after in Amsterdam. Lamotius became an expert on the fauna and fauna of Mauritius and published daily journals. In 1688 the last three Dodo

Dodo

The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....

s were captured.

Some say his fifteen years of command saw the island descend into despotism and immorality was rife. When people complained in 1692, Lamotius and his second man were shipped to Batavia and tried in 1695, sentenced for private trade. He was banished for six years to the island of Rosengain, being chained on the most eastern of the Banda Islands

Banda Islands

The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The main town and administrative centre is Bandanaira, located on the island of the same name. They rise...

.

Source

• The dodo and scientific fantasies: durable myths of a tough bird

• Allister Macmillan, Mauritius illustrated: historical and descriptive, commercial and industrial facts, figures, and resources., London : W.H. & L. Collingridge, 1914