Pieter Both is the second highest mountain of Mauritius

Mauritius

Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...

. It is 820 metres tall. It is named after Pieter Both

Pieter Both

Pieter Both was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.Not much is known of his early years. In 1599, Both was already an admiral in the New, or Brabant Company. In that year, he traveled to the East Indies with four ships...

, the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...

. The notable feature of this mountain is the gigantic rock formation at the very top of it, which resembles a human head.

To climb the mountain following the main ridge takes about an hour, and is mildly difficult. It is mainly a scramble, and being exposed, a rope is advised. The dramatic boulder on the pinnacle is about 30 feet in diameter, and has several iron spikes fixed to it to aid climbing to the top. The top is flat and about six feet across.

Legend

There is a legend about this mountain, and how it acquired its shape. It tells of a man named Shiamantak who was very poor. He once passed near the mountain, and saw some fairies dancing in the forest. The fairies saw him, and allowed him to watch them dance on condition that he kept all this a secret. Due to his recurrent absences from home, his mother decided to get him married. On the wedding day, he left the festivities, to go and watch the fairies dancing. The wedding guests followed him, and asked why he was in the forest alone. He then betrayed the fairies' location, and as he pointed to show where they were, his finger and hand began to turn to stone. He was gradually transformed to a rock on the top of the mountain, as a retribution for breaking his promise.