In 1616 Jacob le Maire and Willem Cornelis Schouten called at Juan Fernandez for water and fresh provisions.
He was maire of the village, tutor to Aurore's halfbrother, and, in addition to his other duties, undertook the education of the girl.
Subdivisions may be, and often are, named according to the particular duties to which they are assigned, as la police politique, police des mceurs, police sanitaire, &c. The officers of the judicial police comprise the juge de paix (equivalent to the English police magistrate), the maire, the commissaire de police, the gendarmerie and, in rural districts, the gardes champtres and the gardes forestiers.
He can annul or suspend the maire's decrees and he has also considerable control over public institutions, charitable and otherwise.
The most striking distinction, however, as against the villes consulaires was the elevation of the president of the body to the position of maire or mayeur (sometimes also called prevot, praepositus).