A detention of some months longer, until orders should arrive from France, appeared now to be inevitable, and the captain-general, by withholding the charts, papers, and log book, seemed to desire that nothing should take off my attention from feeling the weight of his power; but both Mr. Aken and myself contrived to pass some months neither uselessly nor disagreeably. We associated at table with Mr. Robertson and the two young gentlemen of the Dedaigneuse, by which our society was enlivened; and between the employments of copying my bearing book and defaced journals, making some astronomical observations, reading, and the amusements of music, walking in the inclosure, and an old billiard table left in the house, the days passed along rather lightly than otherwise. A prisoner or two were occasionally added to our number from the prizes brought in; but when amounting to six or eight, they were marched off to join the other merchant officers at Flacq. The seamen there were kept closely confined; but the officers enjoyed some share of liberty, and were as happy as they could make themselves upon fourteen dollars a month, in a place where the necessaries of life were exorbitantly dear; the hospitality of the French families in the neighbourhood, however, aided them considerably, and they spoke of the kindness and attention received in high terms.

JUNE 1804

On June 1, captain Neufville, the officer commanding the guard over the Prison, demanded all the spy-glasses in our possession; at the same time promising that each should be returned when the owner had permission to quit the island, and threatening those with close confinement in the tower, by whom any glass should be concealed. There was no cause to doubt the authority captain Neufville had to make the threat, but it should seem he had none to promise the restitution of the glasses; for I saw all the officers depart, and to the best of my knowledge not one of them could obtain their own. When Mr. Robertson quitted the island, and he was one of the first, his spy-glass was not to be found. The French gentleman to whom he delegated his claim, wrote to the town major upon the subject; and the answer was, that all arms and instruments taken from prisoners of war were the lawful property of the captors, as a reward for their courage; that for himself, he had not taken advantage of this right, but had given the glass in question to an officer of La Semillante, to be used against the enemies of his country. This answer not appearing satisfactory, the gentleman replied that he did not understand how a spy-glass, belonging to a surgeon, as Mr. Robertson was, could be construed into arms or instruments of war. The owner had come to the island on account of his health, previously to the war, and been detained, therefore no extraordinary courage had been displayed in his case; and as these circumstances must have been forgotten by the major, he hoped the glass would be restored according to promise. To this no answer was returned; and whether all the glasses were given away, or how disposed of I did not learn, but had to regret the loss of two.

To the measure of taking away our spy-glasses was added that of nailing up the door leading to the flat roof of the house. At sunset the sentinel was accustomed to quit the outer gate, and to be posted before the door of the prison to prevent any person going into the inclosure after that time; then it was that a walk upon the roof, after the heat of the day was passed, became a real pleasure; but of this we were now deprived.* On the following day a demand was made by a serjeant of invalids, who lived in the house as police officer, of the swords and all other arms in possession of the prisoners, and of mine amongst the rest; but not choosing to deliver up my sword in this manner, I addressed a short letter to the captain-general, representing that it was inconsistent with my situation in His Britannic Majesty's service to do so; I was ready to deliver it to an officer bearing His Excellency's order, but requested that officer might be of equal rank to myself. In a week captain Neufville called to say, that it was altogether a mistake of the serjeant that my arms had been asked for, and he was sorry it had taken place; had the captain-general meant to demand my sword, it would have been done by an officer of equal rank; but he had no intention to make me a prisoner until he should receive orders to that effect. The explanation attending this apology seemed to be strange; and the next time captain Neufville came to the house I observed to him, that it appeared singular, after having been confined six months, to be told I was not a prisoner, and asked him to explain it. He said, no certainly, I was not a prisoner—my sword had not been taken away; that I was simply detained for reasons which he did not pretend to penetrate, and put under surveillance for a short period.

[* It being afterward suspected, and not without reason, that some of the gentlemen had forced the door, we were officially informed that the sentinels had received orders to shoot any one who might be seen on the roof; this produced greater circumspection, but the pleasure of the walk and having a view of the sea was such, that it did not wholly remedy the evil.]

In this affair of the sword I thought myself rather handsomely treated; but about three months afterward, one of the lower officers of the staff came to demand it in the name of the town major, by order of the captain-general. When told the circumstances which had occurred upon the same subject, he said the general had consented to my wish at that time, but had since altered his mind; and upon the promise of sending an officer of equal rank, he said there was no officer of the same rank at that time in readiness—that colonel D'Arsonval (the town major) would himself have come had he not been engaged. I might, by a refusal, have given the officer the trouble of searching my trunks, and perhaps have received some further degradation; but since the order had come from the general, who had broken his word, my sword was delivered, with the observation that I should not forget the manner of its being taken. The officer described himself as lieutenant-adjutant de place; he conducted himself with politeness, and did not ask if I or Mr. Aken had any other weapons.

A seaman of the Cumberland and another prisoner from Flacq made their appearance one morning behind the wall of our inclosure. They had come to make a complaint of the scantiness of their provisions; for besides bread, they had only six ounces of meat or fish in the day, without salt or vegetables, which afforded them but a poor dinner and was their only meal in twenty-four hours. Several petitions and complaints had been made to the officer who had charge of them, but without effect; and they at length resolved that two of their number should escape out of the prison, and go to the prefet to make their complaint. It was to be feared that they would be considered as prisoners attempting to escape, if found openly in the town; and therefore, after giving them money to satisfy their immediate hunger, my servant was sent with them and a note to the interpreter, requesting he would be good enough to take them to the town major's office, where they might tell their story; and the result was, that they were put on board the prison ship, and kept in irons for several weeks. Mr. Charrington, my boatswain, had hitherto been treated as a common seaman; but through the obliging mediation of M. Bonnefoy, the allowance and portion of liberty granted to mates of merchant ships were obtained for him; and by two or three opportunities I sent tea and a few dollars to the seamen, on finding they were so miserably fed.

In the middle of this month, two of the officers who had resided with their wives at Pamplemousses, obtained permission to go on their parole to India, through the interest of captain Bergeret. This worthy man had frequently come to the Garden Prison, and at this time undertook to apply to the captain-general for my books and papers, and for Mr. Aken and myself to be removed to Pamplemousses.

JULY 1804

On the 2nd of July he called early with information of having succeeded in both applications; he had even ventured to propose my being sent to France, but to this it was answered, that the affair being submitted to the decision of the government, I must remain until its orders were received.

In a few days M. Bonnefoy conducted me to the secretary's office, and I took out of the sealed trunk all the books, charts, and papers which required any additions, or were necessary to the finishing of others; as also a bundle of papers containing my passport commission, etc., and the shattered accounts of the Investigator's stores. For these a receipt was required, the same as before; but the third volume of my log book, for which so many applications had been made, was still refused. Word had been sent me privately, that the trunk had been opened and copies taken of the charts, but to judge from appearances this was not true; and on putting the question to colonel Monistrol, whether the trunk or papers had been disturbed, he answered by an unqualified negative. In regard to our living in the country, the general had said to captain Bergeret, "he should think further upon it;" and this we were given to understand must be considered as a retraction of his promise: a second example of how little general De Caen respected his own word.

Charles Lambert, Esq., owner of the Althaea indiaman, brought in some time before as a prize, having obtained permission to go to England by the way of America, and no restriction being laid upon him as to taking letters, had the goodness to receive a packet for the Admiralty, containing copies of the charts constructed here and several other papers.

AUGUST 1804

In August I found means of sending to India, for Port Jackson, a letter addressed to governor King; describing my second passage through Torres' Strait, and the bad state of the Cumberland which had obliged me to stop at Mauritius, with the particulars of my imprisonment and the fate of his despatches. This letter was received in the April following, and extracts from it were published in the Sydney gazette; wherein was made a comparison between my treatment in Mauritius and that of captain Baudin at Port Jackson, as described by himself and captain Melius. This account was copied into the Times of Oct. 19, 1805, whence it afterwards came to my knowledge.

One advantage of being confined in the Garden Prison rather than at the Cafe Marengo, was in the frequency of visitors to one or other of the prisoners; permissions were required to be obtained from the town major, but these were seldom refused to people of respectability. In this manner we became acquainted with all the public news, and also with the opinions entertained in the island upon the subject of my imprisonment. Those who knew that I had a passport, and was confined upon suspicion only, thought the conduct of the captain-general severe, impolitic, and unjust; and some who pretended to have information from near the fountain head, hinted that if his invitation to dinner had been accepted, a few days would have been the whole of my detention. Others understood my passport and papers to have been lost in the shipwreck, and that it was uncertain whether I were the commander of the expedition on discovery or not; whilst many, not conceiving that their governor could thus treat an officer employed in the service of science without his having given some very sufficient cause, naturally enough made a variety of unfavourable conjectures, and in due time, that is, when these conjectures had passed through several hands, reports were in circulation of my having chased a vessel on shore on the south side of the island—of soundings and surveys of the coast found upon me—and of having quarrelled with the governor of New South Wales, who had refused to certify on my passport the necessity of quitting the Investigator and embarking in the Cumberland; and this last seemed to have acquired credit. I will not pretend to say, that general De Caen had any part in propagating these reports, for the purpose of satisfying the curiosity of an inquisitive public and turning its attention from the truth, though far from thinking it improbable; be that as it may, the nature of my voyage, our shipwreck, the long passage made in the little Cumberland, and our severe imprisonment, had excited a considerable degree of interest; and I was told that this imprisonment had been mentioned in an anonymous letter to the captain-general, as one of the many tyrannical acts committed in the short time he had held the government of the island.

One of the persons who asked permission to see me, was M. Augustin Baudin, brother of the deceased commander of Le Geographe; he testified the grateful sense his brother had always entertained of the generous reception and great assistance received from governor King at Port Jackson, and expressed his own regret at not being able to do any thing for my release. On learning from him that a letter still existed, written by captain Baudin to a member of the tribunal of appeal in Mauritius, I succeeded in obtaining an extract, of which the following is an exact translation.

On board Le Geographe, New Holland, Port Jackson, the 3rd December, 1802.

After having traversed the sea in different directions for nine months after leaving Timor, I came to Port Jackson to pass the winter. The scurvy had then made such rapid progress, that I had no more than twelve men fit for duty when I arrived in this colony. The succours which were lavishly bestowed, the affectionate and obliging cares of governor King, his unremitting conduct and proceedings beyond example, every thing in fine, has concurred to make the effects of this disorder less fatal than the first (a dysentery contracted at Timor), although the cause was not less serious. I cannot pass in silence an act of humanity to which our situation gave rise. These are the facts.

On our arrival at Port Jackson, to the number of a hundred and seventy persons, the resources in corn were far from abundant; a great inundation and the overflowing of the River Hawkesbury, having in part destroyed the harvest which was upon the eve of being got in, and the following one being distant and uncertain, was not a fortunate circumstance for us. Nevertheless we were made perfectly welcome, and so soon as our present and future wants were known, the ration given daily to the inhabitants and the garrison was reduced one-half. The governor and the civil and military officers set the example of this generosity, which was immediately followed by the others. We were not only strangers, but still at war, for the news of the peace was not yet known.

The original extract in my possession, is certified to be true by the gentleman to whom the letter was addressed. Its contents afford a contrast to the proceedings of the governor of Mauritius, too striking to require any comment.

Amongst the acquaintances formed whilst in the Garden Prison, the most agreeable, most useful, and at the same time durable, was that of a young French merchant; a man well informed, a friend to letters, to science, and the arts; who spoke and wrote English, and had read many of our best authors. To him I am principally indebted for having passed some agreeable days in prison, and his name therefore merits a place in this history of the misfortune which his friendship contributed to alleviate; nor am I the sole English prisoner who will mention the name of Thomas Pitot with eulogium.

On the 27th, an English squadron consisting of two ships of the line and two frigates, under the command of captain John Osborn, arrived to cruise off the island.

SEPTEMBER 1804

Some days afterward, my boatswain and six of the merchant officers, prisoners at Flacq, made their escape to one of the ships. The captain-general, in a paroxysm of rage, ordered the officer commanding at Flacq to be dismissed, and every Englishman in the island, without distinction, to be closely confined; neither paroles of honour, nor sureties, nor permissions previously given to depart, being respected. Six were brought to the Garden Prison, of whom the captains Moffat and Henry from Pamplemousses were two, and their wives followed them. The seamen and remaining officers from Flacq passed our gate under a strong guard, and were marched to an old hospital about one mile on the south-west side of the town; where the seamen were shut up in the lower, and the officers in the upper apartment, there being only two rooms.

The arrival of the squadron gave the prisoners a hope of being released, either from a general exchange, or for such Frenchmen as our ships might take whilst cruising off the island; even Mr. Aken and myself, since our swords had been taken away, conceived some hopes, for we were then prisoners according to the definition of M. Neufville. There was, however, no intercourse with the squadron until the 19th, on which, and the two following days, a frigate was lying off the port with a flag of truce hoisted, and boats passed and repassed between her and the shore. Our anxiety to know the result was not a little; and we soon learned that captain Cockburne of the Phaeton had come in for the purpose of seeing general De Caen; but on entering the port he had been met, blindfolded, and taken on board the prison ship, which was also the guard ship; that finding he could not see the general, and that no officer was sent to treat with him, he left a packet from captain Osborn and returned in disgust. His mission, we were told, was to negotiate an exchange of prisoners, particularly mine; but in the answer given by general De Caen it was said, that not being a prisoner of war, no exchange for me could be accepted; nor did any one obtain his liberty in consequence.

OCTOBER 1804

Few persons were admitted to the Garden Prison during the presence of the English squadron; but it did not prevent captain Bergeret and M. Bonnefoy from coming occasionally. In the end of October I learned with much regret, that the interpreter had been dismissed from his employment, in consequence of having carried only one copy of the same newspaper to general De Caen, when two had been found in an American vessel which he had boarded off the port, according to custom; the other had been communicated to some of his friends, which was deemed an irremissible offence. This obliging man, to whom I was under obligations for many acts of attention and some of real service, feared to ask any future permission to visit the Garden Prison.

Admiral Linois arrived from a cruise on the 31st, with three rich prizes, and got into Port Bourbon unimpeded by our ships, which were off another part of the island; and the same evening commodore Osborn quitted Mauritius. Mr. Robertson and Mr. Webb of the Aplin were now permitted to go to England by the way of America [NOVEMBER 1804]; and I took the good opportunity of sending by the first of these gentlemen a copy of the general chart of Terra Australis, comprehending the whole of my discoveries and examinations in abridgment, and a paper on the magnetism of ships addressed to the president of the Royal Society.* Four officers of the army also obtained permission to go to India, on condition of returning, should four French officers whose names were specified, be not sent back in exchange; and two other gentlemen left the Garden Prison, and the island soon afterward. In lieu of these, were sent in captain Turner and lieutenant Cartwright of the Indian army, and the officers of the Princess Charlotte indiaman.

[* This paper was read before the Society, and published in the Transactions of 1805, Part II.]

By information received from the Grande-Riviere prison, where the merchant officers and the seamen were confined, it appeared that my six remaining people, and no doubt many others, were very miserable and almost naked; having been hurried off suddenly from Flacq, and compelled to leave their few clothes behind. On this occasion I addressed the captain-general on the score of humanity, intreating him either to order their clothes to be restored, or that they should be furnished with others; and on the same day an answer was returned in the most polite manner by colonel D'Arsonval, saying that an order had been given for all the prisoners to be fresh clothed, and their wants supplied. Six weeks afterward, however, finding that the poor seamen remained in the same naked state as before, I wrote to remind the town major of what he had said; requesting at the same time, if it were not intended to give these unfortunate men any clothing, that Mr. Aken might be permitted to visit them, in order to relieve their urgent necessities from my own purse. No answer was returned to this letter, but it produced the desired effect.

DECEMBER 1804

My hopes of a speedy liberation by an order of the first consul became weakened in December, on seeing nothing arrive to confirm them after a whole year's imprisonment. On the 17th I wrote to remind the captain-general that one year had elapsed; and requested him to consider that the chance of war rendered the arrival of despatches uncertain—that I was suffering an irretrievable loss of time, and very severely in my health, advancement, and every thing that man holds dear; I begged him to reflect, that the rights of the most severe justice would be ensured by sending me to France, where the decision of my fate was remitted; and where, should the judgment of the French government be favourable, it could be immediately followed by a return to my country and family, and the resumption of my peaceable labours. No answer being given at the end of a week, a second letter was sent, inclosing a copy of the extract from captain Baudin; and His Excellency was requested to compare the treatment of the French commander at Port Jackson with what I had received at Mauritius, and at least to give Mr. Aken and myself the liberty of some district in the island where we might take exercise, and find the amusement necessary to the re-establishment of our health; but neither of these letters obtained any reply, or the least notice.

Mr. Aken had been removed to the hospital in September, and after a stay of six weeks had returned, more from finding himself so ill accommodated and fed than from the improvement in his health. He now declined rapidly; [JANUARY 1805] and my own health was impaired by a constitutional gravelly complaint to which confinement had given accelerated force, and by a bilious disorder arising partly from the same cause, from the return of hot weather, and discouraging reflections on our prospects. We were therefore visited by Dr. Laborde, principal physician of the medical staff, who judged the air and exercises of the country to be the most certain means of restoration; and in order to our procuring them, he gave a certificate which I sent to general De Caen through colonel Monistrol, then become town major. No answer was returned; but after some days it was told me that Dr. Laborde had received a message from the general, desiring him not to interfere with matters which did not concern him; and this was the sole mark of attention paid to his certificate or to our situation.*

[* The doctor had said in his certificate, "J'estime qu'il faut prevenir 'augmentation de ses maux; et en le secourant apropos, c'est assurer la conservation d'un homme dont les travaux doivent servir aux progres des sciences, et a 1'utilite de ses semblables."]

Being thus disappointed in every attempt to procure an amelioration for my companion and myself, I sought the means of dispensing with the captain-general's humanity. I rose very early, and took much exercise in our inclosure before the heat of the sun, became too powerful; and applied closely to the charts and accounts of my voyage, which ill health and a languid melancholy had for some time caused to be neglected. By perseverance in these means, my disorders were at least prevented from becoming worse; but more particularly I acquired a tranquil state of mind, and had even the happiness of forgetting general De Caen, sometimes for days together. The strength of my companion was too much exhausted for such a regimen; and he was obliged to return to the hospital, being so much reduced that there was reason to fear for his life.

Several military and merchant officers obtained permissions at this time to depart on parole, some to India, others to America; which furnished opportunities of writing many letters. I addressed one to admiral Rainier, the commander in chief of His Majesty's ships in India, upon the subject of my detention; and another to lord William Bentinck, governor of Madras, in favour of two relations of my friend Pitot, who were prisoners under his government; and it is with much gratitude to His Lordship that I add his more than compliance with the request: he not only set the two prisoners at liberty, but used his endeavours to procure my release from general De Caen.

On the 29th, an American vessel arrived from France with many passengers, and amongst them monsieur Barrois, the brother-in-law of the general. He was charged with despatches; and I was told upon good authorities that he had been sent to France in Le Geographe upon the same service, in December 1803. The knowledge of this fact gave an insight into various circumstances which took place at, and soon after my arrival at Mauritius. Le Geographe having an English passport, was equally bound with myself to observe a strict neutrality; and the conveyance of an officer with public despatches in time of war was therefore improper. Common report said, that captain Melius objected to it, as compromising the safety of his ship and results of the voyage; but on its being known from the signals that an English vessel was on the south side of the island, M. Barrois embarked secretly, and the ship was ordered off the same evening. Hence I missed seeing her, and was arrested on arriving at Port Louis without examination; and hence it appeared to have been, that an embargo was immediately laid on all foreign ships for ten days, that none of our cruisers might get information of the circumstance and stop Le Geographe; hence also the truth of what was told me in the Cafe Marengo, that my confinement did not arise from any thing I had done.

Such was the respect paid by general De Caen to the English passport; and how little sacred he held that given by his own government for the protection of the Investigator's voyage, will in part have already appeared. The conduct of the British government and its officers in these two cases was widely different. In consequence of the English passport, the Geographe and Naturaliste were received at Port Jackson as friends, and treated with the kindness due to their employment and distressed situation, as will satisfactorily appear from M. Peron's account of their voyage; and with regard to the French passport, it may be remembered that the Admiralty directed me, on leaving England, not even to take letters or packets other than such as might be received from that office, or that of the secretary of state; and the despatches sent from those offices were to governor King alone, and related solely to the Investigator's voyage. I was ordered to stop at Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope, but neither to the officers commanding His Majesty's land or sea forces at one, nor at the other place was any despatch sent; although no opportunity of writing to the Cape had for some time presented itself.

FEBRUARY 1805

The return of M. Barrois gave a reasonable hope that the captain-general might have received orders concerning me, and that some thing would be immediately determined; but a whole month passed in silence as so many others had before done. It was reported, however, as having come from the general, that the council of state had approved of the precautions he had taken; but whether it had decided upon my being set at liberty, sent to France, or continued a prisoner, was not said.

There were at this time only six officers in the Garden Prison, Mr. Aken being still at the hospital; lieutenant Manwaring of the Bombay marine, before commander of the Fly packet, with two of his officers had possession of one part of the house, and Messrs. Dale and Seymour, midshipmen of the Dedaigneuse, lived with me in the other. These two young gentlemen, the first in particular, aided me in making copies of charts and memoirs, in calculating astronomical observations, etc.; and I had much pleasure in furnishing them with books and assisting their studies.

MARCH 1805

In the beginning of March, I was surprised to see in the official gazette of the French government, the Moniteur of July 7, 1804, a long letter from Dunkirk addressed to the editor; containing many particulars of my voyage, praising the zeal with which it had been conducted, and describing my detention in Mauritius as a circumstance which had originated in a mistake and was understood to be terminated. In the succeeding Moniteur of the 11th, some observations were made upon this letter on the part of the government, which afforded some insight into what was alleged against me; and these being important to the elucidation of general De Caen's policy, a translation of them is here given.

MONITEUR, No. 292.

Wednesday 22 Messidor, year 12; or July 11, 1804.

In a letter from Dunkirk, addressed to the editor of the Moniteur, and inserted in the paper of the 18th of this month, No. 288, we read an account of the voyage of Mr. Flinders, an English navigator, who arrived at the Isle of France the 24 Frimaire last, in the schooner Cumberland. The author of the letter in the Moniteur says, that Mr. Flinders, "not knowing of the war, stopped at the Isle of France which was in his route, to obtain water and refreshments: that some secret articles in his instructions gave rise to suspicions upon which the captain-general at first thought it his duty to detain him prisoner; but that, nevertheless, the passports he had obtained from the French government and all other nations, the nature even of his expedition which interested all civilized people, were not long in procuring his release."

The fact is, that Mr. Flinders not knowing of, but suspecting the war, ventured to come to the Isle of France; where having learned its declaration, he doubted whether the passport granted him by the French government in the year 9, would serve him. In reality, the passport was exclusively for the sloop Investigator, of which it contained the description; and it is not in the Investigator that he has been arrested, but in the Cumberland.

The same passport did not permit Mr. Flinders to stop at French colonies but on condition that he should not deviate from his route to go there; and Mr. Flinders acknowledges in his journal that he deviated voluntarily, (for the Isle of France was not in his passage, as the author of the above cited letter says). In fine, the passport granted to Mr. Flinders did not admit of any equivocation upon the objects of the expedition for which it was given: but we read in one part of his journal, that he suspected the war; and in another, that he had resolved to touch at the Isle of France, as well in the hope of selling his vessel advantageously, as from the desire of knowing the present state of that colony, and the utility of which it and its dependencies in Madagascar could be to Port Jackson.

As the passport given by the French government to Mr. Flinders, an English navigator, was far from admitting an examination of that nature in a French colony; it is not at all surprising that the captain-general of that colony has arrested him; and nothing announces as yet, that he has thought it necessary to release him.

An elaborate refutation of these trifling, and in part false and contradictory charges, will not, I should hope, be thought necessary. By turning to Chapter 3 (December), and comparing my reasons for putting in at Mauritius with what the Moniteur says, it will be seen that the necessity of the measure, arising from the bad state of the Cumberland, is kept wholly out of sight; and that in giving the subordinate reasons, there is much omission and misrepresentation. The charges, even as they stand in the Moniteur, amount to nothing, if my suspicion of the war be taken away; and it has no other foundation than that, being a stranger to what had passed in Europe for twelve months, I thought there was a possibility of war between England and France; and thence deduced an additional reason for stopping at Mauritius where my passport would be respected, in preference to going on to the Cape of Good Hope where it might not. This suspicion, which is twice brought forward, is moreover contradicted by inference, in the Moniteur itself. It says, "Mr. Flinders not knowing of, but suspecting the war, ventured to come to the Isle of France; where having learned its declaration, he doubted whether the passport would serve him." Now it is not credible, that with such a suspicion, and being aware, consequently, of the great importance of the passport, I should wait until arriving at the island before seeking to know its particular contents; but going to Mauritius under the belief of peace, and finding war declared, an examination of the passport was then natural. It is true that I did then entertain some apprehensions, from not finding any provision made for another vessel in case of shipwreck or other accident to the Investigator; but my confidence in the justice and liberality of the French government overcame them; and had general Magallon remained governor, this confidence would most probably have been justified by the event.

How my reasons for stopping at Mauritius were worded in the log book, I certainly do not remember correctly, nor how far they were accompanied with explanations; and particular care has been taken to prevent me giving the words themselves; but is it possible to suppose, that suspecting the war and entertaining inimical designs, I should have inserted this suspicion and these designs in my common journal? Or that, having done so, the book would have been put into the hands of general De Caen's secretary, and these very passages pointed out for him to copy? Yet the reasons alleged in the Moniteur, to be true, require no less.

The assertion that I acknowledge to have deviated voluntarily from my route, for the Isle of France was not in my passage—if voluntarily mean, without necessity, must be false altogether. I had intended to pass the island without stopping, and probably said so; but that the intention was altered voluntarily, could not have been said, for the necessity arising from the bad state of the schooner was alleged for it. Whether Mauritius be in the passage from Timor to the Cape of Good Hope, any seaman or geographer who knows the trade winds, can tell: it is as much in the passage as is the Cape in going from Europe to India. The above assertion induced me to examine captain Cook's track from Timor to the Cape, as it is traced upon Arrowsmith's general chart, and to measure the distance from a certain part of it to Port Louis, and from thence to regain the track really made; and I found that his distance would not have been increased so much as one hundred miles; or less than the half of what ships augment their distance by stopping at Table Bay, in their route to India. It may perhaps be said, that my voluntary deviation and the island not being in the passage, apply only to my intention of passing Mauritius and then changing it. If so, the assertion could only be made for superficial readers, and contains nothing; such, in fact, are all the charges when duly examined, not excepting the pretence that the passport was exclusively for the Investigator; and more has already been said upon them than is due to their real importance.

These Moniteurs, however, informed me of two material circumstances—that there was at least one person in France who viewed my detention in its true light, and that the government had either been deceived by the representations of general De Caen, or coincided with his views from some secret motive; consequently, that too much reliance ought not to be placed in an early liberation by its orders. I then determined to write to monsieur De Fleurieu, author of the instructions to La Perouse, etc., and counsellor of state, who might be supposed to interest himself in my voyage; and annexed to the letter copies of papers showing the reception given to the French ships at Port Jackson, and the necessity which had forced me to stop at Mauritius; and begged him in the name of humanity and the sciences, to use his influence that I might either be permitted to continue the voyage, or otherwise be ordered to France for examination. My worthy friend Pitot wrote to the same effect, to M. De Bougainville, the navigator and counsellor of state—to M. De la Lande, the astronomer—to M. Chaptal, minister of the interior—and to M. Dupuis, counsellor of state; and admiral Linois had the goodness to write to M. De Fleurieu in favour of my request. At the same time I wrote to the secretary of the Admiralty, inclosing a copy of the first letter; and all these being sent away in duplicate, by opportunities which occurred soon afterward, every step seemed to have been taken that could afford any hope of liberty and the restitution of my books and papers.

APRIL 1805

The fate of my officers and people on board the Rolla had been a subject of some anxiety; but about this time I had the satisfaction to learn from the public papers, that they had arrived safely in England; that lieutenant Fowler and the officers and company of the Porpoise had been honourably acquitted of all blame for the loss of the ship, and that Mr. Fowler had much distinguished himself in the action between the China fleet and admiral Linois' squadron.

MAY 1805

Permissions being granted to several prisoners to go away on their parole in American vessels, Mr. Aken, who still remained at the hospital, conceived hopes that his might pass amongst the rest, if he applied. In this notion I encouraged him, since my own prospects were so obscure; and recommended that his plea should turn wholly upon his long-continued ill health, and to say nothing of his connexion with me. The application was made accordingly; and on the 7th, he came to the Garden Prison with the unexpected information of being then at liberty to depart, on giving his parole "not to serve against France or its allies, until after having been legally exchanged;" that is, as a prisoner of war.

It seemed doubtful whether this permission had been granted from motives of humanity, from forgetfulness, or from some new plan having been adopted; the general might possibly have received orders, permitting him to dispose of us as he should think proper, and have no objection to getting rid of me also, as a prisoner of war, provided an application gave him the opportunity. In this uncertainty of what might be his intentions, I wrote to colonel Monistrol, requesting him to state the length of my imprisonment and ill health; and to move His Excellency to let me depart on parole, or in any other way he should judge proper; but it appeared after waiting several days, that the colonel foreseeing the request could answer no purpose, had not laid it before the captain-general. I then resolved to make good use of the opportunity presented by Mr. Aken's departure, and from this time to that of his sailing, was fully occupied in making up my despatches; and Mr. Aken's health being improved, he took up his residence in the Garden Prison for the purpose of giving his assistance.

Besides a general chart of Terra Australis, showing the whole of my discoveries, examinations and tracks in abridgment, this packet for the Admiralty contained nine sheets upon a scale of four inches to a degree of longitude, and three sheets of particular parts in a larger size; also five chapters of a memoir explanatory of their construction, of the changes in the variation on shipboard, etc.; an enlarged copy of my log book, with remarks and astronomical observations from the commencement of the voyage to quitting the north coast of Terra Australis in March 1803; and a book containing all the bearings and angles which entered into the construction of the charts. The time keeper, with the mathematical and nautical instruments belonging to the Navy Board were also sent; and in fine, either the original or a copy of every thing in my possession which related either to the Investigator or the voyage.

Mr. Campbell, commander of the American ship James, bound to New York, liberally gave Mr. Aken and some other prisoners a passage free of expense;* and the paroles they were required to sign laying no other injunction than that of not serving until legally exchanged, the books. etc. above mentioned, with many letters both public and private, were safely embarked; and on the 20th in the evening, the ship got under sail, to my great satisfaction. Of the ten officers and men who had come with me to Mauritius, only four now remained; one was in the hospital with a broken leg, another with me in the Garden Prison, and two were shut up at the Grande Riviere. A seaman had been allowed to go with Mr. Aken in the James, and all our endeavours were used to obtain permission for the two in prison to embark also, but without effect; about a month afterwards, however, they were suffered to enter on board an American ship, at the request of the commander.

[* It gives me pleasure to say, that almost the whole of the American commanders were ready to accommodate the English prisoners who, from time to time, obtained leave to depart, and the greater number without any other expense than that of laying in provisions for themselves; some were received on board as officers for wages, and others had a table found for them without any specified duty being required. In most cases these were beneficent actions, for, as will readily be imagined, the greater part of the prisoners had no means of obtaining money in Mauritius; the military officers, however, and those who had money at their disposal, were required to pay for their passages, and in some cases, dear enough.]

JUNE 1805

On June 4, a fortnight after Mr. Aken had sailed, captain Osborn again came off the island, with His Majesty's ships Tremendous, Grampus, Pitt, and Terpsichore; and an embargo on all foreign vessels was, as usual, the immediate consequence. On the 23rd, the ship Thetis arrived from Bengal under cartel colours, having on board captain Bergeret, with such of his officers and people as had not been killed in the action he had sustained against our frigate the St. Fiorenzo. This arrival animated the spirits of all the prisoners in the island; and the return of my friend Bergeret even gave me some hopes, particularly after the reception of a note from him, promising to use his exertions to obtain a favourable change in my situation. Mr. Richardson, commander of the Thetis, informed us some days afterward [JULY 1805], that all the prisoners of war would be allowed to go to India in his ship, and that hopes were entertained of an application for me also being successful. Captain Bergeret did not call until the 3rd of July, after having used his promised endeavours in vain, as I had foreseen from the delay of his visit; for every good Frenchman has an invincible dislike to be the bearer of disagreeable intelligence.

On the 5th, a letter came from Mr. Lumsden, chief secretary of the government at Calcutta, acknowledging the receipt of mine addressed to the marquis Wellesley in May 1804; he said in reply, "that although the governor-general had felt the deepest regret at the circumstances of my detention and imprisonment, it had not been in His Excellency's power to remedy either before the present time. The ship Thetis," he added, "now proceeds to the Isle of France as a cartel; and I have the honour to transmit to you the annexed extract from the letter of the governor-general to His Excellency general De Caen, captain-general of the French establishments to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. The governor-general entertains no doubt that the captain-general of the Isle of France will release you immediately on receipt of that letter."

EXTRACT.—I avail myself of this opportunity to request your Excelleney's particular attention to the truly severe case of captain Flinders; and I earnestly request Your Excellency to release captain Flinders immediately, and to allow him either to take his passage to India in the Thetis, or to return to India in the first neutral ship.

Mr. Lumsden's letter and the above extract were inclosed to me by the secretary of general De Caen, who at the same time said, "I wish with all my heart that the captain-general could accede to the request of His Excellency the marquis Wellesley; but the motives of your detention having been of a nature to be submitted to the French government, the captain-general cannot, before he has received an answer, change any thing in the measures which have been adopted on your account." Thus whatever hope had been entertained of liberation from the side of India was done away, but I did not feel less gratitude to the noble marquis for his attempt; after eighteen months of indignities, this attention, and the previous arrival of the two relations of my friend Pitot, set at liberty by lord William Bentinck, were gratifying proofs that my situation was known and excited an interest in India.

An exchange of prisoners was soon afterwards agreed upon between commodore Osborn and colonel Monistrol, with the exception of post-captains and commanders in the navy and officers of similar rank in the army; it was not said that the exceptions had any reference to captain Bergeret or myself, the sole officers in Mauritius of the ranks specified, but it seemed probable.

On the 28th, the ship Prime arrived from Bombay with French prisoners, having on board lieutenant Blast of the Company's marine, as agent; admiral Linois had met the ship near Ceylon, and taken seventy-nine of the French seamen on board his squadron, notwithstanding the representation of Mr. Blast that no exchange had yet been settled. This proceeding was said to be disapproved by general De Caen; and afterwards to be the cause of the exchange being declared void by Sir Edward Pellew, then become commander in chief in the Indian seas.

AUGUST 1805

There was at this time an almost uncontrolled liberty to enter the Garden Prison, and I was favoured with frequent visits by Mr. Richardson of the Thetis, and by Messrs. Blast, Madegon, and Davies of the Prime; these gentlemen, finding they should be obliged to leave me behind and alone, rendered every service I could permit myself to receive at their hands, and made an impression by their kindness which will ever be retained. From their conversation I learned what was the treatment of French prisoners at Bengal and Bombay; and the contrast it formed with that of English officers and seamen in Mauritius, both in the degree of liberty and allowance for subsistence, was indeed striking. Something has already been said upon this subject, and much more might be said; but it is a more agreeable task to bestow praise where it can with truth be given. It is therefore with pleasure, and with gratitude on the part of my unfortunate countrymen to admiral Linois and the officers of his squadron, as also to the commanders of privateers, that I declare no one of the several prisoners I conversed with to have made any complaint of them; on the contrary, almost all acknowledged to have been treated with kindness whilst on board, and except sometimes a little pilfering by the sailors, to have lost nothing of what they had a right to keep by the received usages of war; the trunks of many were not searched, it being only required of the possessor to declare, that it was his private property and that no letters or journals were contained therein. When the Fly packet was taken by the privateer La Fortune, lieutenant Manwaring's table plate and time keeper were returned to him; and his treatment by M. Lameme was altogether so liberal, when compared with the usual conduct of privateers in Europe, as to merit being cited.

In order to give some notion of the mischief done to British commerce in India, by ships from Mauritius, an abstract of all the captures made in the first sixteen months of the war, so far as they came to our knowledge in the Garden Prison, is subjoined. There are probably several omissions; and the supposed values annexed to them are the least that can be estimated, perhaps not exceeding two-thirds of the prime cost.

By admiral Linois' squadron, three Indiamen and five country ships mostly large, L 505,000

By La Psyche privateer, one Indiaman and two private ships, 95,000 La Henriette, six ships and small vessels, 150,000 La Fortune, one packet, three ships, four small vessels, 103,000 Cutter commanded by Surcouf, four vessels, 75,000 L'Alfred, one ship, 10,000 Le Pariah, one ship, 10,000 ———— Brought into Port Louis, 948,000 Ships known to have been sent to France or Batavia, run on shore, or sunk at sea, 200,000 Mischief done at Bencoolen by admiral Linois' squadron, 800,000 ———— Estimated loss to British commerce in 16 months, 1948,000 ————



The sailing of the Thetis and Prime, and of a little brig named the Ariel which had brought prisoners from Ceylon, was delayed until the cruising squadron had left the island. On the 13th commodore Osborn took his departure, and my young friends Dale and Seymour quitted the Garden Prison; the first carrying for me a letter to Sir Edward Pellew, giving an account of my situation, and another to Mr. Lumsden, informing him of the little success attending the governor-general's request. In the evening of the same day the cartels sailed; and I remained with my servant, who refused to profit by the occasion of obtaining his liberty, and my lame seaman, the sole English prisoners at Mauritius.

Captain Bergeret informed me two days afterward, that the general was disposed to permit of my residence in the interior part of the island; and he advised a written application to be made, specifying the place of my choice. After consulting with M. Pitot, who had received several offers to accommodate me from different parts of the island, I wrote on the 17th, pointing out the plantation of Madame D'Arifat at Wilhems Plains; which being at some distance from the sea, seemed least liable to objection. On the 19th, a polite note from colonel Monistrol said that my request was granted; and he sent word next day, that I was at liberty to quit the Garden Prison, and pass two or three days in town previously to going into the country; and being importuned by my friend Pitot to spend the evening with him, immediate advantage was taken of the permission.

On taking leave of the old serjeant, who had behaved kindly to all the prisoners, and finding myself without side the iron gate, I felt that even a prison one has long inhabited is not quitted without some sentiment of regret, unless it be to receive liberty. Of the twenty months which my detention had now reached, more than sixteen had been passed in the Garden Prison, sometimes rather lightly, but the greater part in bitterness; and my strength and appearance were so changed, that I felt to be scarcely recognisable for the same person who had supported so much fatigue in exploring the coasts of Terra Australis.

Various observations had been taken in the Garden Prison, both by Mr. Aken and myself, principally for our amusement and to exercise Messrs. Dale and Seymour in the calculations. The corrected results of my observations were as follow:

Latitude from eight meridian altitudes of the sun, taken with a sextant and artificial horizon, 20 deg. 9' 13.5" S.

Longitude from twenty-seven sets of lunar distances, the particulars of which are given in Table IX. of the first Appendix to this volume, 57 deg. 30' 42" E.

Variation of the theodolite from azimuths a.m. and p.m. 11 deg. 42' 30" W.

The middle of the town being nearly one mile south-west from the prison, its situation should be: Port Louis, latitude 20 deg. 9' 56" south, longitude 57 deg. 29' 57" east.

CHAPTER VI.

Parole given. Journey into the interior of Mauritius. The governor's country seat. Residence at the Refuge, in that Part of Wilhems Plains called Vacouas. Its situation and climate, with the mountains, rivers, cascades, and views near it. The Mare aux Vacouas and Grand Bassin. State of cultivation and produce of Vacouas; its black ebony, game, and wild fruits; and freedom from noxious insects.

[AT MAURITIUS. PORT LOUIS.]

AUGUST 1805

My first visit after being liberated from the Garden Prison, was to captain Bergeret, whose interposition I considered to have been the principal cause of this favourable change; he obligingly offered me the accommodation of his lodging whilst in town, but M. Pitot had previously engaged my residence with him. Next morning I accompanied captain Bergeret to the town major's office for the purpose of giving my parole, which colonel Monistrol proposed to take verbally; but to avoid all future misunderstanding, I desired that it might be taken in writing, and two days afterward it was made out as follows.

His Excellency the captain-general De Caen having given me permission to reside at Wilhems Plains, at the habitation of Madame D'Arifat, I do hereby promise, upon my parole of honour, not to go more than the distance of two leagues from the said habitation, without His Excellency's permission; and to conduct myself with that proper degree of reserve, becoming an officer residing in a country with which his nation is at war. I will also answer for the proper conduct of my two servants.

Town of Port North-west, Matthew Flinders. August 23, 1805

The habitation, for so plantations are here called, which was to be my residence, belonged to a respectable widow with a large family; and was represented to be five French leagues, or twelve miles from the town, in a S. S. W. direction. The permission to range two leagues all round I considered to be an approach towards liberality; and a proof that, if general De Caen had ever really believed me to be a spy, he had ceased to think so; it was not indeed consistent with the reason alleged for my imprisonment, to grant a parole at all, but this it was no part of my business to point out. On the other hand, by signing this parole I cut myself off from the possibility of an escape; but it seemed incredible, after the various letters written and representations made both in England and France, that a favourable order should not arrive in six or eight months. I moreover entertained some hopes of Mauritius being attacked, for it was not to be imagined that either the East-India company or the government should quietly submit to such losses as it caused to British commerce; and if attacked with judgment, it appeared to me that a moderate force would carry it; upon this subject, however, an absolute silence was preserved in my letters, for although the passport had been so violated by general De Caen, I was determined to adhere to it strictly.

During four days stay in the to town of Port Louis no restriction of any kind was imposed; I visited the theatre, and several families to whom my friends Pitot and Bergeret introduced me, and passed the time as pleasantly as any one who spoke no French could do in such a situation. A young Englishman, who under the name of an American expected to sail immediately for Europe, took charge of a box containing letters and papers for the Admiralty and president of the Royal Society, one of which was upon the effect produced on the marine barometer by sea and land winds;* and on the 24th in the afternoon I set off with M. Pitot's family for their country house, which was four miles on the way to my intended residence.

[* This paper appeared in the Society's Transactions of 1806, Part II.]

[AT MAURITIUS. WILHEMS PLAINS.]

On the following day we visited the country seat of the governor, called the Reduit, about seven miles from the town, and at the edge of my limit of two leagues from the habitation at Wilhems Plains. It stands upon an elevated point of land between the Riviere de Mocha, which comes from the east, and an equally large stream which collects the waters of Wilhems Plains from the southward; their junction at this place forms the Grande Riviere, and the Reduit commands a view of its windings in the low land to the north, until it is discharged into the sea about a mile on the west side of Port Louis. There was little water in the two rivers at this time; but the extraordinary depth of their channels, which seemed to be not less than a hundred feet, and to have been cut through the solid rock, bespoke that the current must be immense during the hurricanes and heavy summer rains; and the views which the different falls of water amongst the overhanging woods will then present, cannot be otherwise than highly picturesque. At the Reduit the sides of these ravines were planted with the waving bamboo, and the road leading up to the house, with the gardens around it, were shaded by the mango and various other fruit trees; but all was in great disorder, having suffered more than neglect during the turbulent period of the French revolution. The house was said to be capable of containing thirty-five beds, and was at this time in a state of preparation for general De Caen; and when completed, and the gardens, alleys, fish ponds, and roads put into order, it would be an elegant residence for the governor of the island. Our inspection was confined to the gardens and prospects, from the house being shut up; we afterwards made a rural dinner under the shade of a banian tree, and my friend Pitot, with M. Bayard, a judge in the court of appeal, then separated from their families to conduct me onward to my asylum.

Instead of taking the direct road, they pursued a winding route more to the eastward, to pay a visit to M. Plumet, a friend of the judge; and we reached his habitation not much before sunset, though still four or five miles short of our destination. Thus far I found the country to be stony and not very fertile, the roads bad and irregular, with several places in them which must be impracticable in the heavy rains; here and there, however, we were gratified with the view of country houses, surrounded with fruit trees and well watered gardens; and once turned out of the road to see a water fall made by a considerable stream down a precipice of at least a hundred feet. The cultivated fields seemed to be generally planted either with sugar cane, maize, or manioc, but we were often in the shade of the primitive woods.

M. Plumet had passed many years in India, in the service of Scindeah, the Mahratta chief, and spoke some English; he received us so kindly that we remained with him until the following afternoon, and his habitation being within my limits, he invited me to visit him afterwards. From the time of quitting the port we had been continually ascending; so that here the elevation was probably not less than a thousand feet, and the climate and productions were much altered. Coffee seemed to be a great object of attention, and there were some rising plantations of clove trees; I found also strawberries, and even a few young oaks of tolerable growth. A vast advantage, as well as ornament in this and many other parts of the island, is the abundance of never failing streams; by which the gardens are embellished with cascades and fish ponds, and their fruit trees and vegetables watered at little expense.

Quitting M. Plumet in the afternoon of the 26th, we rode in intricate paths and crossed various plantations to get into the direct road. In these, besides sugar cane, coffee, maize, and manioc, some fields were totally covered with a creeping plant bearing a heart-shaped leaf; this was the patate, or sweet potatoe, a root of great utility to the nourishment of the slaves; and in the higher parts of the island, where it succeeds best, is a favourite object of cultivation, being little subject to injury from the hurricanes. As we advanced the streams became smaller and more numerous, and the uncleared woods more extensive; the country was still partly covered with large stones; but I remarked with some surprise, that the productions of the stony land were generally the most vigorous.

Neither of my conductors were acquainted with the place of my retreat; they inquired of every black man on the road, as to the right path and the distance that yet remained; but often could get no answer—sometimes it was three-quarters, and sometimes two leagues; at length we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by wood, the road had diminished to a foot path, it was dark, and began to rain. It was then judged necessary to turn back and make for a light near the road, to obtain a guide; and it seemed odd that the person applied to should answer in English, that the plantation of Madame D'Arifat was just bye. He proved to be an Irishman named Druse, who had been settled more than twenty years in this distant island as a carpenter; he had known that an English officer was coming to reside here, and undertook to be our guide, seeming to be not a little pleased at again using his native language.

A black man who had charge of the plantation in the absence of the proprietor, had received orders to accommodate us; but not finding my servant and lame seaman who should have arrived the day before, we walked half a league to the habitation of M. de Chazal, a friend of M. Pitot who had the goodness to send out my baggage. Next morning we returned, and my abode was fixed in one of two little pavilions detached from the house, the other being appropriated to my two men; and M. Pitot having brought me acquainted with a family resident on an adjoining plantation, and made some inquiries and arrangements as to supplies of provisions, he and his companion M. Bayard then returned to the town.

SEPTEMBER 1805

My attention for the first several weeks was principally directed to acquiring a knowledge of the surrounding country, its natural curiosities and romantic views; and as these are well worth notice, a description of the most remarkable objects, with an account of the cultivation and produce of this secluded part of Mauritius, may probably be acceptable to some readers.

The district or quarter called Wilhems Plains, occupies a considerable portion of the interior of the island; its northern extremity borders on the sea by the side of the district of Port Louis, from which it is separated by the Grande Riviere; and it extends southward from thence, rising gradually in elevation and increasing in breadth. The body of the quarter is bounded to the N. E. by the district of Mocha—to the S. E. by that of Port Bourbon or the Grand Port—to the south by the quarter of La Savanne—and to the west by the Plains of St. Pierre. Its length from the sea to the Grand Bassin at its southern extremity, is about five geographic leagues in a straight line, and mean breadth nearly two leagues; whence the superficial extent of this district should not be much less than ninety square miles. In the upper part is a lake called the Mare aux Vacouas, apparently so named from the number of pandanus trees, called vacouas, on its borders; and that part of Wilhems Plains by which the lake is surrounded, at the distance of a league, more or less, bears the appellation of Vacouas; in this part my residence was situate, in a country overspread with thick woods, a few plantations excepted, which had been mostly cleared within a few years.

In consequence of the elevation of Vacouas, the climate is as much different from that of the low parts of the island as if it were several degrees without the tropic; June, July, and August are the driest months at Port Louis, but here they are most rainy, and the thermometer stands from 7 deg. to 12 deg. lower upon an average throughout the year.* In a west direction, across that part of the Plains of St. Pierre called Le Tamarin, the sea is not more distant than six miles; the descent is therefore rapid, and is rendered more so from three-fourths of the space being flat, low land; in comparison with Le Tamarin, Vacouas is in fact an irregular plain upon the top of the mountains, to which there is almost no other access than by making a circuit of four or five miles round by the lower part of Wilhems Plains. Three rugged peaks called the Trois Mamelles, and another, the Montagne du Rempart, all of them conspicuous at sea, are the highest points of a ridge somewhat elevated above this irregular plain, and bounding it to the westward; and the road forming the ordinary communication between the high and low land passes round them. My retreat, which very appropriately to the circumstances of my situation bore the name of The Refuge, lay two or three miles to the south-east of the Trois Mamelles.

[* The mean height of the thermometer in July 1805, which is the middle of winter, was 671/4 deg., and of the barometer in French inches and lines, 26.73/4; and during February 1806, the middle of summer. 76 deg. and 26.53/4 were the mean heights. At M. Pitot's house in the town of Port Louis, the averages in the same February were 86 deg. and 27.73/4. According to De Luc, the difference between the logarithms of the two heights of the barometer expresses very nearly the difference of elevation in thousand toises, when the thermometer stands at 70 deg. in both places; and therefore the approximate elevation of Vacouas above M. Pitot's house, should be

1871/4 toises, or in French feet, 1123 Correction for excess of thermometers above 70 deg., + 25 Supposed elevation of M. Pitot's house above the sea, + 40 —— Elevation of Vacouas in French feet, 1188



The English foot being to the French, as 12 is to 12.816, the height of Vacouas above the level of the sea should be nearly 1269 English feet.]

The principal rivers in the neighbourhood are the R. du Tamarin and the R. du Rempart, each branching into two principal arms; these collect all the smaller streams in this portion of the island, and arriving by different routes at the same point, make their junction at the head of the Baye du Tamarin, where their waters are discharged into the sea. In wet weather these rivers run with great force, but in ordinary times they do not contain much water; and their smaller branches are mostly dried up in October and November. Both arms of the R. du Rempart take their rise between one and two miles to the S. by E. of the Refuge, and within half a mile of the Mare aux Vacouas, from which it is thought their sources are derived; the western arm bears the name of R. des Papayas, probably from the number of those trees found on its banks;* and taking its course northward, is the boundary between two series of plantations, until it joins the other branch at the foot of the Montagne du Rempart and its name is lost. The Refuge was one of these plantations bounded by the R. des Papayes, being situate on its eastern bank, and receiving from it an accession of value; for this arm does not dry up in the most unfavourable seasons, neither does it overflow in the hurricanes.

[* The papaye, papaya, or papaw, is a tree well known in the East and West Indies, and is common in Mauritius; the acrid milk of the green fruit, when softened with an equal quantity of honey, is considered to be the best remedy against worms, with which the negroes and young children, who live mostly on vegetable diet, are much troubled.]

The eastern arm bears the name of R. du Rempart throughout, from its source near the mare or lake to its embouchure. Its course is nearly parallel to that of the sister stream, the distance between them varying only from about half a mile to one hundred and twenty yards; and the Refuge, as also the greater number of plantations on the eastern, or right bank of the R. des Papayes, is divided by it into two unequal parts, and bridges are necessary to keep up a communication between them. Although the source of this arm be never dried up, yet much of its water is lost in the passage; and during five or six months of the year that nothing is received from the small branches, greater or less portions of its bed are left dry; there seems, however, to be springs in the bed, for at a distance from where the water disappears a stream is found running lower down, which is also lost and another appears further on. In the summer rains, more especially in the hurricanes, the R. du Rempart receives numberless re-enforcements, and its torrent then becomes impetuous, carrying away the bridges, loose rocks, and every moveable obstruction; its partial inundations do great damage to the coffee trees, which cannot bear the water, and in washing off the best of the vegetable soil. During these times, the communication between those parts of the plantations on different sides of the river is cut off, until the waters have in part subsided; and this occurred thrice in one year and a half.

At the western end of the Mare aux Vacouas is an outlet through which a constant stream flows, and this is the commencement of the principal branch of the R. du Tamarin; the other branch, called the R. des Aigrettes, is said to take its rise near a more distant lake, named the Grand Bassin; and their junction is made about one mile to the S. S. W. of the Refuge, near the boundary ridge of the high land, through which they have made a deep cut, and formed a valley of a very romantic character. A short distance above their junction, each branch takes a leap downward of about seventy feet; and when united, they do not run above a quarter of a mile northward before they descend with redoubled force a precipice of nearly one hundred and twenty feet; there are then one or two small cascades, and in a short distance another of eighty or a hundred feet; and from thence to the bottom of the valley, the descent is made by smaller cascades and numberless rapids. After the united stream has run about half a mile northward, and in that space descended near a thousand feet from the level of Vacouas, the river turns west; and passing through the deep cut or chasm in the boundary ridge, enters the plain of Le Tamarin and winds in a serpentine course to the sea.

The R. du Tamarin is at no time a trifling stream, and in rainy weather the quantity of water thrown down the cascades is considerable; by a calculation from the estimated width, depth, and rate of the current after a hurricane, the water then precipitated was 1500 tons in a minute. There are some points on the high land whence most of the cascades may be seen at one view, about a mile distant; from a nearer point some of them are perceived to the left, the Trois Mamelles tower over the woods to the right, and almost perpendicularly under foot is the impetuous stream of the river, driving its way amongst the rocks and woods at the bottom of the valley. In front is the steep gap, through which the river rushes to the low land of Le Tamarin; and there the eye quits it to survey the sugar plantations, the alleys of tamarinds and mangoes, the villages of huts, and all the party-coloured vegetation with which that district is adorned; but soon it passes on to the Baye du Tamarin, to the breakers on the coral reefs which skirt the shore, and to the sea expanded out to a very distant horizon. An elevation of ten or eleven hundred feet, and the distance of three or four miles which a spectator is placed from the plantations, gives a part of this view all the softness of a well-finished drawing; and when the sun sets in front of the gap, and vessels are seen passing before it along the coast, nothing seems wanting to complete this charming and romantic prospect.

Amongst the natural curiosities of Mauritius may be reckoned the Mare aux Vacouas, situate about two miles S. by E. of the Refuge. It is an irregular piece of fresh water of about one mile in length, surrounded with many hundred acres of swampy land, through which run four or five little streams from the back hills; in some places it is from 20 to 25 fathoms deep, as reported, and is well stocked with eels, prawns and a small red fish called dame-cere, originally brought from China. The eels and prawns are indigenous, and reach to a large size; the latter are sometimes found of six inches long without the beard, and the eels commonly offered for sale ran from six to twenty, and some were said to attain the enormous weight of eighty pounds. This fish is delicate eating, and the largest are accounted the best; its form has more affinity to the conger than to our fresh-water eel, and much resembles, if it be not exactly the same species caught in the small streams of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean. Whence it is that fresh-water fish should be found on small islands, frequently at several hundred leagues from other land, will probably long remain one of the secrets of nature; if it were granted that they might come by sea, the difficulty would scarcely be less to know how they should have mounted precipices of many hundred feet, to reach lakes at the tops of mountains where they are not uncommonly seen.

Five or six miles to the south of the Refuge lies another lake of fresh water, called the Grand Bassin; its situation is more elevated than Vacouas, and except the ridges and tops of mountains, it seemed to be in the highest part of the island. This basin is nearly half a mile in diameter, of a form not far from circular, and is certainly deep; but that it should be 84 fathoms as was said, is scarcely credible. The banks are rocky, and appear like a mound thrown up to keep the water from overflowing; and the surrounding land, particularly to the south, being lower than the surface of the water, gives the Grand Bassin an appearance of a cauldron three-quarters full. No perceptible stream runs into it, but several go out, draining through hollow parts of the rocky bank, and forming the commencement of so many rivers; the Rivieres des Anguilles, Dragon, and du Poste fall into the sea on the south or south-east parts of the island; the R. des Aigrettes before mentioned, and the R. Noire which runs westward, rise not far off, but their asserted subterraneous communication with the basin is doubtful. No great difference takes place in the level of the water except after heavy rains; when the supply, which must principally come from springs in the bottom, so far exceeds the quantity thrown out, as to raise it sometimes as much as six feet.

On the western bank is a peaked hill, from which the Grand Bassin is not only seen to much advantage, but the view extends over great part of Mauritius, and in several places to the horizon of the sea. It was apparent from hence, that between the mountains behind Port Louis and those of La Savanne to the south, and from the R. Noire eastward to Port Bourbon, not one-half, probably not a third part of the primitive woods were cut down; and this space comprehends three-fifths of the island, but excludes great part of the shores, near which the plantations are most numerous.

The elevated bank round the Grand Bassin consists partly of stones thrown loosely together; though porous, the stone is heavy and hard, of a dark grey colour, and contains numerous specks of what seemed to be feldtspath, with sometimes particles of mica and olivine; it is more or less ferruginous, gives a bell-like sound when struck, and in some parts appeared to have run in the manner of lava. From this description, and the circular form and elevated position of this basin, the geologist will probably be induced to think it the crater of an ancient volcano; and since there are other large holes nearly similar to it, and many caverns and streams under ground in other parts, it may perhaps be concluded that if the island do not owe its origin to subterraneous fire, it has yet been subject to volcanic eruptions, and that the Grand Bassin was one of the vents.

Such were the rivers, lakes, and views which most excited my excursions to the north, the west, and south of the Refuge. To the east at a league distance, there was, according to my information, a lake called the Mare aux Joncs, from whence rises the R. du Menil; and taking its course northward, joins the R. de Wilhems and at length falls into the Grande Riviere. At a further distance several other streams were said to rise, some running northward to the same destination as the above, and others south-eastward towards Port Bourbon; but having never visited this part of my limits, I can speak of it only from report, corroborated by a view of the chart. The country was represented as less inhabited than Vacouas, owing to the want of roads and consequent difficulty of conveyance to the town, upon which the value of land very much depends: an uncleared habitation* near the Mare aux Joncs was sold for 500 dollars, whilst the same quantity of land at Vacouas was worth six times that sum.

[* The original concessions of land in Mauritius were usually of 1561/2 arpents, of 40,000 French square feet each, making about 1601/2 acres English; this is called un terrein d'habitation, and in abridgment a habitation, although no house should be built, nor a tree cut down; by corruption however, the word is also used for any farm or plantation, though of much smaller extent.]

Upon the high land near the Grand Bassin and in some other central parts of Mauritius, a day seldom passes throughout the year without rain; even at Vacouas it falls more or less during six or eight months, whilst in the low lands there is very little except from December to March. This moisture creates an abundance of vegetation, and should have rendered the middle parts of the island extremely fertile; as they would be if the soil were not washed down to the low lands and into the sea, almost as soon as formed. Large timber, whose roots are not seen on the surface, and a black soil, are here the exterior marks of fertility; but near the Grand Bassin the trees are small, though thickly set, and the roots, unable to penetrate below, spread along the ground. The little soil which has accumulated seemed to be good, and it will increase, though slowly; for the decayed wood adds something to its quantity every year, whilst the trunks and roots of the trees save a part from being washed away. Both these advantages are lost in the cleared lands of Vacouas, which besides are made to produce from two to four crops every year; the soil is therefore soon exhausted, and manuring is scarcely known. A plantation covered with loose rocks is found to retain its fertility longest; apparently from the stones preserving the vegetable earth against the heavy rains, as the roots of the trees did before the ground was cleared.

Much of the lower part of Wilhems Plains has been long cleared and occupied, and this is one of the most agreeable portions of the island; but Vacouas is in its infancy of cultivation, three-fourths of it being still covered with wood. This neglect it owes to the coldness and moisture of the climate rendering it unfit for the produce of sugar and cotton, to its being remote from the sea side, and more than all to its distance from the town of Port Louis, the great mart for all kinds of productions. Mauritius is not laid out like the counties in England and other parts of Europe, with a city or market town at every ten or twenty miles; nor yet like the neighbouring isle Bourbon, where there are two or three towns and some villages; it has but one town, which is the seat of government and commerce for both islands. In other parts the plantations are scattered irregularly; and although half a dozen houses may sometimes be found near together, families within a mile of each other are considered as next door neighbours. There being few tradesmen except in the town, the more considerable planters have blacksmiths, carpenters, and one or more taylors and shoemakers amongst their slaves, with forges and workshops on their plantations; but every thing they have occasion to buy, even the bread for daily consumption, is generally brought from Port Louis.

The produce of the different districts in Mauritius varies according to the elevation and climate of each; and the temperature of Vacouas being better suited to European vegetables, the daily supply of the bazar or market with them, is a great object to the inhabitants. Owing to the bad roads and excessive price of beasts of burthen, the manner universally adopted of sending these supplies is upon the heads of slaves; and the distance being twelve heavy miles, this employment occupies nearly the whole time of two or more strong negroes, besides that of a trusty man in the town to make the necessary purchases and sales. The distance of a plantation from Port Louis therefore causes a material increase of expense and inconvenience for this object alone, and is one reason why Vacouas is less cultivated than many other districts; in proportion, however, as timber becomes more scarce in the neighbourhood of the town, the woods of Vacouas will rise in value and present a greater inducement to clear the lands. Timber and planks for ships, and also for building houses, with shingles to cover them, were fast increasing in demand; and the frequent presence of English cruisers, which prevented supplies being sent from La Savanne and other woody parts of the sea coast, tended powerfully to throw this lucrative branch of internal commerce more into the hands of the landholders at Vacouas, and to clear the district of its superfluous woods.

Besides various kinds of excellent timber for building, these woods contain the black ebony, the heart of which is sold by weight. The tree is tall and slender, having but few branches which are near the top; its exterior bark is blackish, the foliage thick, and the leaf, of a dark green above and pale below, is smooth, not very pointed, and larger than those of most forest trees. It produces clusters of an oblong fruit, of the size of a plum, and full of a viscous, sweetish juice, rather agreeable to the taste. The ordinary circumference of a good tree is three or four feet; when cut down, the head lopped off and exterior white wood chipped away, a black log remains of about six inches in diameter, and from twelve to fifteen feet in length, the weight of which is something above 300 pounds. In 1806 several inhabitants permitted a contractor to cut down their ebony, on condition of receiving half a Spanish dollar for each hundred pounds of the black wood; others cut it down themselves, trimmed and piled the logs together, and sold them on the spot for one dollar the hundred; but those who possessed means of transporting the wood to town, obtained from 11/2 to 21/2 dollars, the price depending upon the supply, and the number of American vessels in port, bound to China, whither it was principally carried. Many of the plantations in Vacouas were thus exhausted of their ebony; and the tree is of so slow a growth, that the occupiers could expect afterwards to cut those only which, being too small, they had before spared; these were very few, for the object of the planter being generally to realize a sum which should enable him to return to Europe, the future was mostly sacrificed to present convenience.

Such cleared parts of Vacouas as are not planted with maize, manioc, or sweet potatoes for the support of the slaves, or with vegetables and fruits for the bazar, are commonly laid out in coffee plantations, which were becoming more an object of attention, as they have long been at Bourbon; the great demand made for coffee by the Americans, and its consequent high price, had caused this object of commerce to flourish in both islands, notwithstanding the war. Indigo and the clove tree were also obtaining a footing at Vacouas; but the extensive plantations of sugar cane and cotton shrubs found in the low parts of the island, appeared not to have been attempted, and it is certain that the cotton would not succeed.

The portions of each habitation allotted to different objects of culture, are usually separated by a double row of some tree or shrub, either useful or ornamental, with a road or path running between the lines. Amongst the useful is the vacoua or pandanus; whose leaves being strongly fibrous, long, spreading, and armed with prickles, both form a tolerable fence and supply a good material for making sacks, bags, etc. It is only whilst young that the vacoua answers this double purpose; but the tree is twelve or fifteen years before it arrives at maturity, and the leaves may be annually cut: no other use is made of the fruit than to plant it for the production of other trees. A double row of the tall jamb-rosa, or rose apple, makes the principal divisions in some plantations, forming agreeable, shady walks; and from the shelter it affords is preferred for surrounding the coffee trees, which require the utmost care to protect them from hurricanes. A tree once violently shaken, dies five or six months afterward, as it does if water stand several days together round its foot; sloping situations, where the water may run off, are therefore preferred for it, and if rocky they are the more advantageous, from the firmness which the roots thereby acquire to resist the hurricanes. Rows of the banana, of which the island possesses a great variety of species, are also planted by the sides of the paths leading through the habitations, sometimes behind the vacoua, but often alone; the pine apple serves the same purpose in others, as do the peach and other fruit trees where the paths are more considerable. A long and strong grass, called vitti-vert, is occasionally preferred for the lines of division; this is cut twice or thrice in the year to be used as thatch, for which it is well adapted. Hedges of the ever-flowering China rose, and of the netshouly, a bushy shrub from India which prospers in every soil, are often used in place of the tall jamb-rosa to form alleys leading up to the house of the planter, and also the principal walks in his garden; the waving bamboo, whose numberless uses are well known, is planted by the sides of the rivers and canals.

A notion of the working and produce of a plantation at Vacouas will be most concisely given by a statement of the ordinary expenses and returns; and to render it more nearly applicable to the case of such persons in Europe as might form the project of becoming settlers, I will suppose a young man, with his wife and child, arrived at Mauritius with the intention of employing his time and means on a plantation in this district; and at the end of five years other affairs call him thence, and he sells every thing. He is supposed to possess 18,000 dollars in money or property, to be active, industrious, and frugal, and though unacquainted with the business of a planter, to be sufficiently intelligent to gain the necessary information in one year. With these requisites, I would examine whether he will have been able to subsist his family comfortably during the five years, and what will then be the state of his funds.

EXPENSES. Dollars.

In town the first year, 1,800 Price of an uncleared habitation, 3,000 Twenty negroes, some being mechanics, 4,000 Ten negresses, 1,500 Ten children of different ages, 1,000 Maize 500 lbs. (71/2 D.), sweet potatoes 1250 lbs. (33/4 D.) to subsist each slave the first year, 450

Head tax for 5 years, at .1 D. each per an. 100 Maroon tax for ditto 100 Surgeon to attend the slaves, 200 Building and furnishing a house, magazine, etc., exclusive of wood and labourers from the plantation, 2,500 Agricultural utensils, hand mills, etc. 300 100 fowls and 50 ducks for a breed, 100 Ten goats, 60 Ten pigs, 100 A horse, saddle, etc. 250 A good ass, side saddle, etc. 120 Seeds and fruit trees, 50 Coffee plants 30,000 for 20 acres, 450 Expenses at the plantation in 4 years, exclusive of domestic supplies, 3,600 Losses from two hurricanes, 2,000 ——— Total 21,680

RECEIPTS. Dollars. Of 60 acres cleared to raise provisions, 30 are necessary to support the slaves; from the rest may be sold 150,000 lbs. of maize in 4 years, for 2,250 Ebony, timber, planks and shingles, sold on the spot during 5 years, 3,000 Coffee reaped on the 5th year, 50 bales (100 lbs. each) at 15 D. per bale, 750 Vegetables and fruit sold at the bazar, aver age 2 D. per day, during four years, 2,920 Fowls and ducks 2000 at 1/2 D. 1,000 Thirty goats sold, 180 Thirty hogs, 600 At the end of 5 years, the plantation, buildings, etc., will probably bring, 7,000 Probable value of the slaves, 5,500 Pigs, goats, and poultry remaining, 260 Horse, ass, etc. probably not more than 200 ——— Whole receipts 23,660 Expenses and losses 21,680 ——— Increase 1,980

The taxes and price of provisions, coffee, etc. in the above calculation, are taken as they usually stood in time of war, under the government of general De Caen; and every thing is taken against, rather than in favour of the planter. In his expenses a sufficiency is allowed to live comfortably, to see his friends at times, and something for the pleasure of himself and wife; but if he choose to be very economical, 2000 dollars might be saved from the sums allotted.

In selling his plantation at the end of five years, he is in a great measure losing the fruit of his labour; for the coffee alone might be reasonably expected to produce annually one hundred bales for the following ten years, and make his revenue exceed 3000 dollars per annum; and if he continued to live economically upon the plantation, this, with the rising interest of his surplus money, would double his property in a short time. It is therefore better, supposing a man to possess the requisite knowledge, to purchase a habitation already established, than to commence upon a new one.

The same person going to Vaucouas with the intention of quitting it at the end of five years, would not plant coffee, but turn his attention to providing different kinds of wood and sending it to Port Louis. With this object principally in view, he would purchase two habitations instead of one; and as this and other expenses incident to the new arrangement would require a greater sum than he is supposed to possess, he must borrow, at high interest, what is necessary to make up the deficiency. The amount of his receipts and expenses for the five years. would then be nearly as follows.

EXPENSES. Dollars.

As before, deducting coffee plants, 21,230 An additional habitation, 3,000 Twenty asses, at 90 D. each, 1,800 Harnesses for three teams, 300 Three waggons built on the plantation, 150 Three additional slaves, 600 Interest of 6,000 dollars borrowed for three years, at 18 per cent. per an. 3,240 ——— Total 30,320 Total receipts 41,922 ——— Increase 11,602