A Voyage to Terra Australis/Volume 2/Book 3/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
1803
December.
Saturday 17.At four in the afternoon of Dec. 17, we got to an anchor at the entrance of Port Louis, near the ship which I had hoped might be Le Géographe; but captain Melius had sailed for France on the preceding day, and this proved to be L'Atalante frigate.
The peculiarity of my situation, arising from the renewal of war and neglect in the passport to provide for any accident happening to the Investigator, rendered great precaution necessary in my proceedings; and to remove as much possible, any doubts or misconceptions, I determined to go immediately with my passport and commission to the French governor, and request his leave to get the necessary reparations made to the schooner; but learning from the pilot that it was a regulation of the port for no person to land before the vessel had been visited by the officer of health, it was complied with. At five the boat came along-side; and having answered some general questions proposed in good English, I went into the boat in my frock uniform, and was conducted to the government house by an officer of the port and an interpreter. These gentlemen, after speaking with an aide-de-camp, told me that the captain-general was at dinner, and we must return in an hour or two; and they took me to a shady place which seemed to be the common lounge for the officers connected with the port. There were some who spoke English, and by way of passing the time, they asked if I had really come from Botany Bay in that little vessel; whether a corvette, sent out the night before to observe my motions, had been seen; and if I had not sent a boat on shore in the night? Others asked questions of monsieur Baudin's conduct at Port Jackson, and of the English colony there; and also concerning the voyage of monsieur Flinedare, of which, to their surprise, I knew nothing, but afterwards found it to be my own name which they so pronounced.
In two hours we again went to the government house, and the officers entered to render their account, leaving me at the door for half an hour longer. At length the interpreter desired me to follow him, and I was shown into a room where two officers were standing at a table; the one a shortish thick man in a laced round jacket, the other a genteel-looking man whose blood seemed to circulate more tranquilly. The first, which was the captain-general De Caen, fixed his eyes sternly upon me, and without salutation or preface demanded my passport, my commission! Having glanced over them, he asked in an impetuous manner, the reason for coming to the Isle of France in a small schooner with a passport for the Investigator? I answered in a few words, that the Investigator having become rotten, the governor of New South Wales had given me the schooner to return to England; and that I had stopped at the island to repair my vessel and procure water and refreshments. He then demanded the order for embarking in the schooner and coming to the Isle of France; to which my answer was, that for coming to the island I had no order, necessity had obliged me to stop in passing;—my order for embarking in the Cumberland was on board. At this answer, the general lost the small share of patience of which he seemed to be possessed, and said with much gesture and an elevated voice—"You are imposing on me, sir! (Vous m'en imposez, monsieur!) "It is not probable that the governor of New South Wales should send away the commander of an expedition on discovery in so small a vessel!—" He then gave back my passport and commission, and I made a motion to follow the interpreter out, but was desired to stop a little. In a few minutes the interpreter returned with a military officer, to whom some orders not explained to me were given, and I was desired to follow them; when going out the captain-general said in a softer tone something about my being well treated, which I could not comprehend.
In the way to the wharf, I inquired of the interpreter where they were taking me? He said, on board the schooner, and that they had orders to bring my books and papers on shore; in effect, they took all the charts, papers, and journals relating to my voyage, as also the Port-Jackson letters and packets, both public and private; and having put them into a trunk which was sealed by me at their desire, they made out a report (procès verbal) of their proceedings, and requested me to sign it with them. The preamble of this report set forth something upon the suspicions excited by my appearance at the Isle of France, with the captain-general's opinion thereon; I therefore refused to sign it, but certified at the bottom, that all the charts, journals, and papers of the voyage, together with all the letters on board the schooner had been taken.
The conduct of these gentlemen being polite, I expressed to them my sentiments of general De Caen's manner of receiving me, and the injustice of taking away the papers of a voyage protected by a passport from the French government; and added, that the captain-general's conduct must alter very much before I should pay him a second visit, or even set my foot on shore again. The interpreter hoped I would go on shore with them, for the general had ordered a lodging to be provided for me; and that, in fact, they had orders to take me there. I looked at him and at the officer, who was one of the aides-de-camp,—What! I exclaimed in the first transports of surprise and indignation,—I am then a prisoner! They acknowledged it to be true; but said they hoped it would last only a few days, until my papers were examined; and that in the mean time, directions had been given that I should want for nothing.
Mr. Aken was also to go on shore; and whilst we put a few clothes together in a trunk, several black men, under the direction of another pilot, were warping the schooner up into the port. At one in the morningSunday 18. the officers took us into their boat, leaving the Cumberland, with Mr. Charrington and the crew, under a guard of soldiers.
We were conducted to a large house in the middle of the town, and through a long dark entry, up a dirty stair case, into the room destined for us; the aide-de-camp and interpreter then wished us a good night, and we afterwards heard nothing save the measured steps of a sentinel, walking in the gallery before our door. The chamber contained two truckle beds, a small table and two rush-bottomed chairs; and from the dirty appearance of the room I judged the lodging provided for us by the general to be one of the better apartments of a common prison; there were, however, no iron bars behind the lattice windows, and the frame of a looking-glass in the room had formerly been gilt. It seemed to me a wiser plan to leave the circumstances to develope themselves, rather than to fatigue ourselves with uncertain conjectures; therefore, telling Mr. Aken we should probably know the truth soon enough, I stripped and got into bed; but between the musketoes above and bugs below, and the novelty of our situation, it was near daybreak before either of us dropped asleep.
At six o'clock, I was awakened by two armed grenadiers entering the room. The one said some words to the other, pointing to us at the same time, and then went out; and he that remained began walking backward and forward between our beds, as a sentinel on his post, without seeming to pay great attention to us. Had there been curtains, I should have tried to regain my slumber; but not being able to sleep in such company, I rose and awoke my companion, who seeing the grenadier and not at first recollecting our situation, answered in a manner that would have diverted me at any other time. The sentinel did not prevent us speaking together; and on looking out at the window, we found that it was in reality a tavern where they had placed us, though a very dirty one; it bore the name of Café Marengo. A breakfast was brought at eight, and dinner at twelve, and we eat heartily; good bread, fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables being great rarities.
At one o'clock, the aide-de-camp, whom I learned to be lieut. colonel Monistrol, came to the tavern and desired me to accompany him to the general; and being shown into an office, a German secretary, who spoke some English, put various questions to me from a paper, in substance nearly as follows. How it was that I appeared at the Isle of France in so small a vessel, when my passport was for the Investigator? What was become of the officers and men of science who made part of the expedition? Whether I had any knowledge of the war before arriving? Why cartel colours had been hoisted, and a vessel chased in sight of the island? What were my objects for putting into Port North-West, and by what authority? The orders from governor King, relating to the Cumberland, were also demanded, and carried to the captain-general with my answers to the above questions; and soon afterward to my surprise, an invitation was brought me to go to the general's table, his dinner being then served up. This invitation was so contrary to all that had hitherto passed, and being unaccompanied with any explanation, that I at first thought it could not be serious, and answered that I had already dined; but on being pressed to go at least to the table, my reply was, that "under my present situation and treatment it was impossible; when they should be changed,—when I should be set at liberty, if His Excellency thought proper to invite me, I should be flattered by it, and accept his invitation with pleasure." It had indeed the air of an experiment, to ascertain whether I were really a commander in the British navy; and had the invitation been accepted without explanation or a change of treatment, an inference might have been drawn that the charge of imposture was well founded; but in any case, having been grossly insulted both in my public and private character, I could not debase the situation I had the honour to hold by a tacit submission. When the aide-de-camp returned from carrying the above reply, he said that the general would invite me when set at liberty; but nothing was offered in the way of explanation.
A paper containing the questions of the German secretary with my answers, was required to be signed, but this being in French, I objected as not understanding it; a translation was therefore to be made, and the letter of governor King respecting the Cumberland was to be put into French for the captain-general. Extracts from my journal, showing the necessity of quitting the Investigator, were moreover desired, and also my reasons at full length for stopping at the Isle of France, instead of going to the Cape of Good Hope; it being necessary, they said, for the general to transmit these to the French government, to justify himself for granting that assistance to the Cumberland which had been ordered for the Investigator. It was already night, and the excessive heat, with being kept six hours answering questions, was very fatiguing; I therefore took the third volume of my rough log book, which contained the whole of what they desired to know, and pointing out the parts in question to the secretary, told him to make such extracts as should be thought requisite. I then requested to be shown back to the tavern, also that the sentinel might be taken out of our room, and Mr. Aken be permitted to return on board the schooner to keep order; to which the aide-de-camp brought for answer, that it was then too late to make new arrangements, but His Excellency would see me in the morning. All the books and papers, the third volume of my rough log book excepted, were then returned into the trunk and sealed as before; and I was reconducted to my confinement between eight and nine o'clock.
Monday 19.Next morning, the sentinel in our chamber was ordered to take his station without side; and in the afternoon M. Bonnefoy, the interpreter, came to say that business prevented the captain-general from seeing me before the following day. Mr. Aken had permission to go on board the schooner under the conduct of an officer; but not being allowed to remain, he brought away the time keeper, with my sextant and artificial horizon; and we commenced a series of observations for a new error and rate, ready against the day of our departure.
Tuesday 20.Mr. Charrington came from the schooner on the 20th to inform me, that the seamen were committing many irregularities, taking spirits out of my cabin and going on shore as they pleased; the French guard seeming to take little or no cognisance of their actions. At one o'clock, the interpreter and a military officer took me to the government house, and I expected to have an interview with the general and a termination put to our confinement. They shewed me into the secretary's office, and requested a copy of my passport and commission; and having made out one myself and signed them both, the interpreter then said the general was busy and could not see me that day; and I was taken back without learning when he would be at liberty, or what was intended to be done.
As yet I was unable to comprehend any thing of the captain-general's conduct; but however great my indignation at seeing my liberty and time thus trifled with, it was to be feared that in writing to him for an explanation, before seeing what turn the affair would take, might be productive of more harm than good. The disorders on board the schooner, however, requiring immediate correction, I wrote a note to inform him of them; requesting at the same time, that Mr. Aken might remain in the Cumberland, and that the caulking of the vessel's upper works and fresh boring of the pumps might be commenced, these being the principal objects for which I had stopped at the island. In the evening the interpreter called to say, that the corporal of the guard on board the schooner had been punished for neglecting his orders; that one of the sailors, a Prussian, being found on shore had been put into the guard house, and that an answer would be given to my note in the morning. In effect, the interpreter then came with lieutenant-colonel Monistrol,Wednes. 21. and explained to me a paper to the following purport.
That the captain-general being convinced from the examination of my journal, that I had absolutely changed the nature of the mission for which the First Consul had granted a passport, wherein I was certainly not authorised to stop at the Isle of France to make myself acquainted with the periodical winds, the port, present state of the colony, &c. That such conduct being a violation of neutrality, he ordered colonel Monistrol to go on board the Cumberland, and in my presence to collect into one or more trunks all other papers which might add to the proofs already acquired; and after sealing the trunks, I was to be taken back to the house where my suspicious conduct had made it necessary to confine me from the instant of arriving in the port. It was further ordered, that the crew of the schooner should be kept on board the prison ship; and that an inventory should be taken of every thing in the Cumberland, and the stores put under seal and guarded conformably to the regulations.[1] Such was the answer given to my request for the repairs of the schooner to be commenced. In compliance with their order the officers took me on board, and the remaining books and papers, whether relating in any way to the Investigator's voyage or not, even to letters received from my family and friends during several years, were all taken away, locked up in a trunk, and sealed. Mr. Aken and myself were allowed to take our clothes, but the officers dared not venture to let me have any printed books; I must however do colonel Monistrol and M. Bonnefoy the justice to say, that they acted throughout with much politeness, apologizing for what they were obliged by their orders to execute; and the colonel said he would make a representation to the captain-general, who doubtless lay under some mistake.
This turn to my affairs surprised, and at first stunned me. The single circumstance about which I had entertained the least apprehension, was the neglect in my passport of providing for any other vessel than the Investigator; but from this order of the captain-general, I found myself considered in the light of a spy; my desire to know how far Mauritius could be useful as a place of refitment in the future part of my voyage,—a desire formed and expressed in the belief of its being a time of peace, was made a plea for depriving me of liberty and the result of more than two years of risk and labour. The sensations raised by this violation of justice, of humanity, and of the faith of his own government, need not be described; they will be readily felt by every Englishman who has been subjected, were it only for a day, to French revolutionary power. On returning to my place of confinement, I immediately wrote and sent the following letter, addressed to His Excellency the captain-general De Caen, governor in chief, &c. &c. &c. Isle of France.
SIR,
From your order, which was explained to me this morning, I find that the plea for detaining me is not now that I do not appear with the Investigator, according to the letter of my passport from the first consul of France; but that I have violated the neutrality therein required by having given in my journal, as an additional reason for putting into this port, that "it would enable me to acquire a knowledge of the periodical winds, and of the present state of the French colony; how far it or its dependecies in Madagascar might be useful to Port Jackson, and how far it would be a convenient place for me to touch at in my future expected voyage:" I quote from memory only, my journal being in your possession. How this remark, made upon the supposition of our two nations being at peace, can be a breach of neutrality, I acknowledge myself unable to discover. Nothing can, in my opinion, add to the propriety of the intentions with which I put into this port, but I shall justify it by the example of your own nation; and to do so, it is only necessary for me to refer to the instructions which preface the published voyage of the unfortunate La Pérouse, by the judicious Fleurieu. Your Excellency will there see, that the much lamented navigator was ordered to make particular observations upon the trade, manufactures, strength, situation, &c. of every port where he might touch; so that, if the example of your own nation be taken as a standard of propriety, the plea for making me a prisoner is altogether untenable. Upon the supposition even of its being war, and that I knew it and still intended to make the observations expressed in my journal; upon this incorrect and worst supposition I have, I think, an example of similar conduct in your own nation; unless you can assure me that the captains Baudin and Hamelin made no such remarks upon Port Jackson, for it was a declared war at the time they lay in that port. But were they forbidden to make such remarks and notes upon the state of that English colony? Upon its progress, its strength, the possibility of its being attacked with advantage, and the utility it might afford to the French nation? I tell you, general De Caen, No. The governor in chief at Port Jackson knew too well the dignify of his own nation, either to lay any prohibition upon these commanders, or to demand to see what their journals might contain.
I shall next appeal to you as being the representative in this place of a great nation, which has hitherto shown itself forward to protect and encourage those sciences by which the knowledge of mankind is extended or their condition ameliorated. Understand then, Sir, that I was chosen by that patron of science sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London, and one well known by all the literati throughout the world, to retrace part of the track of the immortal captain Cook,—to complete what in New Holland and its neighbourhood he had left unfinished,—and to perfect the discovery of that extensive country. This employment, Sir, as it was congenial to my own inclinations, so I pursued it with avidity; upon it, as from a convex lens, all the rays of knowledge and science which my opportunities have enabled me to collect, were thrown. I was unfortunate in that my ship decayed before the voyage was completed; but the captain-general at Port Jackson, who is also the senior naval officer there, was so sensible of the importance of the voyage and of the zeal with which I had pursued it (for the truth of which I appeal to his letters now in your possession), that he gave me a colonial ship of war to transport me with my officers, charts, &c. to England, that I might obtain another ship in which the voyage might be completed. In this second ship I was a passenger; and in her, shipwreck and the loss of charts which had cost me much labour and many risks to make perfect, were added to my first misfortune; but my zeal suffered no abatement. I returned to Port Jackson (734 miles) in an open boat, and got a merchant ship which was bound to China, hired to carry my officers and people to England by that circuitous route; but desirous of losing no time, I took a small schooner of twenty-nine tons, a mere boat, in order to reach England by a nearer passage, and thus gain two or three months of time in the outfit of my future expected ship; making my own ease and safety to stand in no competition with the great object of forwarding my voyage. Necessity, and not inclination, obliged me to put in at the Isle of France in my route.
Now, Sir, I would beg to ask you whether it becomes the French nation, independently of all passport, to stop the progress of such a voyage, and of which the whole maritime world are to receive the benefit? How contrary to this was her conduct some years since towards captain Cook! But the world highly applauded her conduct then; and possibly we may sometime see, what the general sentiment will be in the present case.
I sought protection and assistance in your port, and I have found a prison! Judge for me as a man, Sir,—judge for me as a British officer employed in a neutral occupation,—judge for me as a zealous philanthropist, what I must feel at being thus treated.
At present I quit the subject with the following requests: that I may be permitted to have my printed books on shore; and that my servant may be allowed to attend me in my apartment.
With all the respect due from my situation to the captain-general,
I am
From my confinement,
Dec. 21, 1803.
Matthew Flinders.
The lapse of several years has enabled me to consider the transactions of this period under different views, to regard them with almost the coolness of an uninterested observer; and I see the possibility that a dispassionate reader may accuse me of taking too high a position, and using too warm a style,—in rather giving way to the dictates of feeling than dwelling upon the proofs of my innocence; perhaps also, he may accuse me of vanity, in seeking to enhance my own zeal and claims. Without attempting to controvert these censures, I beg him to consider all the circumstances of my situation: my voyage, shipwreck, and anxiety to pursue the steps of our celebrated navigators. Let him suppose himself to have executed so much of the same task, escaped the same dangers; and under the influence of powerful motives to reach England with expedition, to be arrested on the way, his misfortunes either not heeded or converted into proofs of delinquency, and himself treated as a spy; and this is done by the representative of a government which had promised assistance and protection, and moreover owed him a return for the kind treatment recently experienced by Frenchmen in the port from whence he came. Let him suppose himself writing to his oppressor with these various recollections crowding on his imagination; and the allowances he would then desire for himself, I request of him to make for me.
Thursday 22.On the day following the transmission of the letter, my servant was brought on shore from the prison ship, where he left Mr. Charrington and the seamen closely confined; but no answer was returned either on the 22nd or 23rd,Friday 23. nor did we hear any thing that could give an insight into what further was intended to be done. We suffered much from the heat of the weather and want of fresh air; for the town of Port Louis is wholly exposed to the rays of the sun, whilst the mountains which form a semicircle round it to the east and south, not only prevent the trade wind from reaching it, but reflect the heat in such a manner, that from November to April it is almost insupportable. During this season, the inhabitants whose affairs do not oblige them to remain, fly to the higher and windward parts of the island; and the others take the air and their exercise very early in the morning and late in the evening. We who were shut up in the middle of the town, and from having been three months confined to a vessel of twenty-nine tons were much in need of exercise, could not but feel the personal inconveniences of such a situation in their full rigour; and the perturbation of mind, excited by such unworthy treatment, did not tend to alleviate their effects on our health. But the heat and want of fresh air were not the worst evils. Our undefended pallet beds were besieged by swarms of bugs and musketoes, and the bites of these noxious insects upon bodies ready to break out with scurvy, produced effects more than usually painful and disagreeable. Being almost covered with inflamed spots, some of which had become ulcers on my legs and feet, I wrote to the captain-general, requesting the assistance of a surgeon; and also to know under what limitations he would allow me to write to the Admiralty of Great Britain, and to my family and friends; but the main subject was left untouched, in expectation of an answer to the former letter. In the afternoon, one of the aides-de-camp said that His Excellency did not prevent me from writing to whom I pleased; but that my letters must be sent open to the town major, who would forward them to their address. The same evening a surgeon, who did not speak English, came to our room; next morningSaturday 24. he returned with the interpreter, and finding the ulcers to be scorbutic, ordered me, in addition to his dressings, to drink plentifully of lemonade and live upon fruit and vegetables. Their visit was repeated on the following day;Sunday 25. but nothing transpired relative to the general's intentions, nor to any answer proposed to be given to my letter of the 21st; and I therefore wrote another in the following terms.
SIR,
From whatever cause it may be that I have received no answer to my letter of the 21st last, I shall yet continue to do my duty to my government and the cause of discovery, by pointing out every circumstance that may have a probability of inducing you to liberate my people, my vessel, and myself.
A former letter showed, that upon the principles adopted in voyages of discovery by your own nation, the plea for detaining me a prisoner was untenable; and also that independently of any passport, it ill became the French nation to stop the prosecution of a voyage of discovery, especially one carried on with the zeal that mine has hitherto been. In this letter I shall endeavour to point out another circumstance, at least as important as the former, so far as regards the injustice of my detainer. In this point of view then, Sir, I shall admit, that to make any remarks upon a port which might enable either myself or others to come into it again with more facility, or which might give information concerning the refreshments and articles of commerce to be procured at it, is, although made in time of peace, a crime; and consequently, that if La Pérouse executed his instructions, he was no better than a spy at the different ports where he put in. Let this, Sir, for the moment be admitted; and I ask what proofs you have that I have made such remarks? You will probably say, I intended to make them. True, but intention is not action. I might have altered my intentions on coming into the port, and finding our two nations to be at war: you cannot know what alteration a knowledge of the war might have made in my sentiments. We do indeed judge much of the merit or demerit of an action by the intention with which it is performed; but in all cases there must be an action performed to constitute any certain merit or demerit amongst men. Now in my case there appears to have been intention only; and even this intention I have before shown to be consistent with the practice of your own nation, and I believe of all nations.
As it appears that Your Excellency had formed a determination to stop the Cumberland, previously even to seeing me, if a specious pretext were wanting for it, it would have been more like wisdom to have let me alone until the eve of sailing, and then to have seized my journal; where it is possible something better than intention might have been fixed upon as a cause for making me a prisoner. This would have been a mean action, and altogether unworthy of you or your nation; but it might have answered your purpose better than the step now taken. I say there appears to have been a previous determination to stop the Cumberland, and from this cause; that on the first evening of my arrival, and before any examination was made into my papers (my commission and passport excepted), you told me impetuously that I was imposing upon you. Now I cannot think that an officer of your rank and judgment could act either so ungentlemanlike, or so unguardedly, as to make such a declaration without proof, unless his reason had been blinded by passion, or a previous determination that it should be so, nolens volens. In your order of the 21st last it is indeed said, that the captain-general has acquired conviction that I am the person I pretend to be, and the same for whom a passport was obtained by the English government from the First Consul; it follows then, as I am willing to explain it, that I am not and was not an impostor. This plea was given up when a more plausible one was thought to be found; but I cannot compliment Your Excellency upon this alteration in your position, for the first, although false, is the most tenable post of the two.
Trusting that upon a due consideration of all the circumstances, you will be pleased to fulfil the intention for which the passport was given, I have the honour to be,
From my confinement,
Dec. 25, 1803.
Matthew Flinders.
In the evening, a letter was brought me by a soldier from general De Caen, and the haste with which it had been sent inspired favourable hopes; I did not expect the visit of the interpreter until the following day, and therefore attempted to decipher the letter by the help of a French dictionary, with a degree of anxiety which its contents were but little calculated to satisfy; it was as follows.
I did not answer your letter of the 21st December, Sir, because it was useless to commence a debate here between you and me, upon the motives well or ill founded from which I took upon myself to stop the Cumberland until further orders. On the other hand, I should have had too much advantage in refuting your assertions, notwithstanding the reasonings and quotations with which you have adorned them.
I was still willing to attribute the unreserved tone you had used in that letter, to the ill humour produced by your present situation. I was far from thinking that after having seriously reflected upon the causes and circumstances, you should take occasion from a silence so delicate to go still further; but your last letter no longer leaves me an alternative.
Your undertaking, as extraordinary as it was inconsiderate, to depart from Port Jackson in the Cumberland, more to give proof of an officious zeal, more for the private interests of Great Britain than for what had induced the French government to give you a passport, which I shall unfold at a proper opportunity, had already given me an idea of your character; but this letter overstepping all the bounds of civility, obliges me to tell you, until the general opinion judges of your faults or of mine, to cease all correspondence tending to demonstrate the justice of your cause; since you know so little how to preserve the rules of decorum.[2]
The accusation of not preserving the rules of decorum, seemed not a little extraordinary from one who had kept me above two hours in the street when I had gone to wait upon him, and who had qualified me with the title of impostor without examination; but it seemed that any act of aggression on the part of the general was to meet only with submission and respect. Embarrassment sheltering itself under despotic power, was evident in this letter; but it gave no further insight into the reasons for making me a prisoner, and consequently no opportunity of vindicating my innocence. It therefore seemed wisest, seeing the kind of man with whom I had to deal, to follow his directions and leave the main subject to the operation of time; but to take off my mind from dwelling too intensely upon the circumstance of being arrested at such a conjuncture, I determined to employ it in forwarding my voyage, if an application for the necessary papers should be attended with success.
Monday 26.Having obtained a translation of the general's letter from the interpreter, who came next morning in company with the surgeon, I wrote to request,
1st. My printed books from the schooner.
2d. My private letters and papers out of the secretary's office.
3rd. To have two or three charts and three or four manuscript books, for the purpose of finishing the chart of the Gulph of Carpentaria; adding in explanation, that the parts wanting were mostly lost in the shipwreck, and I wished to replace them from my memory and remaining materials before it were too late. For these a receipt was offered, and my word that nothing in the books should be erased or destroyed; but I wished to make additions to one or two of the books as well as to the charts, and would afterwards be ready to give up the whole.
4th. I represented a complaint from my seamen, of being shut up at night in a place where not a breath of air could come to them; which, in a climate like this, must be not only uncomfortable in the last degree, but very destructive to European constitutions. Also, that the people with whom they were placed were affected with that disagreeable and contagious disorder the itch; and that their provisions were too scanty, except in the article of bread, the proportion of which was large, but of a bad quality.
An answer was given on the same day by one of the general's aides-de-camp, who said that orders had been given for the delivery of the books and papers; that the place where the seamen were kept was very wholesome; and as to the provisions, that orders had been given on my arrival for the people of the Cumberland to be treated as French seamen in actual service; that he would inquire whether any thing contrary had been done, which he did not think, but in that case it should be set right.
Tuesday 27.At noon next day colonel Monistrol and M. Bonnefoy called, and a trunk was brought from on board the schooner, containing a part of my printed books. The colonel seemed to be sorry that my letters to the general had been couched in a style so far from humble, and to think that they might rather tend to protract than terminate my confinement; on which I observed, believing him to be in the general's confidence, that as my demand was to obtain common justice, an adulatory style did not seem proper, more especially when addressed to a republican who must despise it: my rights had been invaded, and I used the language natural to a man so circumstanced. Had favours been wanted, or there had been any thing to conceal, my language would probably have been different; but of all things I desired that the strictest scrutiny should be made into my papers, and that it should be confronted with any examination they might choose to make of myself or people. The colonel and interpreter, either from politeness or conviction, did not disagree with these sentiments, but repeated that a different mode of writing might have answered better; it appeared indeed, from their conversation, that French republicanism involved any thing rather than liberty, justice, and equality, of which it had so much boasted.
So soon as the two gentlemen were gone, I took out my naval signal book from the trunk and tore it to pieces; the private signals had been lost in the shipwreck, so that my mind was now freed from apprehensions which had given much inquietude.
Wednes. 28.On the 28th, M Chapotin, the surgeon, called as usual with the interpreter. He said that air and exercise were necessary to the re-establishment of my health, and that so soon as I should be able to walk out, it would be proper to apply to the general for a permission; and on my objecting to ask any thing like a personal favour, he promised with some degree of feeling to take the application on himself.
No mention was made this day of the books and papers, to be delivered from the sealed trunks; but next morningThurs. 29. I was conducted to the government house, and took out all my private letters and papers, the journals of bearings and astronomical observations, two log books, and such charts as were necessary to completing the Gulph of Carpentaria; for which a receipt was required, without any obligation to return them. The third log book, containing transactions and remarks in different vessels during the preceding six months, was important to me on many accounts, and especially for the observations it contained upon Torres' Strait and the Gulph; but it was said to be in the hands of the general, who could not be disturbed, and two boxes of despatches from governor King and colonel Paterson had been taken away. All the other books and papers, including my passport, commission, &c; with some accounts from the commissary of New South Wales and many private letters from individuals in that colony, were locked up in a trunk and sealed as before.
Saturday 31. On the 31st. I sent to the town-major's office an open letter addressed to the secretary of the Admiralty, giving a short account of my embarkation and shipwreck in the Porpoise, voyage in the Cumberland, and situation in Mauritius; with two private letters, and a request that they might be forwarded by the first opportunity. Next day1804.
January
Sunday 1. the receipt of them was acknowledged, and a promise given to inform me of the means by which they should be sent, and it was done accordingly; but not one of the letters, or of their duplicates, was ever received.
Having calculated with Mr. Aken the observations previously taken for the rate of the time keeper,[3] I now worked earnestly upon the chart of the Gulph of Carpentaria; and this employment served to divert my chagrin, and the indignation which, however useless it might be, I could not but feel at the author of our imprisonment. The want of my log book, however, was a great obstacle to laying down the parts seen in the Cumberland; and nothing more having been said of it, a short letter was written to general De Caen on the 5th, reminding him that the log was necessary to the construction of my charts, and that only a small part of the printed books had yet been delivered. A verbal answer was brought by the interpreter, and two days afterward the books came from the schooner; but respecting the log no answer was made.
The sentinel placed at the door of our chambers (for we had a few days before obtained a second, with musketo curtains to our beds), became unusually strict at this time, scarcely allowing the master of the tavern, or even the interpreter or surgeon to see us; and one day, hearing me inquire the name of some dish in French from the slave who waited at dinner, the sentinel burst into the room and drove away the poor affrighted black, saying that we were not to speak to any person. Previously to this, a Dutch, a Swiss, a Norwegian, and two American gentlemen had called; but except the Swiss, who found means to bid us good day occasionally without being noticed, not one came a second time, for fear of being held in a suspicious light by the government; and now, the surgeon and interpreter were not admitted without a written order. Two applications had been made by the surgeon in my behalf, to walk in the fields near the town; the last was personally to the captain-general, but although he might have caused a sentinel to follow, or a whole guard if thought necessary, an unqualified refusal was given to M. Chapotin's humane request.
We were lodged and supplied with meals in the tavern at the public expense; but having lost part of our clothes in the shipwreck, and distributed some to those of our companions who had saved nothing, both Mr. Aken and myself were much in want of linen and other necessaries; and after the few dollars I chanced to have about me were gone, we knew not how to pay for our washing. All strangers being refused admittance took away the chance of negotiating bills, for the surgeon spoke no English and the interpreter always avoided the subject; one morning however, having previously ascertained that it would not give umbrage, the interpreter offered to attempt the negotiation of a bill drawn upon the commissioners of the navy; but the sentinel, seeing him take a paper, gave information, and M. Bonnefoy was scarcely out of the room when a file of soldiers made him prisoner; nor, although a public officer, was he liberated until it was ascertained that he acted with permission, and had received no other paper than the bill. In the evening he brought the full sum, at a time when bills upon England could obtain cash with difficulty at a discount of thirty per cent. It was the chevalier Pelgrom, who filled the offices of Danish and Imperial consul, that had acted thus liberally; and he caused me to be informed, that the fear of incurring the general's displeasure had alone prevented him from offering his assistance sooner.
Although Mr. Aken and myself were strictly confined and closely watched, my servant was left at liberty to go upon my commissions; and once a week I sent him on board the prison ship, to take Mr. Charrington and the seamen a basket of fruit and vegetables from the market. They had always been permitted to walk upon deck in the day time, and latterly been sometimes allowed to go into the town, accompanied by a soldier; and since from all we could learn, the final decision of the captain-general was yet in suspense, I augured favourably of the result from this relaxation towards the men. My hopes became strengthened on the 14th, by learning from M. Bonnefoy that it was believed we should be permitted to walk out, and perhaps depart altogether, so soon as three Dutch ships commanded by rear-admiral Dekker should have sailed. These ships were loaded with pepper from Batavia, and bound to Europe; and it seemed possible that one reason of our detention might be to prevent English ships gaining intelligence of them by our means; but this could be no excuse for close imprisonment and taking away my charts and journals, whatever it might be made for delaying our departure.
Finding it impossible to obtain the third volume of my log book, the charts of Torres' Strait and the Gulph of Carpentaria were finished without it; fortunately the journal kept by Mr. Aken in the Cumberland had not been taken away, and it proved of great assistance. Our time passed on in this manner, hoping that the Dutch ships would sail, and that general De Caen would then suffer us to depart, either in the Cumberland or some other way; the surgeon came almost daily, on account of my scorbutic sores, and the interpreter called frequently. I was careful not to send out my servant often, for it appeared that he was dogged by spies, and that people were afraid of speaking to him; the surgeon and interpreter were almost equally cautious with me, so that although in the midst of a town where news arrived continually from some part of the world, every thing to us was wrapped in mystery; and M. Bonnefoy afterwards acknowledged, in answer to a direct question put to him, that an order had been given to prevent us receiving any intelligence.
On the 29th, admiral Dekker sailed with his three ships; and whilst anxiously expecting some communication, the interpreter called to inform me that an order had been given for the schooner to be moved up the harbour, and the stores to be taken out; and he wished to know if Mr. Aken should be present at making the inventory. I asked what was to be done with us,—with my books and papers? To which he answered by a shrug of the shoulders: he had come only for the purpose of executing his order. On each of the two following days Mr. Aken was taken down to the schooner; for he accepted the proposition to accompany the officers for the sake of the walk, and in the hope of obtaining some intelligence. He found the poor Cumberland covered with blue mold within side, and many of the stores in a decaying state, no precautions having been taken to preserve her from the heat or the rains; the French inventory was afterwards brought to him to be signed,February. but he refused it with my approbation.
This new proceeding seemed to bespeak the captain-general to have finally taken his resolution to keep us prisoners; and my disappointment at seeing it, instead of receiving back my books and papers and permission to depart, was extreme. In the hope to obtain some information I wrote a note on the 3rd, to solicit of His Excellency the honour of an audience; and five days having elapsed without an answer, the interpreter was requested to deliver a message to the same effect. He presently returned with the concise answer, No; but afterwards told me in conversation that the general had said, "captain Flinders might have known that I did not wish to see him, by not giving an answer to his note. It is needless for me to see him, for the conversation will probably be such as to oblige me to send him to the tower."
My intention in requesting the audience was to have offered certain proposals to the general's consideration, and if possible to obtain some explanation of the reasons for a detention so extraordinary, and now protracted beyond six weeks; and being disappointed in this, a letter was written on the 12th, containing the following propositions.
1st. If your Excellency will permit me to depart with my vessel, papers, &c, I will pledge my honour not to give any information of the Isle of France or any thing belonging to it, for a limited time, if it be thought that I can have gained any information; or if judged necessary, any other restrictions can be laid upon me. If this will not be complied with, I request,
2nd, to be sent to France.
3rd. But if it be indispensable to detain me here, I request that my officer and people may be permitted to depart in the schooner; as well for the purpose of informing the British Admiralty where I am, as to relieve our families and friends from the report which will be spread of the total loss of the Porpoise and Cato with all on board. Mr. Aken can be laid under what restrictions may be deemed requisite; and my honour shall be a security that nothing shall be transmitted by me, but what passes under the inspection of the officer who may be appointed for that purpose.
In case of refusing to adopt any of these modes, by which my voyage might proceed without possibility of injury to the Isle of France, I then reminded His Excellency that since the shipwreck of the Porpoise, six months before, my people as well as myself had been mostly confined either upon a small sand bank in the open sea, or in a boat, or otherwise on board the Cumberland where there was no room to walk, or been kept prisoners as at that time; and that I had not previously recovered from a scorbutic and very debilitated state, arising from eleven months exposure to great fatigue, bad climate, and salt provisions. After noticing my scorbutic sores, and his refusal of the surgeon's application for me to walk out, it was added,—The captain-general best knows whether my conduct has deserved, or the exigencies of his government require, that I should continue to be closely confined in this sickly town and cut off from society; but of no part of this letter was any notice taken.
Two days before, I had been favoured with a visit from captain Bergeret of the French navy, who had commanded La Virginie frigate when taken by Sir Edward Pellew, and of whose honourable conduct in the affair of Sir W. Sydney Smith's imprisonment, public mention had been made in England. This gentleman sat some time conversing upon my situation, which he seemed desirous to ameliorate; he said that "the general did not consider me to be a prisoner of war, and that my confinement did not arise from any thing I had done." From what then did it arise? At this question he was silent. He regretted not to have been in town on my arrival, believing it would have been in his power to have turned the tide of consequences; and obligingly offered to supply me with money, if in want.
During a fortnight from this time, no incident occurred worth notice. My scorbutic sores being much better, the surgeon came but seldom; and the visits of the interpreter being less frequent than before, our solitude was rarely interrupted. The Gulph of Carpentaria and Torres' Strait being finished, my time had since been employed in writing an explanatory memoir upon the latter chart; Mr. Aken was occupied in copying the journal of bearings for the Admiralty, and my servant in transcribing the two first volumes of the log, which had been torn and defaced in the shipwreck; so that our time did not pass wholly in vain. It was the completion of the charts, however, that I had most at heart; and although the success of an application for more materials were very doubtful, an essay to obtain them was made on the 27th, in the following letter to the captain-general.
SIR,
The term of my imprisonment being lengthened out much beyond my expectation, puts me under the necessity of making another application to Your Excellency for more books and charts, that I may still proceed in completing the account of my observations and discoveries. If the whole were put into my possession it would be of much service to my labour, and save Your Excellency from being troubled with any further application on this head; but if this will not be complied with, I beg to make a small selection from them, which will principally consist of a roll of charts. I am not however to deceive Your Excellency;—this roll contains the greater part of my original fair charts, and I am desirous to have them principally for the purpose of making an abridgment of my discoveries upon a single sheet. With all due consideration, I am
Your Excellency's prisoner,
Matthew Flinders.
The Admiral Aplin, an extra-indiaman outward bound, on board of which were several officers of the army and four ladies, had been brought in as a prize; the ladies with their husbands were suffered to remain at a tavern in the town, at the instance of captain Bergeret, by whose privateer, La Psyché, they had been taken; the others were sent to a house at a little distance in the country, where all the English officers had been a short time confined. I ventured to send my servant to the tavern, to inquire after my countrymen and women; and they obligingly furnished me with magazines, newspapers, and a Steele's list of the navy, up to August 1803, which in such a place, and after so long an ignorance of what was passing in England, were highly acceptable.
March.On March 1, the interpreter made a personal application to general De Caen concerning the books and charts mentioned in my last letter; to which he received for answer, that so soon as the governor was a little freed from business he would attend to this request. I asked M. Bonnefoy to give me his opinion of what was likely to be done with us? He replied that we should probably be kept prisoners so long as the war lasted, but might perhaps have permission to live in some interior part of the island, and liberty to take exercise within certain limits. This opinion surprised me; but I considered it to be that of a man unacquainted with the nature of a voyage of discovery, and the interest it excites in every nation of the civilised world, and not the least in France. To be liberated in an honourable manner by an order of the French government, so soon as it should be informed of my detention, appeared to be certain; for whatever colour general De Caen might give to his proceedings, it could not be disguised that he had arrested the commander of a voyage bearing a French passport, and had taken from him his charts, journals, and vessel; but as yet I could not be persuaded that the general would risk the displeasure of his government, and particularly of the first consul Bonaparte, by whose order my passport had been given, and who had professed himself to be a patron of science. A voyage of discovery undertaken upon liberal principles, and carried on with zeal, tempered with humanity towards the inhabitants of the countries visited, seemed to me an object to interest every person, of whatever nation or profession. The philosopher, or man of general science would see his knowledge of the globe, and of man, its principal inhabitant, so much the object of such a voyage, that he might consider it as undertaken for his gratification; and he who professed a particular branch, whether of natural philosophy or natural history, would expect so many new observations and discoveries in his favourite pursuit, that the voyagers could not fail to have his best wishes for their success. A professor of the fine arts might expect new and striking subjects to be brought to light, upon which to exercise his genius and display his powers; the merchant and manufacturer would anticipate fresh aids to their industry, and new markets for its produce; and the seaman, from such a voyage, would expect the discovery of new passages and harbours, to which he might have recourse either for convenience or safety; and he would also see in it the adoption of the best means for advancing his art to perfection. The philanthropist and zealous Christian would have delight in observing the blessings of civilization thus continually extending themselves, and in seeing new fields opened in which to sow the seeds of righteousness; and even the man without profession, science, or zeal,—the perfectly idle, could not be without interest in a voyage of discovery, since the gratification of curiosity is an object of at least as much concern with them as with any other class of men. Considering, thus, a voyage for the investigation of new countries as of extensive interest and importance, it was with difficulty I could be convinced that there were people who thought it of none; or of so little, that the putting a stop to it, imprisoning the commander and seizing his charts and papers, required no more consideration than if it were a common voyage. To be kept a prisoner so long as the war should last, did not therefore enter into my conception as within the bounds of probability; but it is the failing of men of all professions to over-rate the importance of that which they have themselves adopted, and into this error it will probably be thought I had fallen with respect to voyages of discovery.
We had a second visit on the 6th from captain Bergeret, to whom the passengers of the Aplin, and particularly the married gentlemen, were indebted for much attention and indulgence. He seemed to think that nothing could at this time be able to procure our release, but that we might perhaps be permitted to live in the country; and he promised to interest himself in it, so soon as a proper time and opportunity could be found for speaking to the captain-general.
The season was arrived in which, should we be set at liberty, it would be too late to attempt a passage round the Cape of Good Hope in the schooner, and before the return of another year, the stores, and perhaps the vessel itself might be rotten; and having no hope to obtain an answer to a letter, I requested M. Bonnefoy to make an application to the general for permission to sell the Cumberland. Ten days afterward the interpreter informed me, that general De Caen had spoken to him of my wish to live in the country, which had been made known to him by captain Bergeret; and he desired him to tell me, "to have a little patience, he should soon come to some determination upon my affair;" being spoken to upon the sale of the Cumberland, his reply was, "a little patience, it is time enough yet;" and when the charts and books for which I had applied on Feb. 27 were mentioned, he still gave the same answer.
My people were brought on shore on the 23rd, with other British subjects from the prison ship, in order to be sent to a district called Flacq, on the east side of the island; and this circumstance confirmed my suspicion that it was not intended to liberate us until orders were received from France. Mr. Charrington, the boatswain, was permitted to speak to me in the presence of an officer before their departure; and after learning the condition of the poor prisoners, I recommended him to keep our people as clean in their persons and regular in their conduct as circumstances would permit; and not to attempt any escape, since we must be liberated in six or eight months by order of the French government. One of them, the Prussian who had behaved so ill, had gone away in the Spanish frigate Fama, by permission of the French; the others had been kept strictly on board the prison ship after the departure of the three Dutch men of war. Although several prizes had been brought in, the number of English prisoners was inconsiderable; owing to some of the vessels being manned with lascars who were not confined, and in part to the sailors having been induced to enter on board the French privateers, for the sake of obtaining more provisions and to avoid being kept in irons.
I had hitherto forborne to write any letters to England, whether public or private, but what passed open through the office of the town major, that no plea, even what arbitrary power could construe into such, might be taken for continuing our imprisonment; but the arrival of letters thus sent being exceedingly problematical, and my hope of liberation from general De Caen having disappeared, the motive for this forbearance had ceased to exist. An account was therefore written to the secretary of the Admiralty of my arrival, reception, and treatment in Mauritius, inclosing copies of all the letters written or received; that my Lords Commissioners might be enabled to take proper measures for obtaining our liberty and the restitution of my charts and journals; especial care was taken at the same time, to avoid the mention of any thing which could be thought to infringe on the passport, as much as if it had remained inviolate on the part of general De Caen. This letter was inclosed to a friend in London, and sent by the way of America; and I afterwards learned from the public papers that it was received in the August following.
The end of March had arrived, and nothing more was said of our permission to reside in the country; and being most heartily weary of close confinement, I requested to be removed to the same place with the British officers, prisoners of war; the house where they were kept being described to be large, and surrounded with a wall inclosing about two acres of ground, within which the prisoners were allowed to take exercise. On the 30th colonel Monistrol came to confer on the subject, and next day conducted me to the house for the purpose of choosing two rooms. He said on the way that the house was originally built by a surgeon named Despeaux, and now hired by the government at twenty-five dollars per month to accommodate the English gentlemen; that it was very spacious, and had formerly lodged the ambassadors sent by Tippoo Sultaun to this island; I found it to be situate about a mile north-east from our tavern in the middle of the town, and enjoying a fresh air which, in comparison with our place of confinement, made me think it a paradise. After the unpleasant task of selecting two rooms, which colonel Monistrol ordered to be vacated by the officers who were in possession, he returned with me to the town; and promised at parting to speak again to the captain-general concerning my charts and books.
This little walk of a mile showed how debilitating is the want of exercise and fresh air, for it was not without the assistance of colonel Monistrol's arm, that I was able to get through it. Conveyances were sent in the evening for our trunks, and we took possession of our new prison with a considerable degree of pleasure; this change of situation and surrounding objects producing an exhilaration of spirits to which we had long been strangers.
- ↑ The following is a copy of the order, as given to me by the interpreter and certified by colonel Monistrol.
"Au quartier général de l'Isle de France, le 29 Frimaire, an 12 de la République.
"De Caen, capitaine-général des établissements Français à l'Est du Cap de Bonne Espérance. D'après l'examen qui a été fait du journal du commandant de la goelette Anglaise le Cumberland, ayant acquis la conviction que le commandant Flinders, précédemment capitaine de la corvette l'Investigator, envoyé par le gouvernement Anglais pour un voyage de découverte dans la Mer Pacifique, a dénaturé absolument sa mission pour laquelle il avait obtenu du Premier Consul le passeport signé du ministre de la marine sous la date du 4 Prairial, an 9. Par lequel passeport il n'était certainement pas autorisé à relâcher à l'Isle de France, pour pouvoir reconnoître les vents périodiques, le port, et l'état actuel de la colonie, &yc.; qu'ainsi par cette conduite il a violé la neutralité sous laquelle il hui avait été permis indirectement d'aborder en cette isle."
"Ordonne que le chef de bataillon Monistrol se rendra à bord de la goelette le Cumberland, pour en présence du capitaine Flinders, faire lever les scellés provisoirement mis sur sa chambre, et faire ramasser dans une ou plusieurs malles, touts les autres papiers qui peuvent contribuer à augmenter les preuves déjà acquises contre lui; lequel, après avoir apposé de nouveaux scellés sur ces caises ou malles, devra être reconduit à la maison où sa démarche suspecte a nécessité de le faire retenir dès l'instant même de son arrivée dans ce port.
"Le capitaine-général ordonne en outre, que ces malles seront remises à celle déjà scellée par le capitaine Flinders; ajoutant à cette disposition provisoire, que l'équipage de cette goelette sera retenu à la caserne de mer, et qu'un inventaire sera préablement fait par un commissaire de la marine de tout ce qui peut exister à bord du Cumberland outre que les papiers; lesquels effets seront mis sous le scellé et gardés conformément aux réglments: pour après ces dispositions être statués ainsi qu'il appartiendra.Expédition du présent sera adressée au Préfet colonial.
"Pour copie conforme
(Signed),Monistrol,Le capitaine-général
Signé, De Caen." - ↑
Au quartier général à l'Isle de France, le 3 Nivose, an 12 de la République Françoise.
"De Caen, Capitaine Général des établissements François à l'Est du Cap de Bonne Espérance.
"Au capitaine Flinders commandant le schooner le Cumberland."Je n'avois pas répondu à votre lettre du 21 Xbre, Monsieur le capitaine, parcequ'il me devenoit inutile d'établir ici entre vous et moi, un débat sur les motifs plus ou moins fondés, dont je m'étois autorisé pour retenir jusqu'à nouvel ordre le Cumberland: D'un autre coté j'aurois eû trop d'avantage à réfuter vos assertions malgré les raisonnements et les citations dont vous les avez ornés."
"J'avois bien voulu encore attribuer le ton peu reservé dont vous aviez fait usage dans cette lettre, à la mauvaise humeur que vous a donnée votre position actuelle: J'étois loin de penser qu'apres avoir réfléchi sérieusement aux causes et aux circonstances, vous vous autoriseriez d'un silence aussi délicat pour aller encore plus loin; mais votre dernier lettre ne me laisse plus d'alternative."
Votre entreprise aussi extraordinaire que peu réfléchie, de partir du Port Jackson sur le Cumberland plus pour donner une preuve d'un zéle officieux, plus pour les intérêts particuliers de La Grande Bretagne, que pour ce qui avoit pû engager le Gouvernement François à vous donner un passeport, ce que je dévellopperai en tems et lieu, m'avoit déjà donné une idée de votre caractére; mais cette lettre franchissant toutes les bornes de l'honnêteté, m'impose de vous dire, en attendant que l'opinion générale juge de vos torts ou des miens, de cesser toute correspondance tendante à vouloir démontrer la justice de votre cause, puisque vous savez si peu garder les régles de la bienséance.
Je vous salue.
De Caen."
- ↑ The rate from December 19 to 25, was 36″,9 losing, or only 0″,16 more than that previously found at Coepang in Timor; but the longitude deduced from the first operation with the Coepang rate, was 57° 40′ 40″,5, or 10′ 43″,5 greater than afterwards obtained from twenty-seven sets of lunar distances. In laying down the track from Timor, this error has been equally distributed throughout the thirty-five days between November 14 and December 19, 1803.