A Voyage to Terra Australis/Volume 2/Book 3/Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII.
1806.
September.News of negotiations at Paris for peace formed the principal topic of conversation at Mauritius in September, and no one more than myself could desire that the efforts of Lord Lauderdale might be crowned with success; a return to England in consequence of such an event was of all things what I most desired, but the hope of peace, before national animosity and the means of carrying on war became diminished, was too feeble to admit of indulging in the anticipation. November.The state of incertitude in which I remained after nearly three years of anxiety, joined to the absence of my friends Bergeret and Pitot, brought on a dejection of spirits which might have proved fatal, had I not sought by constant occupation to force my mind from a subject so destructive to its repose; such an end to my detention would have given too much pleasure to the captain-general, and from a sort of perversity in human nature, this conviction even brought its share of support. I reconstructed some of my charts on a larger scale, corrected and extended the explanatory memoir, and completed for the Admiralty an enlarged copy of the Investigator's log book, so far as the materials in my hands could admit; the study of the French language was pursued with increased application, and many books in it, particularly voyages and travels, were read. But what assisted most in dispelling this melancholy, was a packet of letters from England, bringing intelligence of my family and friends; and the satisfactory information that Mr. Aken had safely reached London, with all the charts, journals, letters and instruments committed to his charge.
1807.
January.No occurrence more particular than the departure in January of a prisoner of war, which furnished an opportunity of writing to England, took place for several months. April.In April the season for the arrival of ships from France was mostly passed, and the captain-general had still received no orders; being than at the town, I requested of him an audience through the intervention of M. Beckmann, who engaged, in case of refusal, to enter into an explanation with His Excellency and endeavour to learn his intentions. On his return, M. Beckmann said that the general had expressed himself sensible of the hardship of my situation, and that he every day expected to receive orders from France; but being unable to do any thing without these orders, it was useless to see me, and he recommended waiting with patience for their arrival.
May.In acknowledgment for the letter written to the National Institute by the Society of Emulation, I sent to it a description of Wreck Reef, with my conjectures upon the place where the unfortunate La Pérouse had probably been lost; and this letter, as also a succeeding one upon the differences in the variation of the magnetic needle on ship-board, was transmitted by the Society to the Institute at Paris.
June.The effect of long protracted expectation, repeatedly changing its object and as often disappointed, became strongly marked in my faithful servant. This worthy man had refused to quit the island at the general exchange of prisoners in August 1805, and also in the following year when his companion, the lame seaman, went to America, because he would not abandon me in misfortune; but the despair of our being ever set at liberty had now wholly taken possession of his senses. He imagined that all the inhabitants of the island, even those who were most friendly, were leagued with the captain-general against us; the signals on the hills communicated my every step, the political articles in the gazettes related in a metaphorical manner the designs carrying on, the new laws at that time publishing showed the punishments we were doomed to suffer, persons seen in conversation, every thing in fine, had some connexion with this mysterious league; and the dread of some sudden and overwhelming blow left him no peace, either by day or night. This state of mind continued some months, his sleep and appetite had forsaken him, and he wasted daily; and finding no other means of cure than persuading him to return to England, where he might still render me service, a permission for his departure was requested and obtained; and in the beginning of JulyJuly. he embarked on board an American brig, for Baltimore. I gave into his charge some remaining charts and books, and many letters; and had the satisfaction to see him more easy, and almost convinced of the folly of his terrors on finding he was really allowed to go away, which till then, had appeared to him incredible.
On the 18th, arrived the Hon. Company's ship Marquis Wellesley, as a cartel from Madras, with French prisoners; and four days afterward colonel Monistrol transmitted me a letter from the secretary of sir Edward Pellew, containing the extract of a despatch to the captain-general, and two letters of a more recent date from the admiral himself. One of these, addressed upon His Majesty's service, was as follows.
H.M. ship Duncan, Madras Roads, 21st June, 1807.
- SIR,
Two days ago I renewed my application to the captain-general De Caen in your favour, requesting that His Excellency would permit of your departure from the Isle of France, and suggesting the opportunity now offered by His Majesty's ship Greyhound.
I have since received despatches from England, containing the letter of which a copy is now inclosed, from Mr. Marsden, secretary of the Admiralty,[1] therewith transmitting instructions for your release under the authority of the French minister of marine, to the captain-general of the French establishments.
I congratulate you most sincerely on this long protracted event; and I trust, if your wishes induce you to proceed to India, that you may be enabled to embark with captain Troubridge, for the purpose of proceeding to England from hence by the first opportunity.
(Signed.)Edward Pellew.
The admiral's second letter was a private one, inviting me to take up my residence in his house at Madras, until such time as the departure of a King's ship should furnish an opportunity of returning to England; and was accompanied by one from captain Troubridge, expressing the pleasure he should have in receiving me; but the Greyhound had already been sent away two days! and nothing announced any haste in the general to put the order into execution. I then wrote to request His Excellency would have the goodness to confirm the hopes produced by these letters; or that, if they were fallacious, he would be pleased to let me know it. It was seven days before an answer was given; colonel Monistrol then said, "His Excellency the captain-general has charged me to answer the letter which you addressed to him on the 24th of this month; and to tell you that, in effect, he has received through the medium of His Excellency sir Edward Pellew, a despatch from His Excellency the minister of the marine and the colonies of France, relative to you. I am also charged to send you the copy, herewith joined, of that letter; and to inform you that so soon as circumstances will permit, you will fully enjoy the favour which has been granted you by his Majesty the Emperor and King." This long expected document from the marine minister was literally as follows.
Paris, le 21 Mars 1806.
Administration générale des colonies
Bureau des colonies orientales et des côtes d'Afrique
No. 8.—4ᵗᵃ.
Envoy d'un avis du Conseil d'Etat, approuvé par S.M., pour la mise en liberté du Capitaine Flinders, et la réstitution de son Bâtiment.Le 11 Termidor an 12 (July 30, 1804), Monsieur j'ai répondu à votre dépêche du 26 Nivose (January 16, 1804), de la même année, No. 27, relativement à la goelette Anglaise le Cumberland, commandée par le Capᵉ. Flinders, et aux motifs qui vous ont porté à retenir ce capitaine jusqu'à ce que j'aie pu vous faire connaitre les intentions de S.M.. Je vous prévenais à cette époque que le Conseil d'Etat venait, sur mon rapport, d'etre saisi de la connoissance de la détention dont il s'agit; et je vous transmets aujourd'huy, ci-joint, l'avis de ce Conseil approuvé par l'Empereur et Roi le 11 de ce mois. Vous y verrez que votre conduite est approuvée et que, par un pur sentiment de génerosité, le Gouvernement accorde au Capitaine Flinders sa liberté et la remise de son bâtiment.
Recevez, Monsieur, l'assurance de ma considération distinguée.
Le ministre de la marine et des coloniés
SignéDecres.
Pour copie conforme.
Le chef de l'état-major, commandant d'armes,
(Signed)Monistrol.
It appeared from this letter, that so long before as July 1804, the council of state had come to a decision upon my case; which was, to approve of the conduct of general De Caen, and from a pure sentiment of generosity, to grant my liberty and the restitution of the Cumberland. This decision had lain over until March 1806, before it was made efficient by the approval of the French emperor; it had then been sent in triplicate by French vessels; and it seemed very extraordinary that in July 1807, the quadruplicate sent from England in December, round by India, should first arrive, when two or more vessels had come from France in the preceding twelvemonths.
Colonel Monistrol's letter gave me to understand that the order would be executed, but the time when, and the manner, were left in uncertainty; I therefore requested a permission to go to town for the arrangement of my affairs, hoping there to learn some further particulars; this however was refused, the answer being, "that when the time of my departure should be fixed," a permission would be granted for as many days as were necessary. Whence this delay in executing the minister's order could arise, I knew not; but having heard that the Cumberland had been removed from her usual place, and fearing that her reparation and refitment might be the cause, a letter was sent to inform colonel Monistrol,August. "that the impossibility of obtaining any better vessel for a direct passage to England could alone have induced me to undertake it in the Cumberland; and that unless His Excellency denied me any other means of quitting the Isle of France, it was not my intention to re-embark in her. If therefore it were His Excellency's desire that she should be restored to me, rather than her value, I hoped he would admit of her being sold; and allow me to take a passage on board some ship bound to America or India;" a request for the restitution of my books and papers was also made, that the intervening time might be employed in arranging them from the disorder into which they had been thrown at the shipwreck, four years before. At the end of three weeks, a letter from the colonel invited me to go to town, that he might restore the books and papers, with the other objects relating to my voyage of discovery; and on presenting myself at his office, the trunk into which they had been put was given up; my sword and spy-glasses were to be returned at the time of departure, as also the amount of the schooner and her stores, which had been valued soon after my arrival. On asking for the two boxes of despatches, the colonel said they had long been disposed of, and he believed that something in them had contributed to my imprisonment; and to an application for the remaining journal, he replied that it was wanted for the purpose of making extracts, at which I expressed surprise, seeing that it had been in the general's possession near four years, and the French government had made its decision. On requesting to know if it were intended to let me embark in the Wellesley cartel, then in port, it appeared that this had not been thought of; and the colonel hinted, that the order for my liberation had been given at a moment when England and France were in better intelligence than usual, and perhaps would not be granted to an application made at the present time; and it appeared from his conversation, that the restitution of my papers was not to be considered an assurance of a speedy departure.
After quitting colonel Monistrol, I examined the condition of the papers, and then sent him the following note and receipt.
Received from colonel Monistrol, chef de l'etat-major-général in the Isle of France, one trunk containing the remainder of the books, papers, &c. taken from me in Port North-West on Dec. 17, 1803, and Dec. 21 of the same year; which books and papers, with those received at two different times in 1804, make up the whole that were so taken, with the following exceptions.
1. Various letters and papers either wholly or in part destroyed by the rats, the remains of which are in the trunk.
2. The third volume of my rough log book, containing the journal of transactions and observations on board the Investigator, Porpoise, the Hope cutter, and Cumberland schooner, from sometime in June to Dec. 17, 1803, of which I have no duplicate.
3. Two boxes of despatches. The one from His Excellency governor King of New South Wales, addressed to His Majesty's principal secretary of state for the colonies; the other from colonel Paterson, lieutenant-governor of Port Jackson, the address of which I cannot remember.
In truth of which I hereunto sign my name, at Port Napoleon,[2] Isle of France, this 24th day of August 1807.
Matthew Flinders.
Late commander of H.M. sloop Investigator, employed on discoveries to the South Seas with a French passport.
Messrs Le Blanc and Stock, the commander and commissary of the Wellesley cartel, having a house in the town, I took this opportunity of seeing them; and it was agreed between us, that when the cartel was allowed to sail, Mr. Stock should make an official request for my embarkation with him. As, however, there was much reason to apprehend a refusal, I arranged a great part of the books and papers just received, with all the Port-Jackson letters, and sent them on board the Wellesley;September. writing at the same time to Sir Edward Pellew my suspicion, that general De Caen would not execute the order he had received from the marine minister. This precaution was not useless, for in the beginning of OctoberOctober. the Wellesly was sent away suddenly; and although she had been detained three months, not a prisoner was given in exchange for those brought from India. Mr. Stock left a copy of the letter he had written, as was agreed, and of the answer from the general's secretary; this said, "the captain-general is very sorry that he cannot allow captain Flinders to embark in the cartel Wellesley. So soon as circumstances will permit, that officer will be set at liberty, and to that effect be sent to London." The most direct means of conveyance to London in time of war, was assuredly by the way of France; but two vessels, the first of which was commanded by the brother of the captain-general, had sailed a short time before for that destination; so that this answer, if not false, was at least equivocal. My opinion of the general's unfair dealing had induced me to write by the last of these French vessels to the minister of the marine, representing the little probability there was of his order being executed; but this vessel was captured, and my letter most probably thrown overboard. An attempt to gain some knowledge of what were the captain-general's intentions was made in the following letter, written on the 16th, to colonel Monistrol.
- SIR,
You will do me a favour in transmitting the log book which was detained for the purpose of making extracts from it, as they have doubtless been made long since. At the same time, Sir, you would relieve me from much inquietude, if you could inform me of the time at which it is the intention of His Excellency the captain-general to grant me the liberty which His Imperial and Royal Majesty was pleased to accord in March 1806. By your letter of July 27 last, I was led to hope from the expresssion, "vous jouirez pleinement de la faveur," &c., that this long desired period would soon arrive. What the circumstances are to which you allude in that letter, it is impossible for me to know; nor is it within my imagination to conceive the circumstances which permit vessels to sail for India or America, but which cannot allow of my departure.
The desire expressed by His Excellency to captain Bergeret and M. Beckmann, to receive orders relating to me, and to the latter that he was sensible of the hardship of my situation, led me to hope that he would have taken into consideration the length of time that my detention had continued, the misfortune which preceded it, and the time elapsed since the date of the marine minister's letter; and I still intreat him to take them into his consideration. I have suffered much, Sir, in the Isle of France, and the uncertainty in which I have ever been kept has been one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup; I thought it exhausted when you favoured me with the copy of the letter from His Excellency the minister; but the dregs remained, and it seems as if I must swallow them to the last drop.
If the means of my return to England cause any part of the delay, I beg to inform you of my readiness to embrace any means, or any route,—in the Cumberland even, if it will save time, or in any other vessel of any nation. A passage on board the finest ship one month hence, would not indemnify me for one month longer of suffering, such as the last forty-six have been.
I am fully persuaded that no representation of mine can change the arrangements of the captain-general; if therefore the time and manner of my return be absolutely fixed, I have only to request that he will have so much charity as to impart them; or even the time only, when I may expect to see myself out of this fatal island; for the manner, when compared to the time, becomes almost indifferent. To know at what period this waste of the best years of my life was to end, would soften the anguish of my mind; and if you would favour me with the return of my log book, I should have an occupation which would still further tend to diminish it.
I request you to accept the assurances of consideration with which I have the honour to be, &c.
The answer received eight days afterward, said not a word of the log book; but simply that "so soon as a convenient opportunity for my departure presented itself, the captain-general would order it to be communicated;" which was evidently no more than an evasion, for vessels had gone to France, and others were at that very time sailing every week, either to India or America, in any one of which a passage might have been obtained. I was now induced to enter into the examination whether, in justice and honour, my parole ought to continue to be a restraint from quitting the island; it had been given to general De Caen as the representative of the French government,—that government had ordered me to be set at liberty,—and nothing was alleged for not putting the order into execution, other than the want of a convenient opportunity; had I not then a right to seek that opportunity for myself, since the captain-general had let pass so many without indicating any one of them? This question was debated a long time, and under every point of view, before deciding upon the line of conduct which duty to my country, my family and myself prescribed to be right.
Many letters for India, and a copy of my narrative for sir Edward Pellew had been confided to my Swiss friend, M. Boand, who was to have embarked in the Wellesley; but at the moment of sailing, the captain-general gave an order to prevent his going on board; the good man went immediately to ask an audience of His Excellency, and after discussing his own case, spoke of my imprisonment and tried to learn when it would cease. That he could obtain nothing decisive, was to be expected; but that the general should preserve his temper during this conversation, and even answer gaily, though equivocally, to several closely-put questions, was contrary to what usually happened when my name had been mentioned before him. M. Boand was permitted to embark in a Danish ship, which sailed early on the 24th; but late in the evening before, some police officers went on board; searched his trunk, and took away all the letters they could find, telling him he might then sail; they had got what they wanted. This transaction explained the general's views in preventing M. Boand's departure in the cartel, where a search could not decently have been made; also why the cartel had been sent off so suddenly that my letters could not be put on board, and the cause of his moderation when speaking of my imprisonment. He was not deceived in supposing this friend would be the bearer of many letters, though very much so if he hoped to find therein proofs of my having acted, or intending to act contrary to the passport; he however missed his aim altogether, as I learned some months afterward; the cautious Swiss had separated my letters from those he had received from other persons, and these last only were found; but it was not less evident, that general De Caen was seeking all means to fortify himself with pretexts to avoid setting me at liberty.
December.This year finished in the same manner as the preceding, without the least change in my situation; but if I had reason to complain of the want of justice, humanity, and good faith in the captain-general, there was, on the other hand, great cause to be satisfied with the sustained attentions of the inhabitants in my small circle; especially of those in the house where I still continued to dwell; and it was some consolation to see, that the interest generally taken in my liberation increased with every fresh act denoting perseverance in rigorous measures.
1808.
July.Six other months had elapsed when two vessels came from France, and it was known that the captain-general's brother had safely reached Paris; he had sailed two months after the order for my liberty had arrived, and as the general had probably communicated his intentions to the marine minister, he might have received fresh directions; I therefore wrote to the chief of the staff, requesting to know whether the despatches contained any thing to give me hopes of early liberty, and repeating my readiness to embark in any vessel of any nation; but it was answered, that nothing in the despatches related to this subject.
September.Several ships being in preparation to depart for France in September, a memorial containing the circumstances previous to and attending my imprisonment was made out, with authenticating papers annexed, to be transmitted to the minister of the French marine; in this, I explained the late conduct of the captain-general, and earnestly entreated that His Excellency would direct him to send me to France, by an order couched in such terms as should leave no room for evasion; declaring at the same time, perhaps incautiously, that I considered his previous order to have released me from parole. Two copies of this memorial were confided to gentlemen who promised to deliver them in person to the minister; or in case of being taken, to the captain of the English man of war who would forward them to the Admiralty. There still remained La Semillante, an old frigate sold to the merchants, on board of which two officers of the French navy were to go as passengers. This afforded the most desirable opportunity of sending me to France, if such had been the general's intention; and to do away all after pretext of not knowing it to be my wish, another request was made to that effect;October. with a proposition to engage, "in case La Semillante should not arrive at her destination, to take the most direct means that could be found of reaching France, and giving myself up into the hands of the government; should it be judged expedient to require from me such a parole." In answer to this letter, it was then said for the first time, fifteen months after receiving the order for my liberty, that the captain-general, "having communicated to His Excellency the marine minister the motives which had determined him to suspend my return to Europe, he could not authorise my departure before having received an answer upon the subject." Thus the frequently expressed desire of general De Caen to receive orders, and the promise, when they arrived, that I should be set at liberty so soon as circumstances would permit, were shown to be fallacious; and the so long expected order to be of none effect. The reasoning of the inhabitants upon this suspension was, that having been so long in the island, I had gained too much knowledge of it for my departure to be admitted with safety; but if this were so, the captain-general was punishing me for his own oversight, since without the detention forced by himself, the supposed dangerous knowledge could not have been acquired. In calling it an oversight I am probably wrong. When the general suffered me to quit the Garden Prison, he expected the order which afterwards arrived; and what appeared to be granted as an indulgence, was perhaps done with a view to this very pretext of my too extended knowledge of the island; a pretext which could scarcely have been alleged so long as I remained shut up in prison.
One of the naval officers who embarked in La Semillante had served in the expedition of captain Baudin; he took charge of a triplicate of my memorial to the marine minister, and promised to use his efforts in obtaining for it a powerful support. This triplicate was accompanied by many letters; addressed to distinguished characters in the ministry, the senate, in the council of state and the national institute; as well from myself as from several worthy persons who interested themselves in the issue of my detention. By this and another opportunity, I stated to the Admiralty and the president of the Royal Society the circumstances attending the order which had arrived; and from these various steps united, my friends in Mauritius conceived the hope of a success almost certain; but from having been so often deceived I was less sanguine, and saw only that if this memorial and these letters failed, there was little hope of being restored to liberty before the uncertain epoch of peace.
1809.Constant occupation was, as usual, my resource to beguile the time until the effect of the memorial and letters could be known. Being furnished by some friends with several manuscript travels and journals in the interior, and along the coasts of Madagascar, I constructed a chart of the northern half of that extensive island, accompanied with an analytical account of my materials; and in this employment, reading various French authors, mathematical studies, and visiting occasionally some of the inhabitants within my circle, this time of anxious suspense passed not unprofitably. In the month of MarchMarch. arrived the frigate La Venus, captain Hamelin, the same who had commanded Le Naturaliste at Port Jackson. His affairs, or some other cause, prevented him from seeing or writing to me; but he told M. Pitot that many persons took an interest in my situation, and that several officers of Le Géographe and Naturaliste had made applications to the marine minister. The answers they received had constantly been, that orders were sent out to Mauritius to set me at liberty and restore the Cumberland; yet it was known in France before captain Hamelin sailed, that these orders had not been executed, and the future intentions of the government were unknown. The publication of the French voyage of discovery, written by M. Peron, was in great forwardness; and the emperor Napoléon, considering it to be a national work, had granted a considerable sum to render the publication complete. From a Moniteur of July 1808, it appeared that French names were given to all my discoveries and those of captain Grant on the south coast of Terra Australis; it was kept out of sight that I had ever been upon the coast; and in speaking of M. Peron's first volume the newspapers asserted, that no voyage ever made by the English nation could be compared with that of the Géographe and Naturaliste. It may be remembered, that after exploring the South Coast up to Kanguroo Island, with the two gulphs, I met captain Baudin, and gave him the first information of these places and of the advantages they offered him; and it was but an ill return to seek to deprive me of the little honour attending the discovery. No means were spared by the French government to enhance the merit of this voyage, and all the officers employed in it had received promotion; but the Investigator's voyage seemed to obtain as little public notice in England as in France, no one of my officers had been advanced on their arrival, and in addition to so many years of imprisonment my own promotion was suspended. It would ill become me to say that in one case there was an ostentatious munificence, or in the other, injustice and neglect; but the extreme difference made between the two voyages could not but add to the bitterness of my situation, and diminish the little remaining hope of being speedily and honourably liberated.
May.A vessel from St. Malo arrived in May, and gave information that one of the ships which carried a duplicate of my memorial to the marine minister, had reached France; and in a few days La Bellone, a frigate in which the brother of the captain-general was an officer, got into Port Louis; she had sailed in the end of January and brought despatches, but if the general received any new order by this or the former vessel, it was kept to himself. June.In June the English cruisers sent in a flag of truce with a French lady, taken in L'Agile from St. Malo; this lady brought many letters, in some of which the arrival in France of La Semillante was mentioned; also that Bonaparte was at Paris when L'Agile sailed, and that the naval officer who carried the last copy of my memorial had been promoted and made a member of the legion of honour. I did now certainly entertain hopes that general De Caen would have received an order to set me at liberty, and that no further pretext for prolonging my detention would be admitted; but week after week passed as before without any intimation of this so much desired event.July. There was reason to believe that a direct application to know whether any order had arrived, would obtain no answer; therefore after waiting a month, I wrote to ask "whether His Excellency would permit my wife to come and join me, should she present herself before Port Napoléon." It was not in reality my intention that she should leave England; but I hoped to draw the desired information from the answer; and in six weeks,September. after another vessel had arrived from France, one was given to the following effect: "The captain-general will not oppose the residence of your wife in the colony; but with respect to a safe conduct, it is neccessary that Mrs. Flinders should apply to the ministers of His Britannic Majesty, who should make the request to those of His Majesty the Emperor and King;" which was equivalent to saying, either that no fresh order to set me at liberty had been received, or that it would not be put into execution.
At this time there was much talk of an attack upon the island, said to be projected by the British government; and all the English officers, prisoners of war, were taken from their paroles and closely shut up. In the middle of the month our cruisers quitted the island unexpectedly and a fortnight afterwards it was known that they gone to Bourbon, and made an attack upon the town of St. Paul; both the town and bay were then in their possession, as also La Caroline frigate and two Indiamen her prizes, upon which this government had counted for supplying its deficiency of revenue. During the attack, great disorders had been committed by the black slaves, and the humane care of commodore Rowley and his captains had alone prevented greater excesses; this intelligence put a stop to the raising of regiments of slaves for the defence of Mauritius, which the captain-general had commenced under the name of African battalions, much against the sense of the inhabitants. These various circumstances, with the distress of the government for money, caused much agitation in the public mind; and it was to be apprehended that general De Caen would scarcely suffer me to remain with the usual degree of liberty, whilst all the other prisoners were shut up. I endeavoured by great circumspection to give no umbrage, in order to avoid the numberless inconveniences of a close imprisonment; but in the beginning of OctoberOctober. a letter came from colonel Monistrol, saying that "His Excellency the captain-general having learned that I sometimes went to a considerable distance from the habitation of Madame D'Arifat, had thought proper to restrain my permission to reside in the interior of the colony on parole, to the lands composing that habitation." This order showed that the general had either no distinct idea of a parole of honour, or that his opinion of it differed widely from that commonly received; a parole is usually thought to be a convention, whereby, in order to obtain a certain portion of liberty, an officer promises not to take any greater; but general De Caen seemed to expect me to be bound by the convention, whilst he withdrew such portion of the advantages as he thought proper, and this without troubling himself about my consent. If any doubts remained that the order of the French government had in strict justice liberated me from parole, this infraction by the captain-general was sufficient to do them away; nevertheless the same reasons which had prevented me declaring this conviction long before, restrained the declaration at this time; and I returned the following answer to colonel Monistrol, written in French that no pretext of bad translation might afterwards be alleged.
- SIR,
Yesterday at noon I had the honour of receiving your letter of the 1st. inst. It is true that I have sometimes profited by the permission contained in the parole which I had given (que j'avais donnée) on Aug. 23, 1805, by which I was allowed to go as far as two leagues from the plantation of Madame D'Arifat; but since His Excellency the captain-general has thought good to make other regulations, I shall endeavour to conduct myself with so much prudence respecting the orders now given, that His Excellency will not have any just cause of complaint against me.
I have the honour to be, &c.
The two objects I had in view in giving this answer, were, to promise nothing in regard to my movements, and to avoid close imprisonment if it could be done without dishonour; had it been demanded whether I still considered the parole to be in force, my answer was perfectly ready and very short, but no such question was asked. Many circumstances had given room to suspect, that the captain-general secretly desired I should attempt an escape; and his view in it might either have been to some extraordinary severity, or in case his spies failed of giving timely information, to charging me with having broken parole and thus to throw a veil over his own injustice. Hence it might have been that he did not seek to know whether, being restricted to the plantation of Madame D'Arifat, I still admitted the obligatory part of the parole to be binding; and that the expression in my answer,—the parole which I had given, implying that it existed no longer, passed without question. However this might be, I thenceforward declined accepting any invitations beyond the immediate neighbourhood of the plantation; and until the decisive moment should arrive, amused by solitude with instructing the two younger sons of our good family in the elements of mathematical science, with inventing problems and calculating tables that might be useful to navigation, and in reading the most esteemed French authors.
After the evacuation of the town and bay of St. Paul at Bourbon, the blockade of Mauritius was resumed by commodore Rowley with increased strictness. The frigate La Canonnière and the prize formerly H.M. ship Laurel, which the want of a few thousand dollars had induced the government to let for freight to the merchants, were thus prevented sailing; and a cartel fitted long before to carry the English prisoners to the Cape of Good Hope, and waiting only, as was generally supposed, for the departure of these two ships, was delayed in consequence. When captains Woolcombe and Lynne of the navy had been desired in August to keep themselves in readiness, I had committed to the obliging care of the latter many letters for England, and one for admiral Bertie at the Cape; but instead of being sent away, these officers with the others were put into close confinement, and their prospects retarded until the hurricane season, when it was expected the island would have a respite from our cruisers.
December.In the beginning of December, despatches were said to have arrived from France, and the marine minister having received my memorial in the early part of the year, full time had been given to send out a fresh order; but disappointment on such arrivals had been so constant during greater part of the six years to which my imprisonment was now prolonged, that I did not at this time think it worth asking a question on the subject. A British cartel, the Harriet, arrived from India on the 12th, with the officers of La Piémontaise and La Jena; the Harriet was commanded by Mr. John Ramsden, formerly confined with me in the Garden Prison, and the commissary of prisoners was Hugh Hope, Esq., whom Lord Minto had particularly sent to negotiate an exchange with general De Caen. The cartel had been stopped at the entrance of the port by the blockading squadron, and been permitted to come in only at the earnest request of Mr. Hope and the parole of the prisoners to go out again with him should the exchange be refused. In a few days I received an open letter from Mr. Stock, the former commissary; and having learned that Mr. Hope proposed to use his endeavours for my release, a copy of all the letters to and from colonel Monistrol, subsequent to the marine minister's order, was transmitted, that he might be better enabled to take his measures with effect; and towards the end of the month, a letter from the commissary informed me of the very favourable reception he had met with from the captain-general, of the subject of my liberty having been touched upon, and of his entertaining hopes of a final success. The flattering reception given to Mr. Hope had been remarked to me with surprise from several hands; but a long experience of general De Caen prevented any faith in the success of his application for my release: I feared that Mr. Hope's wishes had caused him to interpret favourably some softened expressions of the general, which he would in the end find to merit no sort of confidence.
1810.
January.La Venus frigate, after her exploit at Tappanouli, got into the Black River on the first of January, notwithstanding the presence of our cruisers; she had on board a part of the 69th regiment, with the officers and passengers of the Windham, including five ladies, and announced the capture of two other ships belonging to the East-India Company; and two days afterward, the frigates La Manche and La Bellone entered Port Louis with the United Kingdom and Charleston, the Portuguese frigate Minerva, and His Majesty's sloop Victor (formerly La Jena). This was a most provoking sight to commodore Rowley, whom baffling winds, and his position off the Black River prevented stopping them; whilst the joy it produced in the island, more especially amongst the officers of the government who had been many months without pay, was excessive. The ordinary sources of revenue and emolument were nearly dried up, and to have recourse to the merchants for a loan was impossible, the former bills upon the French treasury, drawn it was said for three millions of livres, remaining in great part unpaid; and to such distress was the captain-general reduced for ways and means, that he had submitted to ask a voluntary contribution in money, wheat, maize, or any kind of produce from the half-ruined colonists. Promises of great reform in the administration were made at that time; and it was even said to have been promised, that if pecuniary succour did not arrive in six months, the captain-general would retire and leave the inhabitants to govern themselves; and had the frigates not returned, or returned without prizes, it seemed probable that such must have been the case.[3]
The hurricane season was now arrived; and the Canonnière and Laurel having taken advantage of our cruisers being at a little distance to get out at night, the British squadron abandoned the island. Expecting then that the cartel for the Cape of Good Hope would be sent away, I augmented the number of letters for England and the Cape in the hands of captain Lynne; and transmitted to him the greater part of my books and clothes, which he had the goodness to send on board with his own. So many vessels had arrived from France, and amongst them two during this month of January, without producing any fresh information, that almost all hope from my memorial to the marine minister had ceased; and should the captain-general send me in this cartel, contrary to expectation, then my effects were already on board. She sailed on the 29th, with captains Woolcombe and Lynne and the commanders of the Company's ships Windham, Charleston and United Kingdom, and their officers; captain W. Owen of the Sea Flower and the remaining English officers were reserved for the Bengal cartel, commanded by Mr. Ramsden; and with respect to the seamen and soldiers, a part only of the crews of the Laurel and Sea Flower, and of the 69th regiment were left, many of them having been seduced from their allegiance to enlist in the French service.
- ↑
Copy.
The accompanying letter is understood to contain a direction from the French government for the release of captain Flinders. It has already been transmitted to the Isle of France in triplicate; but as it may be hoped that the vessels have been all captured, you had better take an opportunity of sending this copy by a flag of truce, provided you have not heard in the mean time of Flinders being at liberty.
Admiralty, 30th Dec. 1806.(Signed)William Marsden.
- ↑ Port Louis, after having been changed to Port de la Montagne, Port North-West, and I believe borne one or two other names, was now called Port Napoleon; Port Bourbon and Isle Bourbon underwent similar changes: such was the inflexibility of French republicanism.
- ↑ According to information from various sources, the prizes brought to Mauritius were disposed of in this manner. The proceeds went first into the hands of the government, which took ten per cent. as a duty upon the sales, and afterwards one-third of the remainder as its proper right. Sixty per cent. remained for the captors, but the necessities of the state being generally urgent, it took thirty more, giving bills for the amount on the treasury of France; and for the remaining portion, it was parted with so reluctantly that the inferior officers and seamen were seldom able to obtain a dollar; but they were offered other bills, and these they were glad to sell for almost any thing to the inhabitants. This was the distribution to the frigates; the prizes brought in by privateers were not so profitable to the government, its claims being limited, I believe, to the ten per cent. duty and one-third of the remainder.