1804.
June.
jeant that my arms had been asked for, and he was sorry it had taken place; had the captain-general meant to demand my sword, it would have been done by an officer of equal rank; but he had no intention to make me a prisoner until he should receive orders to that effect. The explanation attending this apology seemed to be strange; and the next time captain Neufville came to the house I observed to him, that it appeared singular, after having been confined six months, to be told I was not a prisoner, and asked him to explain it. He said, no certainly, I was not a prisoner,—my sword had not been taken away; that I was simply detained for reasons which he did not pretend to penetrate, and put under surveillance for a short period.
In this affair of the sword I thought myself rather handsomely treated; but about three months afterward, one of the lower officers of the staff came to demand it in the name of the town major, by order of the captain-general. When told the circumstances which had occurred upon the same subject, he said the general had consented to my wish at that time, but had since altered his mind; and upon the promise of sending an officer of equal rank, he said there was no officer of the same rank at that time in readiness,—that Colonel D'Arsonval (the town major) would himself have come had he not been engaged. I might, by a refusal, have given the officer the trouble of searching my trunks, and perhaps have received some further degradation; but since the order had come from the general, who had broken his word, my sword was delivered, with the observation that I should not forget the manner of its being taken. The officer described himself as lieutenant-adjutant de place; he conducted himself with politeness, and did not ask if I or Mr. Aken had any other weapons.
A seaman of the Cumberland and another prisoner from Flacq made their appearance one morning behind the wall of our inclosure. They had come to make a complaint of the scantiness of their provisions; for besides bread, they had only six ounces of meat or fish