1805.
May.
Mr. Campbell, commander of the American ship James, bound to New York, liberally gave Mr. Aken and some other prisoners a passage free of expense;[1] and the paroles they were required to sign laying no other injunction than that of not serving until legally exchanged, the books, &c. above mentioned, with many letters both public and private, were safely embarked; and on the 20th in the evening, the ship got under sail, to my great satisfaction. Of the ten officers and men who had come with me to Mauritius, only four now remained; one was in the hospital with a broken leg, another with me in the Garden Prison, and two were shut up at the Grande Rivière. A seaman had been allowed to go with Mr. Aken in the James, and all our endeavours were used to obtain permission for the two in prison to embark also, but without effect; about a month afterwards, however, they were suffered to enter on board an American ship, at the request of the commander.
June.On June 4, a fortnight after Mr. Aken had sailed, captain Osborn again came off the island, with His Majesty's ships Tremendous, Grampus, Pitt, and Terpsichore; and an embargo on all foreign vessels was, as usual, the immediate consequence. On the 23rd, the ship Thetis arrived from Bengal under cartel colours, having on board captain Bergeret, with such of his officers and people as had not been killed in the action he had sustained against our frigate the St. Fiorenzo. This arrival animated the spirits of all the prisoners in the island; and the return of my friend Bergeret even- ↑ It gives me pleasure to say, that almost the whole of the American commanders were ready to accommodate the English prisoners who, from time to time, obtained leave to depart, and the greater number without any other expense than that of laying in provisions for themselves; some were received on board as officers for wages, and others had a table found for them without any specified duty being required. In most cases these were beneficent actions, for, as will readily be imagined, the greater part of the prisoners had no means of obtaining money in Mauritius; the military officers, however, and those who had money at their disposal, were required to pay for their passages, and in some cases, dear enough.
