rines, with Lieutenant Desbrisay under him. I have to regret my return of killed and wounded[1].
“The loss of the enemy could not be ascertained, nor do I know the force opposed to us; but from every information gained, and from the French officers themselves, they declare that 600 men can reinforce the batteries by signal in an hour. I remained on shore four hours, in a clear morning, and the signal was flying the whole of the time.”
On returning to la Nereide, Captain Willoughby took along with him the French schooner, which the midshipman left in charge of the boats had secured just as she was sweeping to sea. The ship proved to be an American; but although detainable for a breach of blockade, he did not think proper to bring her out.
Speaking of this heroic enterprise. Captain Matthew Flinders, R.N., who was then a prisoner in the Isle of France, says:–
“Captain Willoughby, of the Nereide, made a descent upon the south side of the island, at Port Jacotel, where he cut out l’Estafette packet-boat, spiked the guns of the fort, carried off the officer, with two field-pieces, and M. Etienne Bolger, commandant of the quarter of la Savanne * * *. This sullying of the French territory produced a fulminating proclamation from General De Caen, nearly similar in terms to that of the Emperor Napoleon, after the descent at Walcheren * * * *. Three days afterwards a flag of truce was sent out to negociate an exchange for M. Bolger and the officer who had commanded the fort, for whom 20 soldiers of the 69th regiment were given[2].”
In addition to these soldiers, an equal number of British subjects were exchanged for the crew of l’Estafette, on board which vessel Captain Willoughby had found a mail for Bourbon, consisting of nearly 600 public and private letters, laying open for the first time the military resources, the condition of the mercantile interest, and the views of the inhabitants of both islands.
The restoration of the above-mentioned men, many of whose fellow prisoners had been seduced into the French service, was an immediate good result of the enterprise at Jacotel. The benefits of a more permanent nature, arising
