A Voyage to Terra Australis Volume II Part 36

If the schooner's actions were strange before, those of the people were now more so; for no sooner was their anchor dropped, than without furling the sails they went hastily on sh.o.r.e in a canoe, and made the best of their way up a steep hill, one of them with a trunk on his shoulder. They were met by a person who, from the plume in his hat, appeared to be an officer, and presently we saw several men with muskets on the top of the hill; this gave another view of the schooner's movements, and caused me to apprehend that England and France were either at war or very near it.

To induce some person to come on board, I held up the letters for general Magallon, the governor; but this being to no purpose, Mr. Aken went on sh.o.r.e in our little boat, taking with him the letters and French pa.s.sport; in a short time he returned with the officer and two others, and I learned to my great regret that war was actually declared.

The officer, whose name was _Dunienville_, spoke a little English; he asked if I were the captain Flinders mentioned in the pa.s.sport, whether we had been shipwrecked, and to see my commission. Having perused it, he politely offered his services, inquired what were our immediate wants, and invited me to go on sh.o.r.e and dine with him, it being then near three o'clock. I explained my wish to have a pilot for Port North-West (the name at that time for Port Louis), since it appeared no reparations could be done in the little bay, and requested to have a cask or two of water.

The pilot was promised for the next day, and Mons. Dunienville sent a canoe for our empty casks and the master of the French schooner to moor the c.u.mberland in a secure place.

My pa.s.sport was in French, and being a stranger to the language, I had had its general purport explained on first receiving it from the Admiralty; but from that time, and more especially after the preliminaries of peace had reached Port Jackson, the pa.s.sport had scarcely been looked at, and my knowledge of its contents was very imperfect. When the officer was gone, I set myself to consider it attentively; and so far as I could make out, it seemed to be solely for the Investigator, and without provision for any other vessel in which the loss of the ship, or her incapacity to pursue the voyage might oblige me to embark. The intention, no doubt, was to protect the voyage generally, and not the Investigator in particular; but it appeared that if the governor of Mauritius should adhere to the letter of the pa.s.sport and disregard the intention, he might seize the c.u.mberland as a prize; and the idea of being detained even a week more than necessary was intolerable. I inquired of the pilot whether the Cape of Good Hope belonged to the Dutch or English; almost determining, should it not have been given up before the war commenced, to attempt the pa.s.sage at all risks, rather than incur the hazard of being stopped; but the Cape was in the hands of the Dutch.

An hour after M. Dunienville had been gone, we saw him returning with another officer who proved to be his superior in rank; and they had with them a gentleman who spoke English intelligibly. My pa.s.sport and commission were demanded in a rough manner, and after the officer had examined them with the a.s.sistance of his interpreter, he observed that the pa.s.sport was not for the c.u.mberland, and required an explanation; having received it, he said it was necessary that both commission and pa.s.sport should be sent to the governor, and that I should remain with the vessel till an answer was returned. To this arrangement I objected, alleging that since war was declared, these papers were my sole protection and could not be given up; but if copies would do they might be taken. It was at length settled, that I should go over land to Port Louis with the pa.s.sport and commission, and that Mr. Aken should be furnished with a pilot and bring the schooner round after me.

I was conducted to the house of M. Dunienville, about a mile distant, to be ready to set off on horseback early next morning. The gentleman who interpreted informed me on the way, that general Magallon was at Bourbon, having been lately superseded by general De Caen, an officer of the French revolution. M. Dunienville had been a lieutenant of the navy and knight of St. Louis under the old government, and was then major of the district of _La Savanne_; but the other officer, M. Etienne Bolger, had lately been appointed commandant over his head, by the new governor.

My reception at the major's house was polite and hospitable; and at dawn of day [FRIDAY 16 DECEMBER 1803] I rose to set off with my host for Port Louis, according to the plan settled over night. It appeared, however, that he first expected some orders from the commandant; and at ten o'clock becoming impatient of the delay, I requested to know whether it were, or were not intended to go overland? Major Dunienville seemed to be hurt that the agreement had not been kept; but the direction was taken out of his hands, and not having received final orders he could do nothing. I then returned to the c.u.mberland, with the intention of sailing either with or without a pilot; but a wind favourable for quitting the bay being not expected before four o'clock it induced me to accept the major's pressing invitation to dine at his house, where four or five strangers were a.s.sembled. Before dinner was over, an order came to him from the commandant _to permit the departure of the schooner he had stopped_; and at five o'clock the pilot being on board, we stood out from the reefs in one of those squalls which come off the land at that hour in the summer season.

This little Baye du Cap lies about four miles east from Cape Brabant, a headland at the south-west extremity of the island. The shelter is formed by coral reefs, through which a small river falling into the bay has kept open a pa.s.sage of about a cable's length wide, with a depth of 3 fathoms close to the eastern breakers; within side there appeared to be anchorage for six or eight small vessels, in from 2 to 3 fathoms; but on account of the flurries of wind which come down the gullies and off the precipices, it is necessary to moor head and stern. Mr. Aken found the lat.i.tude from an indifferent observation to be 20 29' south.

At seven in the evening we pa.s.sed round Cape Brabant, and the pilot then kept north-eastward, close along the reefs under the high land; although by so doing we were frequently becalmed, and sometimes had strong flurries which made it necessary to take in all sail; but it appeared that he was afraid of being driven off the island. At eight in the morning [SAt.u.r.dAY 17 DECEMBER 1803], the mast heads of the vessels in Port Louis were in sight, and there was a large ship lying without side which I hoped might be _Le Geographe_. Major Dunienville had informed me that this ship had been some time at Mauritius, and so far as he knew, was still at the port, though upon the eve of sailing for Europe. Captain Baudin died soon after his arrival, and Mons. Melius, who had been first lieutenant of Le Naturaliste when at Port Jackson, then commanded.

During this pa.s.sage to Port Louis, my mind was occupied in turning over all the circ.u.mstances of my situation, and the mode of proceeding likely to be adopted by the new governor. The breaking out of the war, the neglect of providing in the pa.s.sport for any such case as that in which I stood, and the ungracious conduct of the commandant at the Baye du Cap, gave me some apprehensions; but on the other hand, the intention of the pa.s.sport to protect the persons employed in the expedition, with their charts and journals, must be evident; and the conduct of a governor appointed by the first consul Bonaparte, who was a professed patron of science, would hardly be less liberal than that of two preceding French governments to captain Cook in the American, and captain Vancouver in the last war; for both of whom protection and a.s.sistance had been ordered, though neither carried pa.s.sports or had suffered shipwreck. These circ.u.mstances, with the testimony which the commanders of the Geographe and Naturaliste had doubtless given of their treatment at Port Jackson, seemed to insure for me the kindest reception; and I determined to rest confident in this a.s.surance, and to banish all apprehension as derogatory to the governor of Mauritius and to the character of the French nation.

CHAPTER IV.

Arrival at Port Louis (or North-West) in Mauritius.

Interview with the French governor.

Seizure of the c.u.mberland, with the charts and journals of the Investigator's voyage; and imprisonment of the commander and people.

Letters to the governor, with his answer.

Rest.i.tution of some books and charts.

Friendly act of the English interpreter.

Propositions made to the governor.

Humane conduct of captain Bergeret.

Reflections on a voyage of discovery.

Removal to the Maison Despeaux or Garden Prison.

[AT MAURITIUS. PORT LOUIS.]

SAt.u.r.dAY 17 DECEMBER 1803

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 Geographe; 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 pa.s.sport 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 pa.s.sport 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 pa.s.sing 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 sh.o.r.e 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 p.r.o.nounced.

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 pa.s.sport, 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 pa.s.sport 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 pa.s.sing--my order for embarking in the c.u.mberland 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 pa.s.sport 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 (_proces 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 pa.s.sport 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 sh.o.r.e again. The interpreter hoped I would go on sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 morning [SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 1803] the officers took us into their boat, leaving the c.u.mberland, 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-gla.s.s in the room had formerly been gilt. It seemed to me a wiser plan to leave the circ.u.mstances to develop 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 _Cafe 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 pa.s.sport 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 c.u.mberland, 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 pa.s.sed, 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 c.u.mberland 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 a.s.sistance to the c.u.mberland 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 DECEMBER 1803

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 s.e.xtant 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 DECEMBER 1803

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 sh.o.r.e 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 showed me into the secretary's office, and requested a copy of my pa.s.sport 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 c.u.mberland, and that the caulking of the vessel's upper works and fresh boring of the pumps might be commenced, these being the princ.i.p.al 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 sh.o.r.e had been put into the guard house, and that an answer would be given to my note in the morning [WEDNESDAY 21 DECEMBER 1803]. In effect, the interpreter then came with lieutenant-colonel Monistrol, 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 pa.s.sport, 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, etc._ That such conduct being a violation of neutrality, he ordered colonel Monistrol to go on board the c.u.mberland, 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 c.u.mberland, and the stores put under seal and guarded conformably to the regulations.*

[* The following is a copy of the order, as given to me by the interpreter and certified by colonel Monistrol (In French, not included here. Ebook editor.)]

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 circ.u.mstance about which I had entertained the least apprehension, was the neglect in my pa.s.sport 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, etc. etc. etc.

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 pa.s.sport 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 dependencies 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 Perouse, 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, etc. 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 a.s.sure 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 dignity 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. .h.i.therto 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, etc. to England, that I might obtain another ship in which the voyage might be completed. In this second ship I was a pa.s.senger; 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 pa.s.sage, and thus gain two or three mouths of time in the outfit of my future expected ship; making my own case and safety to stand in no compet.i.tion 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 pa.s.sport, 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 a.s.sistance 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 sh.o.r.e; 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, Your Excellency's obedient servant, Dec. 21, 1803.

Matthew Flinders.