398 NAUSCOPIE. 



No. II. 



The undersigned, chief officer of engineers of the king in the Isle 

 of France, certifies, that Mr. Bottineau has, at different periods, 

 announced to me the arrival of more than a hundred vessels, scarcely 

 without ever being mistaken ; that he announced these vessels two, 

 three, and even four days before the coast signals ; and moreover, that 

 he stated when there was only one, or when there were several 

 vessels. 



Signed GENU, 



Do. TRBBOND, Colonel of Infantry. 



16th November, 1780. 



No. III. 



I cannot refuse my testimony to truth, and I give this certificate 

 in acknowledgment of the pleasure and agreeable surprise I have 

 experienced from your continued and certain announces. I advise 

 you to cultivate this science which will prove of immense benefit. The 

 remarks of a few idle persons must not deter you. When Christo- 

 pher Columbus proposed his discovery, he was treated as a madman 

 by John the Second, king of Portugal, and Henry the Eighth, king 

 of England ; and had it not been for Isabella of Castille, who en- 

 couraged this celebrated Genoese, America would not perhaps have 

 yet been discovered. 



This example and a thousand others, show how prudent it is to 

 withhold one's judgment, on points of fact in systems founded on 

 astronomy or philosophy. I am persuaded that Nature possesses a 

 thousand secrets which are still hidden from us. 



Signed LE BRAS DE VILLEVIDERNE, 



The King's Attorney- General of the Isle of France. 



5th November, 1781. 



No IV. 



We, Commissary-General of the navy in this port certify, that 

 having wished to try whether Mr. Bottineau really possessed the 

 talent of announcing (before the usual observers placed upon the 

 mountains,) the vessels that arrive here, and having desired him to 

 inform us in writing of his predictions, he has announced to us 

 within six months, one hundred and nine vessels, one, two, three, or 

 four days before the signals were made from the mountains, and in 

 this number he only was twice mistaken ; moreover, he explained 

 these errors by contrary winds or the currents. We have also to 

 acknowledge, and not without great astonishment, that his art 

 extends so far as to inform me whether there was one, or there were 

 several in the vicinity of the Isle, and if they were together or 

 separated. 



Signed MELIS. 



Port Louis, 16th May, 1782. 



