of the Mascareiie Islands. 149 



island, it was so changed that only one ship of six guns and ten 

 sailors was made ready for departure. This ship set sail from the 

 Texel the 4th September, 1690. The colonists on board, eleven 

 in number, among whom was the brother of our Leguat, were all 

 French emigrants. Leguat, who was placed at the head of the 

 expedition, was already more than fifty years of age*. These colo- 

 nists, with the exception of two, who had but a small fortune, 

 were all w'ell-to-do and of respectable condition, undertaking the 

 voyage for their own pleasure and not through necessityf. On 

 the 3rd April, 1691, they arrived in sight of Bourbon J ; but instead 

 of landing there, the captain steered for the island of Rodriguez, 

 at that time most generally called Diego- Ruys§, where he put 

 them ashore II . After a sojourn of two years in this, till then 

 uninhabited, island, our colonists lei't it in a boat, which they had 

 themselves built, on the 21st May, 1693^, and on the 29th of 

 that month arrived at Mauritius, exhausted almost to death 

 by storms and want. They then proceeded for about a week 

 along the coast, till they came to the Zwarte River [Riviere 

 Noire], where some Dutch families dwelt in huts. This river is 

 twenty-eight miles {lieues) from the then Dutch fort Frederik 

 Hendrik^"^, which lay on the south-east of the island. After 

 staying a month on this river it happened that the Governor of 

 Mauritius, on his annual voyage round the island, arrived in this 

 district ; and it followed that he sent our Leguat and his mates 

 to the harbour on the north-west coast, thence to depart to the 

 governor's residence tt- They remained in freedom until the 

 15th January, 1694 ; but from that time were treated as pri- 

 soners J |, and for a further abode were transferred to a little rocky 

 islet lying two miles from Mauritius §§. From this islet, they 



tales par une escadre de six vaisseaux, commaudez par M. Duquesne,' 

 Rouen, chez Machouel, 1721. 3 vols., 12mo. The levity and wantonness 

 of this narrative, which was principally composed for the then French 

 Minister of Marine, De Seignelai, contrasts very strongly with the earnest- 

 ness, simplicity, and honesty which mark Leguat and his companions. 



* Op. cil. i. pp. 3-7. t Ihicl. i. p. 69. J Ihid. i. p. 47. 



§ Ibid. i. p. 49. II Ibid. i. p. 60. ^ Ihid. i. p. 164. 



** [Very nearly the site of what is now Mah^bourg. — Transl,] 



tt Op. dt. ii. pp. 8-12. tt Ihid. ii. p. 21. 



§§ Ibid. ii. p. 25. 



