OF LA PEROUSE. 



335 



the principal officers of our expedition, that we 

 were under arrell. Shortly after we found that 

 feveral of our fliipm 'tes fharcd the fame fate, 

 without being ible to divine what could have 

 jgiven occafion to fo arbitrary an ad: of autiio- 

 rity : prefently we learnt that fome news which 

 had I'.rrived frjm Europe had dete rmined Dau- 

 ribeau to hoifl the -Ahite flag, and put himfclf 

 under the proteclion of the Dutch, who were 

 then at war with France. He had, no doubt, 

 at this time, formed the projecfl which he 

 executed in the fequel, of felling tlie fiiips be- 

 longing to the expedition. In order to fuccced 

 with more certainty, it was nccefH^ry that he 

 fhould get rid of the perfons who he knev/ 

 would be likely to difapprove highly of fuch 

 conduch. Accordingly ftvcp^ of us, namel}'', 

 Lcgrand, Laigncl, WiUaumez, Riche, Vente- 

 nal, Piron, and myfeif, were delivered up to 

 the Dutch as prifoners of ^^a^, and we were 

 conducted to Samarang, being obliged to travel 

 near forty myriameters along i'viii^htivA roads in 

 the rainy fcafon. We were under the ncccfuty 

 of eroding in boats feveral large pi :ins inun- 

 dated by thiC torrents that came dvown from the 

 high mountaiiis which lay tov;\a;ds t'ic fouth, 

 and which make part of the hir;'C c;:a;n r. .x 

 traverfes the ifland of Java from cact to Vv>.ft 

 throughout its whole length. 



3 Michel 



