COCHINCHINA. 2^5 
" the expedition. If I have made him Governor General in 
" India, it is with the view solely of preventing his intrigues 
" here, and his attempts to throw matters into confusion ; 
" for I well know that his brother, himself, and Dillon, can- 
" not remain one moment at rest. He ma)^ be a good soldier, 
" and will do well enough while stationary at Pondicherry ; 
" but I Avouid not trust him at the head of an army. How- 
" ever, for >'0ur sake, he shall have the red ribband {cordon 
" rouge), and the rank of Lieutenant General." 
Matters being thus far concluded in Paris, the Bishop, 
Avith the young Prince under his charge and the treaty in his 
pocket, set sail for Pondicheny, in the Meduse frigate, as 
Ambassador Plenipotentiary from Louis XVL of France to 
the King of Cochinchina. He called on his passage at the 
Isle of France, where he found lying a ship of fifty guns, seven 
frigates, and some transports. He found also that the num- 
ber of disposeable troops in this island and Bourbon amounted 
to between four and five thousand men. The ships were 
ordered to be equipped Avith all possible dispatch, and the 
troops to hold themselves in readiness for embarkation, the 
moment that an advice boat should arrive from Pondicherry, 
which he meant to dispatch, on his arrival there, with orders 
to that effect. 
There happened to be in Pondicherry, at the time of his 
arrival in 1789, a celebrated beauty of the name of Ma- 
dame die Vienne, the wife of Conway's Aid-de-camp, and 
mistress to the General. As the Bishop had paid his respects 
to all the women of distinction in the settlement, it was 
MM ' . 
