SOUTHERN AFRICA. 207 
eluded tlie vigilance of our force-, as their object would not 
have been so much to fight us, as to have put in execution 
a plan that many are inclined to suppose floated in the 
mind of Buonaparte when he took the road of Egypt, though 
he was soon convinced of the futility of it by that route, 
without at least double the number of troops ; his whole 
army being barely sufficient to keep the conquered country 
in subjection. 
Among many reasons, which led to this conjecture, was 
the work of Wlr. Anquetil Duperron on India, which, after 
being withheld from pubhcation for fifteen years on account 
of the information it contained, and of which it was supposed 
the English might avail themselves, v^^as hastily issued from 
the press on the sailing of this memorable expedition ; being 
intended, most probably, as a guide for the officers on their 
arrival in India. This intelligent writer, who, to a mind 
capable of observation and deep reflection, adds the great 
advantage of local knowledge, fixes on the coast of Malabar 
as the foundation and corner-stone of their long projected 
empire in India. The considerations which induce him to 
give this coast the preference are, among others, the facility 
of possessing the passes of the neighbouring mountains, and 
of thus securing the internal commerce of Hindostan — the 
opportunity it would afford of entering into an alliance with 
the Mahrattas, whom he considers as a warlike and faithful 
people— the easy intercourse that might be maintained from 
this coast with the Persian gulph, the Red Sea, the Isles of 
France and Bourbon, Madagascar, and the Cape of Good 
Hope. 
