TERRA AUSTRALIS. 
389 
Port Louis . } 
our permission to reside in the country ; and being most heartily 
weary of close confinement, I requested to be removed to the same 
place with the British officers, prisoners of war; the house where they 
were kept being described to be large, and surrounded with a wall 
inclosing about two acres of ground, within which the prisoners were 
allowed to take exercise. On the 30th colonel Monistrol came to 
confer on the subject, and next day conducted me to the house for 
the purpose of choosing two rooms. He said on the way that the 
house was originally built by a surgeon named Despeaux, and now 
hired by the government at twenty-five dollars per month to accom- 
modate the English gentlemen that it was very spacious, and had 
formerly lodged the ambassadors sent by Tippoo Sultaun to this 
island; I found it to be situate about a mile north-east from our 
tavern in the middle of the town, and enjoying a fresh air which, in 
comparison with our place of confinement, made me think it a para- 
dise. After the unpleasant task of selecting two rooms, which colonel 
Monistrol ordered to be vacated by the officers who were in pos- 
session, he returned with me to the town ; and promised at parting 
to speak again to the captain-general concerning my charts and 
books. 
This little walk of a mile showed how debilitating is the want 
of exercise and fresh air, for it was not without the assistance of 
colonel Monistrol’s arm, that I was able to get through it. Convey- 
ances were sent in the evening for our trunks, and we took posses- 
sion of our new prison with a considerable degree of pleasure ; this 
change of situation and surrounding objects producing an exhilaration 
of spirits to which we had long been strangers. 
1804. 
March. 
