408 
A VOYAGE TO 
[At 31auritiu$. 
1805. 
March. 
necessity of the measure, arising from the"bad state of the Cumber- 
land, is kept wholly out of sight; and that, in giving the subor- 
dinate reasons, there is much omission and misrepresentation. The 
charges, even as they stand in the Moniteur, amount to nothing, if 
my suspicion of the war be taken away; and it has no other founda- 
tion than that, being a stranger to what had passed in Europe for 
twelve months, I thought there was a possibility of war between 
England and France ; and thence deduced an additional reason for 
stopping at Mauritius where my passport would be respected, in 
preference to going on to the Cape of Good Hope where it might 
not. This suspicion, which is twice brought forward, is moreover 
contradicted by inference, in the Moniteur itself. It says, “ Mr. 
“ Flinders not knowing of, but suspecting the war, ventured to come 
“ to the Isle of France; where having learned its declaration, he 
“ doubted whether the passport would serve him.” Now it is not 
credible, that with such a suspicion, and being aware, consequently, 
of the great importance of the passport, I should wait until arriv- 
ing at the island before seeking to know its particular contents ; but 
going to Mauritius under the belief of peace, and finding war de- 
clared, an examination of the passport was then natural. It is true 
that I did then entertain some apprehensions, from not finding any pro- 
vision made for another vessel in case of shipwreck or other accident 
to the Investigator; but my confidence in the justice and liberality 
of the French government overcame them ; and had general Magal- 
lon remained governor, this confidence would most probably have 
been justified by the event. 
How my reasons for stopping at Mauritius were worded in the 
log book, I certainly do not remember correctly, nor how far they 
were accompanied with explanations ; and particular care has been 
taken to prevent me giving the words themselves ; but is it possible 
to suppose, that suspecting the war and entertaining inimical designs/ 
I should have inserted this suspicion and these designs in my com- 
mon journal ? Or that, having done so, the book would have been 
