464 
A VOYAGE TO 
[At Mauritius. 
1807 - 
October. 
“ stances will permit, that officer will be set at liberty, and to that 
“ effect be sent to London/' The most direct means of conveyance 
to London in time of war, was assuredly by the way of France ; but 
two vessels, the first of which was commanded by the brother of the 
captain-general, had sailed a short time before for that destination ; 
so that this answer, if not false, was at least equivocal. My opinion 
of the general’s unfair dealing had induced me to write by the last 
of these French vessels to the minister of the marine, representing 
the little probability there was of his order being executed ; but this 
vessel was captured, and my letter most probably thrown overboard. 
An attempt to gain some knowledge of what were the captain- 
general's intentions was made in the following letter, written on the 
j6th, to colonel Monistrol. 
SIR, 
You will do me a favour in transmitting the log book which was de- 
tained for the purpose of making extracts from it, as they have doubtless been 
made long since. At the same time, Sir, you would relieve me from much 
inquietude, if you could inform me of the time at which it is the intention 
of His Excellency the captain -general to grant me the liberty which His 
Imperial and Royal Majesty was pleased to accord in March 1806. By your 
letter of July 27 last, I was led to hope from the expresssion, Cf vous jouirez 
pleinement de la favour,” &c., that this long desired period would soon 
arrive. What the circumstances are to which you allude in that letter, it is 
impossible for me to know; nor is it within my imagination to conceive the 
circumstances which permit vessels to sail for India or America, but which 
cannot allow of my departure. 
The desire expressed by His Excellency to captain Bergeret and 
M. Beckmann, to receive orders relating to me, and to the latter that he was 
sensible of the hardship of my situation, led me to hope that he would have 
taken into consideration the length of time that my detention had continued, 
the misfortune which preceded it, and the time elapsed since the date of the 
marine minister’s letter ; and I still intreat him to take them into his consid- 
eration. I have suffered much. Sir, in the Isle of France, and the uncertainty 
