HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
141 
“ But as if we were not sufficiently wretched beneath the tyrannic barbarity of 
Deodati, an accident happened which, by giving him an opportunity to affect new 
suspicions against us, threatened us with still more alarming effects of his vengeance: 
a fire had broke out in the fort, and, till the real authors were discovered, the 
Commandant had entertained, or at least pretended to entertain, a suspicion that 
we were concerned in the mischief. The man who brought us our provisions gave 
the following account of this event. 
“ The Commandant having been informed that a Negro had committed some 
thefts in his kitchen, condemned him to receive the chastisement connected with 
that offence, which was very severe. The miserable culprit, alarmed at the suffer¬ 
ings with which he was threatened, took to flight, after having plotted a design, with 
one of his comrades and two Negro women, to set fire to the fort : they accordingly 
executed their fatal scheme, but were not so fortunate as to escape: they were 
shortly taken, when the two men suffered the rack, and the women were hanged. 
A very singular circumstance attended this execution, and as it was related to us by 
a person of the most incontestible credit, I shall venture to repeat it.—One of these 
wretched criminals, it seems, had possessed a most inordinate passion for play, 
which predominated on the scaffold, where he was about to suffer a most painful 
death. He there entreated, with the most earnest solicitation, that some one of the 
assistants, on this awful occasion, might, as an act of charity, be permitted to throw 
dice with him for a few minutes, and that he should then suffer the sentence of the 
law without regret. If he had any secret motive for his conduct, it was known only 
to himself; but be that as it may, no one was disposed to be of his party; and he 
appeared to lament the refusal more than his fate. 
“ About this time two English vessels came to an anchor in the road of the north¬ 
west harbour, but as it was more than twelve leagues from our rocks, we knew 
nothing of their arrival: as the Commandant, with his usual precaution respecting 
us, had prohibited, under very heavy penalties, the communication of such an 
event to us. We were indeed informed afterwards, that one of the Captains of 
these vessels having been made acquainted with our detention, was so sensibly affected 
with our situation, that he had determined to relieve us, and had actually prepared 
a boat to fetch us away, when the weather interposed to prevent this act of humanity; 
besides, it must have gone round one half the island of Mauritius, in order to have 
reached us. 
