242 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
“ Sir, Isle Marotte, on the Coast of Madagascar, 5 th May, 1746. 
“ On my departure from the Isle of France , I proceeded to Bourbon , which I 
left on the 29th of March. On the 4th of April I arrived at Foule-pointe , in 
Madagascar , where the Parfaite waited for me. I was immediately informed that 
she had purchased about eighty millicrs of rice, but no bullocks. M. Brusse came 
on board to acquaint me that the St. Pierre was lost on the coast, with five hun¬ 
dred milliers of rice, and eighty Negroes; and that the captain and a very few of the 
ships’ company were the only persons who were saved. As the whole crew of the 
Parfaite were either sick or dead, I sent some people on board her to bring her 
up to us; and at the same time I ordered the Sieur le Riche to pass to Manivoul, 
to tell the Renommee , who was engaged in traffic there, to join us. As I had come 
to an anchor in a very critical moment, I ordered all the ships of the squadron to 
get under way at two o’clock, and to set every sail. The wind now increased, and 
the sea had a most terrible appearance, so that at eight o’clock we were under our 
courses, and doubtful whether we should be able to weather the Isle of Saint 
Mary. At ten o’clock, the Lys made a signal of distress: its fore mast was split 
as well as its bowsprit. In half an hour afterwards, our ship pitched in such a 
manner, that our fore mast broke off about twenty feet above the deck: soon 
after the main-top-mast fell; in a short time after, our mizen mast shared the same 
fate; and the bowsprit was broken: in short, the ship rolled so violently, and 
there was so much water in the hold, that towards eleven o’clock I gave up every 
thing for lost. However, by throwing over whatever could be moved, the vessel 
was consequently lightened, and towards the morning the water appeared to dimi¬ 
nish in the hold; the storm also began to subside, and in a few hours we were out 
of danger. The only ship that remained in company with us was the Lys-, but we 
saw the Neptune to leeward, with only two masts. 
"In this deplorable state, we sometimes put to windward to endeavour to reach 
land, which was the Island of St. Mary, but we were at a great distance: and on 
the following day we found ourselves fortunately at the entrance of the Bay of 
Antongil, from whence I dispatched a pirogue, which I had taken at Bourbon , to go 
to St. Mary’s, to tell the vessels which were there to join me at the Isle Marotte , 
where I anchored at ten at night, with the Lys. The Due d’Orleans , which had not 
anchored at Foule-pointe, no more than the ship Neptune from France, arrived 
on the nth, with its bowsprit broken, and the other ships in succession. 
