HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
243 
“ I must now revert to the 9th of April, the day when I landed on the Isle 
Marotte, to give you a brief detail of the circumstances connected with it. 
“ My first care was to prepare a place to receive the troops, a workshop of a 
sufficient size for shaping masts, and a rope yard. I therefore dispatched M. de 
Rostaing, with M. M. Sornay, Cere, and la Baume, to the main island, in search 
of wood fit for masts and yards. Their report was, that they had not been able to 
discover any pieces of wood from more than forty-five to fifty feet in length, but 
that the natives had assured them, that in advancing further up the country, they 
would find them from eighty to ninety feet, and upwards. With this expectation 
they returned up the river on the 12th, with a body of carpenters and Negroes, in 
search of these trees, which they at length found and felled. I departed on the 19th 
with five hundred men to join the party, and to see myself the pieces which could 
be obtained. In effect, they appeared to be very fine trees; but I observed at the 
same time, with great concern, the almost insuperable difficulty of making roads in 
such deep marshes. It was however absolutely necessary to make the trial; and 
with wood and reeds this extraordinary labour was so far accomplished, that, on the 
24th, we drew along the first piece of fifty feet. When this experiment had been made, 
I left a sufficient number of workmen with M. de Rostaing, to cut wood necessary 
for yards, with one large piece to mend the bowsprit, and returned on board. 
“ On my arrival I assembled a council, and after having received the opinion of 
every member of it in writing, I determined to take the principal masts, &c. of the 
Bourbon , with one of the Lys, which I should leave here to be re-masted, with such 
pieces as we could procure from the country; or, after all, with the masts of the 
Neptune from India, if she were brought back, and immediately return to the Isle of 
France. 
“ When I had determined on this measure, I gave orders to all the vessels to 
advance as much as possible the changes that were to take place in the masts. I 
pushed forward this work with such vigour, that, in spite of all the obstacles I had 
to encounter, in the discontent of some, and the indifference of others, I at length 
attained my object. Here, as in the Isle of. France, I had, at each moment, new 
difficulties, and was obliged to attend night and day to the different workmen and 
artisans employed in the various operations; but heaven afforded me strength to 
bear it all; and amidst the fatigues I underwent, both in body and mind, I was so 
fortunate as to preserve my health without interruption. 
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