HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
245 
you, to be informed of the arrival of any vessels from Europe at the isles, and the 
intelligence they bring you. Notwithstanding the length of time I have remained 
at Madagascar, I shall always be within reach of your dispatches at the time and 
place which have been agreed upon between us. The measures that have been 
taken, respecting the destination of the ships for Europe, still subsist, and you will 
act in conformity to them. If, however, you cannot conveniently dispatch the 
Parfaite , employ some other vessel to impart to me any intelligence that you may 
receive; besides, you may rest assured that, in the month of September, I will 
expedite a vessel laden with provisions for the isles. 
“ I had promised, as I mentioned to you in my dispatch from St. Paul, the 
captain of the Portuguese vessel, to send the Neptune to Bourbon, to conduct his 
ship to the Isle of France; but the loss of the Neptune has unfortunately freed me 
from that engagement; nevertheless I beg of you to shew all possible regard to the 
captain, and to give him all the assistance in your power. It is absolutely necessary 
to afford every supply that your circumstances will admit, to his necessitous vessel, 
as I shall myself be obliged to have recourse to the Portuguese for many essential 
articles, which I can alone obtain at Goa,” 
On quitting the Bay of Antongil, M. de la Bourdonnais had still nine vessels, 
with three thousand three hundred and forty-two men, comprising seven hundred 
and twenty blacks, and three or four hundred sick. 
In passing before Mabe , he sent the In.sulaire to get intelligence, and gave 
her the Isle of Ceylon for a rendezvous; where''he afterwards learned that the 
English squadron was in expectation of meeting him. 
M. de la Bourdonnais, at length, had the satisfaction to discover throughout 
the squadron, a general ardour to engage the English. He accordingly ordered the 
captains on board his ship, when it was determined, if they should have the wind 
of the enemy, to proceed, without any previous attack, to board at once. In short, 
on the 6th of July, on the Coast of Coromandel, the English squadron was dis¬ 
covered with the wind in their favour, and, coming on with full sail. M. de la 
Bourdonnais ordered his ships to form a line, and wait for them; at noon the two 
squadrons were about two leagues distant from each other, and at half past four the 
engagement commenced. 
The English force consisted of one ship of sixty-four guns, two of fifty-six, one of 
