HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
M. de la Bourdonnais wrote the following answer. 
“ To his Highness the Nabob, Mafouz I(am. 
44 As the sovereignty of the town of Madras belongs to the English, the enemies 
of my nation, I presumed that, without invading the rights of any sovereign power, 
I might seek them in their own settlements, to execute vengeance on them for the 
mischief they have done us during the present war. They have made Frenchmen 
prisoners in your territories. It is the English, therefore, who have violated the 
respect which is due to you. As for me, although I am a seaman, and ignorant of 
your customs, since my troops have been landed I have exercised the most polite 
attention to your subjects. It is true that I have pursued my enemies, and taken 
their town, according to the laws of war; which you cannot disapprove, since I 
have respected whatever belongs to you. As to the orders which you send me, to 
reimbark, I must answer them by observing to you, that I receive no commands 
but from the King, my master. If my conduct should induce you to fulfil your 
menace, I shall not forget that I am a Frenchman, and shall act accordingly, Sec. 
Signed, "Mahe'de La Bourdonnais.” 
The threats of the Nabob, and the singular projects of M. Dupleix, furnished 
M. de la Bourdonnais with new reasons to accelerate the conclusion of his treaty 
for the ransom, which was at length concluded the 26th of September, after various 
conferences with the Governor and the English Council. It was fixed at eleven 
millions one hundred thousand pagodas, including the black town : of this arrange¬ 
ment M. de la Bourdonnais dispatched immediate information to M. Dupleix. 
This settlement being completed, a deputation of the Supreme Council of Pon¬ 
dicherry, which had been already announced to him, arrived at Madras, under the 
pretext of complimenting M. de la Bourdonnais on his conquest; but nothing could 
exceed his astonishment, when the deputies informed him, that the object of their 
mission was, to form at Madras a Provincial Council, subordinate to the superior 
Council of Pondicherry; that they protested against any capitulation that he had 
made, or might hereafter make ; and that they opposed themselves in form, and in 
the name of the King and the Company, to the restoration of the town to the 
English. 
