HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
273 
“ We are unanimously of opinion, that M. de la Bourdonnais is bound to keep 
“ his word, and fulfil the engagements he has entered into, with the English.” 
Signed by all the officers. 
The envoys from Pondicherry were very much disconcerted at this unanimous 
declaration, as they fully expected that they should have been joined, at least, by cer¬ 
tain officers, who had avowed themselves to be personally discontented with M. de 
la Bourdonnais: on the contrary, there was not one among them, who did not lose 
all remembrance of private dissatisfaction in the anxiety to perform his public duty, 
and who was not both ready and willing to have arrested the whole of this pretended 
Provincial Council. But notwithstanding the heat and violence of the dispute that 
had taken place, M. de la Bourdonnais wished to give the deputies every opportu¬ 
nity, by his polite attentions, to recover from their confusion ; they however refused 
his invitations, and retired from the hall one after the other, in order to conceal 
themselves as much as possible from public observation. 
M. de la Bourdonnais however was well acquainted with their secret intrigues, 
and the efforts they were making to gain over the troops, as well as the means they 
were employing to ferment a civil war in Madras; he therefore employed all the 
precautions necessary to prevent such an evil, and, at the same time, ordered them 
in such a manner as to conceal their immediate object. 
With this view he resolved to embark a part of his troops, and particularly those 
which had been detached from the garrison of Pondicherry; and he executed this 
project under the pretext of a report which prevailed, that certain large ships had 
appeared off the coast, though it was not known to what nation they belonged. 
This news authorised him to send the troops on board, to strengthen the squadron 
in case of an attack. He accordingly ordered fifty men to be embarked on each 
vessel, and instructed his aids-de-camp to select the Pondicherry troops in preference. 
These orders were completely executed on the morning of the 4th of October. 
The discreet and cautious conduct of M. de la Bourdonnais, greatly disconcerted 
the deputies from Pondicherry. They had depended with the utmost certainty on 
being firmly supported by all the troops that had been furnished towards the expedi¬ 
tion against Madras, by M. Dupleix; and they flattered themselves also, that they 
should be able to gain over a part of the island forces : they hoped therefore to find 
themselves in equal force with M. de la Bourdonnais; and that they should be in a. 
situation to sustain their pretended rights, with arms in their hands, if any opposition 
Nn 
