28 o 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
To M. M. of the Supreme Council of Pondicherry. 
“ Gentlemen, Madras, 18th October, 174.6. 
“ The command of Madras has been hitherto the subject of much altercation ; 
whether I am right, or whether I am wrong, I most willingly sacrifice my self love, 
to afford satisfaction at Pondicherry. To attain that object, I am about to give 
up the care of the town to M. Despremesnil, on the sole condition of maintaining 
the capitulation which I have granted to it. According to my opinion, it is per¬ 
fectly well suited to our situation: if you think otherwise, you are the masters to 
act as you think proper. I have done every thing which depended on me, to merit 
the esteem of my friends and my enemies. 
w While I thus submit to the state of public affairs, I cannot but express my 
surprise at what is passing at Pondicherry, under your eyes. You know that I 
have an order from the King, to command all the Company’s ships in the East 
Indies, and I signified that order to the three Captains lately arrived from Europe: 
they however have replied, that, being under the command of the Council of Pon¬ 
dicherry, they could not obey me. I demand therefore to know, M. M. in the name 
of the King, if it is your intention to oppose his orders; if so, I shall abandon every 
thing to its fate, and leave you responsible for all the consequences of such a con¬ 
duct. I shall embark in the first vessel for the isles, and take those measures which 
the treatment I have received, appears to demand. If you do not prevent these 
Captains from obeying me, order them to depart on the instant to come and save 
four vessels, which are in evident danger; and if I do not receive an answer in 
conformity to the will of the King, and such as I demand by this letter, your refusal 
is sufficient for me: I shall quit Madras on board the Achilles, dismasted as she 
is, and leave the rest in a similar situation, with their cargoes and equipages, to 
your care. I shall proceed to France, to give an account to the King and the 
minister, of the impossibility to which you have reduced me, of executing their 
orders. 
Signed, “ Mahe' de La Bourdonn^is.’* 
At length, after having given all the necessary instructions to the Commissaries 
and Captains; after having delivered up all the accounts and papers relative to 
