464 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS, 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
Observations of Admiral Kempenfelt and M. de Rochon on the Isle of 
France , in 1758. 
It was not till the year 1730 that the value of this island was known to the French, 
and that it became an object of importance. Five years before, this colony had 
been so neglected that not a single French vessel ever touched at it: but ships, 
engineers, and workmen were now sent to assist the inhabitants, and to forward the 
designs that the India Company had formed. With this view, great encouragement 
had also been given to the inhabitants of the Isle of Bourbon, to engage them to 
remove to the Isle of France. M. de la Bourdonnais was sent from France as 
Governor of the two islands. He was a person in every respect qualified to fulfil 
the duties of that station. It is indeed to his talents, indefatigable industry, and en- 
terprizing spirit, that the French India Company owes all the advantages it obtained 
from one of the most flourishing colonies and best harbours in India. The inhabi¬ 
tants which he found there had, till his arrival, lived in huts; they were ignorant, 
obstinate, and inured to idleness: those who came from the Island of Bourbon had 
been so long neglected by the Company, that they had thrown off all idea of depend- 
ance, and possessed those bad qualities that naturally result from such a situation. 
It required therefore great judgment and uncommon address in M. de la Bour¬ 
donnais to surmount these difficulties, by reducing these people to discipline and 
obedience, and introducing among them a spirit of industry, so necessary to the 
accomplishment of his designs. These rude people, debased by their indolent course 
of life, and banished, as it were, from their native country, murmured aloud when 
he ordered them to work, to cut down the wood, to cultivate the earth, to dig in the 
quarries, to saw planks, and to build houses. Nevertheless, the inhabitants increased, 
and though they had every reason to fear that they should be in want of subsistence, 
it was not without some difficulty that M. de la Bourdonnais could engage them to 
dig the ground, and plant the manioc or the cassada root, to prevent that disaster; as 
many of the slaves whom they had brought from Madagascar were actually starved. 
