145 
square cap of Father Stephen, on the opposite bank, 
with an army of six thousand men, to dispute his pas¬ 
sage. The fate of the colony would have been deter¬ 
mined at this juncture, but for the seasonable arrival of 
La Case, accompanied by ten Frenchmen, and three 
thousand Androfaces, subjects of Dian Nong, his 
consort. This brave officer instantly plunged into 
the river, and attacked Dian Manangue, notwith¬ 
standing the disparity of numbers; and such was the 
terror his name inspired, that the opposing anny was 
instantly dislodged and put to flight. Dian Manangue 
himself would have fallen a sacrifice, had not Rabaz6, 
a courageous chief, who was strongly devoted to his 
cause, thrown himself in the way, and thus volun¬ 
tarily given his own life to save that of his sovereign. 
Night put an end to the slaughter, and the French 
thought proper to make the best of their way, under 
cover of the darkness, to Fort Dauphin. Here they 
were safe indeed from the attacks of the natives; but 
on the other hand, the latter withheld the usual 
supplies of provisions, and cut off those which were 
procured from distant posts. At the same time a 
formidable army was again collected by Dian Ma¬ 
nangue, with which he invested Fort Dauphin. The 
presence of such a body of men would soon have 
reduced the garrison to a state of starvation had not 
La Case found means to send them a supply of five 
thousand bullocks. Thus were they again saved from 
destruction by that extraordinary man, whose enter¬ 
prises were all crowned with success. It is impos- 
L 
