178 
and too suspicious, to suffer themselves again to be 
deceived. 
M. Maudave took formal possession of the govern¬ 
ment of Fort Dauphin in the year 1768, and imme¬ 
diately went about the execution of his plan ; but it 
was soon given up by the French government, who 
pretended to have obtained new light upon the subject, 
by which they perceived that the establishment was 
founded on false principles. They also declared that 
“ it was utterly impossible to afford the advances of 
every kind required by M. Maudave in favour of his 
new colony.” Such are the reasons given by Mon¬ 
sieur de Boynes, the French minister, in a letter sub¬ 
sequently written to Messrs. Tournay and Maillart, 
relative to the undertaking of Count Benyowsky. We 
have no doubt but that after the experience the natives 
had had of the ambition and cruelty of the French, it 
would have been difficult to persuade them to admit 
of such an establishment as Monsieur Maudave pro¬ 
posed, in the interior of the island ; but there is strong 
ground for belief, that the principal, if not the sole 
cause of its relinquishment, was the expense it would 
have involved, and the supplies that would have been 
requisite. It must be recollected that just at that 
period the American struggle for independence took 
place; and the large share which France had in that 
affair, rendered it necessary for her to make a reserve 
of her finances, in order to assist the Americans. 
This circumstance, added to the naturally parsi¬ 
monious disposition of the French government, 
