222 
obedience. I am likewise charged to request that 
thou wilt not display the white flag, but the blue, in 
sign that thou heartily acceptest our submission.” 
u The chiefs and captains assembled in cabar, have 
likewise commissioned me to request, that thou wilt 
keep the officers and soldiers at a distance from the 
place in which this cabar shall be held; and that in 
the mean time, thou wilt keep as a guard the twelve 
hundred warriors, which the nation will constantly 
maintain around thee.” 
The two speakers then seated themselves in expec¬ 
tation of an answer. Benyowsky assured them that 
he would attend the cabar with pleasure, and there 
declare his sentiments in public. That they might 
depend on his friendship, his zeal for their interests, 
and his readiness to sacrifice his own welfare for 
the good of the nation. 
After the cabar was broken up, he questioned 
his officers respecting this affair; and, while con¬ 
versing with them, three, who were absent, came 
up, at the head of fifty men, and declared their 
determination to give up their lives rather than see 
him quit the island. That having themselves inter¬ 
married with the natives, they should fix their abode 
there; and therefore were ready to relinquish their 
engagements with the French government, and attach 
themselves to his cause. 
The governor endeavoured to dissuade them from 
this resolution, but in vain. They assured him that 
the infamous conduct of the French government at 
