I do further certify that captain Flinders did, in my presence, apply to the chief of the staff in the Isle of France, for certificates of the above log book and schooner being refused to be given up; and also for a certificate of two boxes of despatches having been taken on his arrival in this island, in December 1803, and that I have since made a similar application to the same officer for the said certificates; but which have been refused for the same alleged reason as before given to me by His Excellency the captain-general De Caen.
Witness my hand on board the Harriet cartel, in Port Napoléon,
Isle of France, this 9th of June 1810.
(Signed) H. HOPE,
Commissary and agent of the British government in India
for the exchange of prisoners.
It may probably be asked, what could be general De Caen's object in refusing throughout to give up this log book, or to suffer any copy to be taken? I can see no other reasonable one, than that the statements from it, sent to the French government as reasons for detaining me a prisoner, might have been partial and mutilated extracts; and he did not choose to have his accusations disproved by the production either of the original or an authentic copy. Besides this book and the little schooner, I lost a cask containing pieces of rock collected from different parts of Terra Australis, the two spy-glasses taken in the Garden Prison, and various small articles belonging to myself; but I was too happy at the prospect of getting out of the island to make any difficulty upon these heads.
[OFF MAURITIUS.]
On the same morning that the pilot came on board, the anchors were weighed; but in swinging out, the ship touched the ground, and hung till past four in the afternoon. During this time we saw L'Estafette coming in with a flag of truce from the squadron; and the boat that went to meet her was returning when the cartel had floated off, and sail was made. We were a good deal alarmed at what might be the subject of L'Estafette's communication, and particularly anxious to get without side of the port before any counter order should come from the general; at sunset it was effected, the French pilot left us, and after a captivity of six years, five months and twenty-seven days, I at length had the inexpressible pleasure of being out of the reach of general De Caen.
Three frigates and a sloop of war composed the squadron cruising before the port; but instead of coming to speak us for information, as was expected, we observed them standing away to the southward; a proceeding which could be reconciled only upon the supposition, that commodore Rowley had sent in an offer not to communicate with the cartel. This was too important an affair to me to be let pass without due inquiry; my endeavours were therefore used with Mr. Ramsden, the commander, to induce him to run down to the ships; and this was done, on finding they persisted in stretching to the southward. At nine o'clock Mr. Ramsden went in a boat to the Boadicea, but was desired to keep off; a letter was handed to him for the commissary, containing a copy of one sent in by L'Estafette, wherein it was proposed, if general De Caen would suffer the cartel to sail, that she should not be visited by any ship under the commodore's orders. Mr. Hope replied that the cartel had not come out in consequence of this proposal, nor had the boat reached the shore at the time; and this point being clearly ascertained, a communication was opened, and I applied for a passage to the Cape of Good Hope. It happened fortunately, that the Otter sloop of war was required to go there immediately with despatches; and the commodore having satisfied himself that no engagement of the commissary opposed it, complied with my request. Next day I took leave of Mr. Hope, to whose zeal and address I owed so much, and wished my companions in the cartel, with her worthy commander, a good voyage; and after dining with commodore Rowley, embarked in the evening on board the Otter with captain Tomkinson.
On bidding adieu to Mauritius, it is but justice to declare that during my long residence in the island, as a marked object of suspicion to the government, the kind attention of the inhabitants who could have access to me was invariable; never, in any place, or amongst any people, have I seen more hospitality and attention to strangers--more sensibility to the misfortunes of others, of what ever nation, than here--than I have myself experienced in Mauritius. To the names of the two families whose unremitting kindness formed a great counterpoise to the protracted persecution of their governor, might be added a long list of others whose endeavours were used to soften my captivity; and who sought to alleviate the chagrin which perhaps the strongest minds cannot but sometimes feel in the course of years, when reflecting on their far-distant families and friends, on their prospects in life indefinitely suspended, and their hopes of liberty and justice followed by continual disappointment; and to the honour of the inhabitants in general be it spoken, that many who knew no more than my former employment and my misfortunes, sought to render me service by such ways as seemed open to them. The long continuation and notorious injustice of my imprisonment had raised a sensation more strong and widely extended than I could believe, before arriving at Port Louis to embark in the cartel; when the number of persons who sought to be introduced, for the purpose of offering their felicitations upon this unexpected event, confirmed what had been before said by my friends; and afforded a satisfactory proof that even arbitrary power, animated by strong national prejudice, though it may turn aside or depress for a time, cannot yet extinguish in a people the broad principles of justice and humanity generally prevalent in the human heart.
Some part of my desire to ascertain the motives which influenced general De Caen to act so contrary to the passport of the first consul, and to the usages adopted towards voyages of discovery, may perhaps be felt by the reader; and he may therefore not be displeased to see the leading points in his conduct brought into one view, in order to deducing therefrom some reasonable conclusion.
On arriving at Mauritius after the shipwreck, and producing my passport and commission, the captain-general accused me of being an impostor; took possession of the Cumberland with the charts and journals of my voyage, and made me a close prisoner. On the following day, without any previous change of conduct or offering an explanation, he invited me to his table.