opinion from the other members, to the great encouragement of the disaffected party. They continued Sir G. Barlow in the government, but they disapproved of his conduct in the case of Major Boles, declaring that that officer ought not to have been suspended, and that the refusal to let him take his passage on board the Lushington was an unnecessary hardship. They therefore restored

him to the service, but forbade him to return to India till he should receive special permission, because he had accepted the assistance of the army when it was offered in so reprehensible a manner, and because in his various memorials he had adverted in offensive terms to the conduct of his superior officer, General Gowdie, and of the governor-general,

THESE domestic evils did not prevent the Indian government from pursuing their usual vigorous policy toward foreign foes. In 1809, the dewan, or premier of the Rajah of Travancore, in consequence of some political differences, attempted to as sassinate the British resident; that officer effected his escape, but shortly afterwards a transport, having on board a surgeon and 33 soldiers of the 12th regiment, put into the port of Alippes, on the coast of Travancore, and the men were persuaded by some of the rajah's officers to land; they were then surrounded and overpowered, tied in couples back to back with a stone round their necks, and in that manner thrown into the back-water off the port, to perish with the returning tide. Colonel St Leger, whose name appears far more honourably in the history of the war, than in the transactions of the Madras army with its government, in one short and decisive campaign subdued the rajah. The dewan fled into the wilds, and thinking it impossible to escape the close pursuit which was made for him, destroyed himself there; his body, however, was discovered, and gibbetted, it is said, in sight of his master's palace, an act which, if it really were committed, is inexpiably disgraceful to the person by whose command it was done.

Two expeditions were also un

dertaken against the pirates in the Persian Gulph, a set of men whose strength and audacity were daily increasing, and whose cruelties towards their prisoners were such, that the British government was called upon by every feeling of indignation, as well as of policy, to crush, and, if possible, to exterminate them. The first of these attempts was directed against the town of Mallia, which was taken, together with its strong fort; in the second, Rus ul Kima, their principal port and arsenal, was captured, all their guns spiked, their magazines blown up, and their flotilla, consisting of above 70 vessels of different sizes, burnt. Their minor settlements were afterwards attacked with equal success, and the depredations of these merciless freebooters were thus stopt, till they should be able to get other vessels and renew them, as undoubt. edly they soon will do. The points which Albuquerque wished to secure, that he might make Portugal the mistress of these seas, were Ormuz and Aden; to Ormuz he was led as much by its prosperity as its situation; Aden still retains all its natural advantages, and happy would it be for Abyssinia and Arabia if that city were to be made a British settlement.

Amboyna was taken in the month of January by a squadron under Captain Tucker, and its surrender was

followed by that of the subordinate islands, Saparona, Harouka, and Nasso Lant, with Boura and Manippa. Banda Neiva, the chief of the spice islands, was taken in August by Captain Cole, by a coup de-main of extraordinary gallantry: with less than 200 men, who had been labouring in their boats through a dark and squally night in the open sea, he landed unseen within a hundred yards of a battery of 10 guns, attacked it in the rear, and made the officer and his guard prisoners without firing a shot, though the enemy were at their post with matches lighted. They then attacked Fort Belgica, took it by escalade, and were proceeding to storm Fort Nassau, when the governor surrendered, and this handful of Britons found themselves in possession of an island, the forts and batteries of which mounted 120 pieces of cannon, and which was defended by 700 disciplined troops and militia.

Our commerce meantime suffered severely from the French, who, from the island of Mauritius, infested the Indian seas with their cruizers, and carried on their intrigues against the British interest in the Red Sea, and in the Persian Gulph. The amount of the losses which the East India Company sustained from this island, in the course of the last war and of the present, would have sufficed for its capture twenty times over, had not the French persuaded, us, as well as themselves, that the place was impreg. nable. The English, said they, may send out expeditions against it, but its distance from them will ever be an impediment to their arriving in good

*

condition; and when arrived before it, the winds, want of provisions, and obstacles of every description, will soon oblige them to abandon their † enterprize. The first difficulty was easily obviated. A British squadron was attempting to blockade Port Louis, and in order to assist the squadron Lieutenant-Colonel Keating was sent with a small force of Europeans and sepoys, early in the year 1809, to occupy the island of Rodriguez, about 100 leagues east of Mauritius. This little island, which is about six-andtwenty miles long and twelve broad, was taken possession of in 1691 by a party of French refugees, under protection of the Dutch, who were at that time masters of Mauritius. Eight Frenchmen, young and enterprising, most of whom were of good family and some property, thought to find an asylum there; as they drew near the shore, they could scarcely satisfy themselves with gazing on its hills, and woods, and rivulets; they called to mind the scenes on which Di' Urfe had placed his Celadon and Astræa, and imagining that they were about to realize the ideal happiness of Arcadian romance, blessed that Providence which, having permitted them to be cruelly driven from their country, had at last suffered them to dry up their tears in this earthly paradise, where, they said, it depended upon themselves alone to be rich, and free, and happy,-where they had only to employ their peaceful lives in the undisturbed enjoyment of what they possessed, in glorifying the Author of all good, and in preparing for their own final salvation. A hermit indeed

+ De Guignes.

might have found an earthly paradise in this delightful island; fruits grow there in abundance; the air is so mild, and the seasons so tempered, that the whole year appears to be one continual spring or autumn, or rather one season uniting the charms of both; the shores are frequented by turtle, tortoises and land crabs swarm there, and the birds were at that time so fearless from long security, that the adventurers found they had only to shout aloud, and they came flying round from all parts, attracted by the sound instead of being scared by it. But the Frenchmen had disagreed with the captain who brought them out, he destroyed all the letters which they had intrusted to his care; no tidings being heard of them, no suc cour was sent to them, and no person came to join them. After they had waited two years, they became impatient of solitude and of want of employment; hunting and fishing, they said, did not deserve the name of occupations, so easily did they catch their prey; they were tired of chess, trictrac, bowls, skittles, making war upon the land crabs, defending their caps from the tropic bird, which had an extraordinary propensity to pounce at them, teaching parrots to talk, and observing the nuptial ceremonies of the Dodos, who, according to their account, more fortunate than themselves, were married and given in marriage. The island was in truth another Eden, but even Eden was insupportable for eight Adams who were without Eves. They made a boat, though they had neither pitch, tar, ropes, anchor or compass, put to sea in her with a desperate resolution, and almost miraculously reached Mauritius.

Of late years the French had a small establishment there dependent on Mauritius, and chiefly for the pur

pose of overlooking some parks of land turtles, which were transported by thousands to Port Louis for the use of the hospital. When Colonel Keating took possession of the island, he found only two French families residing there, and they were at enmity with each other. In the hands of the French, Rodriguez had been of little value, but it became an important post when in possession of their enemies. Shortly after its capture, three Indiamen were taken by the French and carried into St Pauls, the principal port of that colony, which the French call the Isle of Buonaparte, and the English the Isle of Bourbon, but which may better be distinguished by its original name of Mascarenhas, in memory of its discoverer. Our blockading squadron had acquired a perfect knowledge of the coast; and Commodore Rowley determined upon making an attempt upon St Pauls. For this purpose he requested Colonel Keating to co operate with him; 368 officers and men were accordingly embarked for Rodriguez, and joined the squadron off Mauritius, making the whole force of seamen and troops destined for the attack 604, who with five additional boats were embarked on board the Nereide. On the evening of September 19th, they stood for Mascarenhas, and in the following morning were off the east end of that island. To prevent suspicion, the Nereide preceded the other ships, anchored close to the beach, and at five in the morning disembarked the land force to the south of Point de Galotte, seven miles from St Pauls. This was done with the greatest celerity; the troops immediately advanced, crossed the causeways which extend over the lake or pond of St Pauls before their debarkation was discovered, and passed the

strongest position before the French had time to form in any force. By seven o'clock the assailants were in possession of the two first batteries, and Captain Willoughby of the Nereide, who commanded a detachment of seamen, turned the guns upon the enemy's shipping, from whose fire the British suffered much, being necessarily exposed to it during their movements upon the beach. A detachment of 142 sepoys and 12 Europeans was now sent to take possession of the third battery, which the French had abandoned; but on the way it was opposed by the enemy, who had now concentrated, and had taken up a very strong position behind a stone wall, with eight brass field-pieces upon their flanks. Captain Imlack, at the head of this detachment, charged them; they maintained their ground; the third column marched to his support and took the enemy's guns. The action now became warm; the French were reinforced from the hills, and by 110 troops of the line, landed from La Caroline; and Captain Willoughby spiked the guns of the two first batteries, and occupied the third, which he turned upon the shipping. This arrangement enabled the reserve, which had covered those batteries, to advance. The enemy then gave way ; the fourth and fifth batteries were won without resistance, and by half past eight the town of St Pauls was in possession of the assailants. Till now the English squadron had not been able to afford any effectual cooperation, for they could not fire upon the French ships without endangering the troops on shore; the moment the shore was clear they stood in, anchored close to the enemy, and speedily silenced them. The victory was effected with the loss of 15 killed, 58 wounded, and 3 missing.

The British force was altogether inadequate to the conquest of the island; having effected their object, by the capture of the Caroline and the recapture of her prizes, they em barked as much of the public property as they could carry away, and destroyed the rest. Private property was untouched; and not a single individual in the town suffered any injury, either in his person or possessions. The loss to the enemy was very great; the cargoes of the Indiamen alone were estimated at three million of dollars, and all the defences of the only safe anchorage in the island were rendered useless. General. Des Brusles, the governor of the island, marched from the capital of St Denis to attack the English: on the evening of the 22d he appeared in great force on the hills above St Pauls; but during the night he retreated, over-rating, as it appears, the strength of the invaders, or doubtful whether his own men could be depended upon. Whatever may have been his motive for not risking an attack upon the English, the consequences to himself could not have been more disastrous; for, expecting to be punished with death by Buonaparte, he shot himself, leaving a written paper in these terms: "I will not be a traitor to my country; I will not, in consequence of what I foresee from the hatred and ambition of some individuals who are attached to a revolutionary sect, sacrifice the inhabitants in the useless defence of an open colony. Death awaits me on the scaffold; I prefer giving it myself; and I recommend my wife and chil dren to Providence, and to those who can feel for them." His widow after this event wished to go to her own family at Mauritius, and when this was made known to Commodore Row