I sought protection and assistance in your port, and I have found a prison!  Judge for me as a man, Sir—­judge, for me as a British officer employed in a neutral occupation—­judge for me as a zealous philanthropist, what I must feel at being thus treated.

At present I quit the subject with the following requests:  that I may be permitted to have my printed books on shore; and that my servant may be allowed to attend me in my apartment.

With all the respect due from my situation to the captain-general,

I am
From my confinement,
Your Excellency’s obedient servant,
Dec. 21, 1803. 
Matthew Flinders.

The lapse of several years has enabled me to consider the transactions of this period under different views, to regard them with almost the coolness of an uninterested observer; and I see the possibility that a dispassionate reader may accuse me of taking too high a position, and using too warm a style—­in rather giving way to the dictates of feeling than dwelling upon the proofs of my innocence; perhaps also, he may accuse me of vanity, in seeking to enhance my own zeal and claims.  Without attempting to controvert these censures, I beg him to consider all the circumstances of my situation:  my voyage, shipwreck, and anxiety to pursue the steps of our celebrated navigators.  Let him suppose himself to have executed so much of the same task, escaped the same dangers; and under the influence of powerful motives to reach England with expedition, to be arrested on the way, his misfortunes either not heeded or converted into proofs of delinquency, and himself treated as a spy; and this is done by the representative of a government which had promised assistance and protection, and moreover owed him a return for the kind treatment recently experienced by Frenchmen in the port from whence he came.  Let him suppose himself writing to his oppressor with these various recollections crowding on his imagination; and the allowances he would then desire for himself, I request of him to make for me.

THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 1803

On the day following the transmission of the letter, my servant was brought on shore from the prison ship, where he left Mr. Charrington and the seamen closely confined; but no answer was returned either on the 22nd or 23rd, nor did we hear any thing that could give an insight into what further was intended to be done.  We suffered much from the heat of the weather and want of fresh air; for the town of Port Louis is wholly exposed to the rays of the sun, whilst the mountains which form a semicircle round it to the east and south, not only prevent the trade wind from reaching it, but reflect the heat in such a manner, that from November to April it is almost insupportable.  During this season, the inhabitants whose affairs do not oblige them to remain, fly to the higher and windward parts of the island; and the others take the