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.