CHAP. IX. Conquest of the Spice Islands, and the Isles of Mascarenhas and Mauritius. 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 assassinate 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 suc cess, and the depredations of these merciless freebooters were thus stopt, till they should be able to get other vessels and renew them, as undoubtedly 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 situa tion; 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 settle 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 25battery 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 nd out expeditions against it, but distance from them will ever be an pediment 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 In ten months preceding the fall of this island, it has been calculated that the insurance offices of Bengal alone were losers three millions sterling by captures. ("Account of the Conquest of Mauritius.") This is probably an exaggerated statement, but the real loss must have been enormous to give rise to it. 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 tídings being heard of them, no succour 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 warupon 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 them selves, were married and given in marriage. The island was in truth another Eden, but even Eden was insupport able for eight Adams who were with out 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 import ant 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 Buona parte, and the English the Isle of Bourbon, but which may better be distinguished by its original name of Mascarenhas, in memory of its dis coverer 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 requested Colonel Keating to co-ope rate with him; 368 officers and me were accordingly embarked for Rod riguez, and joined the squadron of 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 Septem ber 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 cause ways 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 peedily silenced them. The victory was effected with the loss of 15 kill d58 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 embarked as much of the public property as they could carry away, and destroyed the rest. Private property was untouched; and not a single in dividual 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 is land, 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 conse quences to himself could not have been more disastrous; for, expecting to be punished with death by Buonaparte, he shot himself, leaving a writ ten 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. ley, he, with a humanity which it would have been disgraceful not to have shown, appointed a vessel with a cartel flag to take her there, with her children, and servants, and effects. After this successful coup-de-main the squadron resumed their usual occupation, and Colonel Keating returned with his troops to Rodriguez. That able and enterprizing officer was indefatigable in acquiring every information concerning the French is lands which could facilitate their conquest, and the government were at length induced, by his earnest representations, by the losses which they continually sustained, and by the success of the late attempt, seriously to undertake what, to their own cost, they had so long delayed. The preparations were proportioned to the importance of the object, and the difficulties which were expected. Bengal, Madras and Bombay, Ceylon and the Cape, were to furnish aid to the extent of their respective resources. A competent naval force was collected, and the expedition it was hoped would when united amount to nearly 16,000 men,-the most formidable European armament which had ever sailed upon the Indian seas. The first operation was to renew the attempt against Mascarenhas, but with sufficient strength to take and keep possession of the island. For this purpose a detachment sailed from Madras for Rodriguez, where it ar rived at midsummer 1810, making, with the troops already there, and the marines of the squadron, a force of 2000 European and 1850 Indian troops, the largest force ever given to an officer of Colonel Keating's rank in India. That officer meantime had trained his soldiers at Rodriguez to the service expected from them, accustoming them to a country inter sected with ravines and precipices like that in which they were about to act. Before the expedition sailed, Col. Keating informed his officers of the strength of the enemy, whose total force of regular troops, riflemen, national guards, and militia of all colours, amounted to 4193 men. The enemy, he said, reckoned upon their landing either on the south or east side of the island, and making regu lar advances against St Denis and St Pauls; were such measures pursued, he said, the loss would be very severe, and success very doubtful, from the natural strength of the country, and the manner in which the troops must be exposed to the enemy's marksmen, without being able to return a shot. The French would also have time to collect and concentrate their force, which at St Denis he could, in the course of two days, reinforce to 2507 men, leaving St Pauls and the southwest side garrisoned with nearly 1900. The way to insure success with the least possible loss, was to aim the blow at the very heart of the enemy, to dispossess him of his capital, and let further operations be guided by his movements after he should have been thus discomfited. For this pur pose the landing was to be effected between the Butor and St Marie, at the nearest practical point to St Denis, and in the night if possible; the troops were to land with one day's provisions and grog; they were not to load upon any account, or under any pretence, without orders from the officers com manding brigades. Every thing du ring the night, or before day-light, was to be carried by the bayonet. The French upon these islands, said he, can never be persuaded to stand English bayonets: they are trained to a different system of defence; by fi ring from behind walls and houses, |