their way up a steep hill, one of them with a trunk on his shoulder. They
were met by a person who, from the plume in his hat, appeared to be an
officer, and presently we saw several men with muskets on the top of the
hill; this gave another view of the schooner's movements, and caused me
to apprehend that England and France were either at war or very near it.
To induce some person to come on board, I held up the letters for general
Magallon, the governor; but this being to no purpose, Mr. Aken went on
shore in our little boat, taking with him the letters and French
passport; in a short time he returned with the officer and two others,
and I learned to my great regret that war was actually declared.

The officer, whose name was _Dunienville_, spoke a little English; he
asked if I were the captain Flinders mentioned in the passport, whether
we had been shipwrecked, and to see my commission. Having perused it, he
politely offered his services, inquired what were our immediate wants,
and invited me to go on shore and dine with him, it being then near three
o'clock. I explained my wish to have a pilot for Port North-West (the
name at that time for Port Louis), since it appeared no reparations could
be done in the little bay, and requested to have a cask or two of water.
The pilot was promised for the next day, and Mons. Dunienville sent a
canoe for our empty casks and the master of the French schooner to moor
the Cumberland in a secure place.

My passport was in French, and being a stranger to the language, I had
had its general purport explained on first receiving it from the
Admiralty; but from that time, and more especially after the
preliminaries of peace had reached Port Jackson, the passport had
scarcely been looked at, and my knowledge of its contents was very
imperfect. When the officer was gone, I set myself to consider it
attentively; and so far as I could make out, it seemed to be solely for
the Investigator, and without provision for any other vessel in which the
loss of the ship, or her incapacity to pursue the voyage might oblige me
to embark. The intention, no doubt, was to protect the voyage generally,
and not the Investigator in particular; but it appeared that if the
governor of Mauritius should adhere to the letter of the passport and
disregard the intention, he might seize the Cumberland as a prize; and
the idea of being detained even a week more than necessary was
intolerable. I inquired of the pilot