this sickly town and cut off from society; but of no part of this letter was any notice taken. "Two days before, I had been favoured with a visit from captain Bergeret of the French navy, who had commanded La Virginie frigate when taken by Sir Edward l'ellew, and of whose honourable conduct in the affair of Sir W. Sydney Smith's imprisonment, public mention had been made in England. This gentleman sat some time conversing upon my situation, which he seemed desirous to ameliorate; he said that the general did not consider me to be a prisoner of war, and that my confinement did not arise from any thing I had done.' Frum what then did it arise? At this question he was silent. He regretted not to have been in town on my arrival, belieying it would have been in his power to have turned the tide of consequences; and obligingly offered to supply me with money, if in want. "During a fortnight from this time, no incident occurred worth notice. My scorbutic sores being much better, the surgeon came but seldom; and the visits of the interpreter being less frequent than before, our solitude was rarely interrupted. The Gulph of Carpen "The term of my imprisonment being lengthened out much beyond my expectation, puts me under the necessity of making another application to Your Excel-· lency for more books and charts, that I may still proceed in completing the account of my observations and discoveries. If the whole were put into my possession it would be of much service to my labour, and save Your Excellency from being troubled with any further application on this head; but if this will not be complied with, I beg to make a small selection from them, which will principally consist of a roll of charts. I am not however to deceive your Excellency - this roll contains the greater part of my original faircharts, and I am desirous to have them principally for the purpose of making an abridgment of my dis coveries upon a single sheet. With all due consideration, I am - Your Excellency's prisoner, than the last, and it seemed that general De Caea had determined. upon giving me no answer to any thing. taria and Torres Strait being finish-"This letter was no more fortunate ed, my time had since been employed in writing an explanatory memoir upon the latter chart; Mr. Aken was occupied in copying the journal of bearings for the Admiralty, and my servant in transcribing the two first volumes of the log, which had been torn and defaced in the shipwreck; so that our time did not pass wholly in vain. It was the completion of the charts, however, that I had most at heart; and 1814. "The Admiral Aplin, an extra Indiaman outward bound, on board of which were several officers of the army and four ladies, had been brought in as a prize; the ladies with their husbands were suffered to remain at a tavern in the town, at the instance of captain Bergeret, G by by whose privateer, La Psyché, they had been taken; the others were sent to a house at a little distance in the country, where all the English officers had been a short time Confined. I ventured to send my servant to the tavern, to inquire after my countrymen and women; and they obligingly furnished me with magazines, newspapers, and a Steele's List of the Navy, up to August 1803, which in such a place, and after so long an ignorance of what was passing in England, were highly acceptable. "On March 1, the interpreter made a personal application to general De Caen concerning the books and charts mentioned in my last letter to which he received for answer, that so soon as the governor was a little freed from business he would attend to this request. I asked M. Bonnefoy to give me his opinion of what was likely to be ⚫ done with us? He replied that we should probably be kept prisoners so long as the war lasted, but might perhaps have permission to live in some interior part of the island, and liberty to take exercise within certain limits. This opinion surprised me; but I considered it to be that of a man unacquainted with the nature of a voyage of discovery, and the interest it excites in every nation of the civilised world, and not the least in France. To be liberated in an honourable manner by an order of the French government, so soon as it should be informed of my detention, appeared to be certain; for whatever colour general De Caen might give to his proceedings, it could not be disguised that he had arrested the commander of a voyage bearing a Frer ch passport, and had taken from him bis charts, journals, and vessel; but as yet I could not be persuaded that the general would risk the displeasure of his government, and particularly of the first consul Bonaparte, by whose order my passport had been given, and who had professed himself to be a patron of science. A voyage of discovery undertaken upon liberal principles, and carried on with zeal, tempered with humanity towards the inhabitants of the countries visited, seemed to me an object to interest every person, of whatever nation or profession. The philosopher, or man of general science, would see his knowledge of the globe, and of man, its principal inhabitant, so much the object of such a voyage, that he might consider it as undertaken for his gratification; and he who professed a particular branch, whether of natural philosophy or natural history, would expect so many new observations and discoveries in his favourite pursuit, that the voyagers could not fail to have his best wishes for their success. A professor of the fine arts might expect new and striking subjects to be brought to light, upon which to exercise his genius and display his powers; the merchant and manufacturer would anticipate fresh aids to their industry, and new markets for its produce; and the seaman, from such a voyage, would expect the discovery of new passages and harbours, to which he might have recourse either for convenience or safety; and he would also see in it the adoption of the best means for advancing his art to perfection. The philanthropist and zealous Christian would have delight in observing the blessings of civilization thus continually extending themselves, and in seeing new fields opened opened in which to sow the seeds of righteousness; and even the man without profession, science, or zeal, -the perfectly idle, could not be without interest in a voyage of discovery, since the gratification of curiosty is an object of at least as much concern with them as with any other class of men. Consider ing, thus, a voyage for the investigation of new countries as of extensive interest and importance, it was with difficulty I could be convinced that there were people who thought it of none; or of so little, that the putting a stop to it, imprisoning the commander and seizing his charts and papers, required no more consideration than if it were a common voyage. To be kept a prisoner so long as the war should last, did not therefore enter into my conception as within the bounds of probability; but it is the failing of men of all professions to overrate the importance of that which they have themselves adopted, and into this error it will probably be thought I had fallen with respect to voyages of discovery. "We had a second visit on the 6th from captain Bergeret, to whom the passengers of the Aplin, and particularly the married gentlemen, were indebted for much attention and indulgence. He seemed to think that nothing could at this time be able to procure our. release, but that we might perhaps be permitted to live in the country; and he promised to interest himself in it, so soon as a proper time and opportunity could be found for speaking to the captain-general.. "The season was arrived in which, should we be set at liberty, it would be too late to attempt a passage round the Cape of Good Hope in the schooner, and before the return of another year, the stores, and perhaps the vessel itself, might be rotten; and having no hope to obtain an answer to a letter, I requested Mr. Bonnefoy to make an application to the general for permission to sell the Cumberland. Ten days afterward the interpreter informed me, that general De Caen had spoken to him of my wish to live in the country, which had been made known to him by captain Bergeret; and he desired him to tell me, 'to have a little patience, he should soon come to some determination upon my affair;' being spoken to upon the sale of the Cumberland, his reply was, a little patience, it is time enough yet; and when the charts and books for which I had applied on Feb. 27, were mentioned, he still gave the same answer. "My people were brought on shore on the 23d, with other British subjects from the prison ship, in order to be sent to a district called Flacq, on the east side of the island; and this circumstance confirmed my suspicion that it was not intended to liberate us until orders were received from France. Mr. Charrington, the boatswain, was permitted to speak to me in the presence of an officer before their departure; and after learning the condition of the poor prisoners, I recommended him to keep our people as clean in their persons and regular in their conduct as circumstances would permit; and not to attempt any escape, since we must be liberated in six or eight months by order of the French government. One of them, the Prussian who had behaved so ill, had gone away in the Spanish rigate Fama, G 2 by by permission of the French; the others had been kept strictly on board the prison ship after the departure of the three Dutch men of wai. Although several prizes had been brought in, the number of English prisoners was inconsiderable; owing to some of the vessels being manned with lascars who were not confined, and in part to the sailors having been induced to enter on board the French privateers, for the sake of obtaining more provisions and to avoid being kept in irons. “I had hitherto forborne to write any letters to England, whether public or private, but what passed open through the office of the town major, that no plea, even what arbitrary power could construe into such, might be taken for continuing our imprisonment; but the arrival of letters thus sent being exceedingly problematical, and my hope of liberation from general De Caen having disappeared, the motive for this forbearance had ceased to exist. An account was therefore written to the secretary of the Admiralty of my arrival, reception, and treatment in Mauritius, inclosing copies of all the letters written For received; that my lords commissioners might be enabled to take proper measures for obtaining our liberty and the restitution of my charts and journals; especial care was taken at the same time, to avoid the mention of any thing which could be thought to infringe on the passport, as much as if it had remained inviolate on the part of general De Caen. This letter was inclosed to a friend in London, and sent by the way of America; and I afterwards learned from the public papers that it was received in the August following. "The end of March had arrived, and nothing more was said of our permission to reside in the country; and being most heartily weary of close confinement, I requested to be removed to the same place with the British officers, prisoners of war; the house where they were kept being described to be large, and surrounded with a wall inclosing about two acres of ground, within which the prisoners were allowed to take exercise. On the 30th Colonel Monistrol came to confer on the subject, and next day conducted me to the house for the purpose of choosing two rooms. He said on the way that the house was originally built by a surgeon named Despeaux, and now hired by the government at twenty-five dollars per month to accommodate the English gentlemen; that it was very spacious, and had formerly lodged the ambassadors sent by Tippoo Sultaun to this island; I found it to be situate about a mile north-east from our tavern in the middle of the town, and enjoying a fresh air which, in comparison with our place of confinement, made me think it a paradise. After the unpleasant task of selecting two rooms, which colonei Monistrol ordered to be vacated by the officers who were in possession, he returned with me to the town; and promised at parting to speak again to the captain-general concerning my charts and books. "This little walk of a mile shewed how debilitating is the want of exercise and fresh air; for it was not without the assistance of colonel Monistrol's arm, that I was able to get through it. Convey ances ances were sent in the evening for our trunks, and we took possession of our new prison with a considerable degree of pleasure; this change of situation and surrounding objects producing an exhilaration of spirits to which we had long been strangers. AN ACCOUNT OF THE INHABITANTS OF WESTROBOTHNIA. HE Westrobothnians are, in Their figure is noble, their countenance proud and confident; but this haughtiness is tempered by a marked expression of benevolence, and their manners perfectly correspond to their physiognomy. The men have more mildness in their character than their neighbours the Ostrobothnians, and the beauty of their women is much superior. This honest, sober, and frugal, people are alike distinguished for their courage in war, the hunting of the bear, and in ascending or descending the falls, &c. Whilst more polished nations content themselves by defining the various gradations of virtue, the Westrobothnians practise them all, in a happy ignorance of their opposite vices. The Finnish language prevails from the frontiers of Ostrobothnia, which separate Finland from Sweden properly so called, to within two or three miles to the west of Tornea, where the Swedish is used, and thence northward about twenty miles; after which the colonists only speak Finnish, and the natives in the Lapland tongue. This is the country through which we had passed and are now describing. The dress of the men consists of a bonnet of deep blue, in the shape of a cap, with the seams of another colour; a kind of tunic, or shirt, of strong white serge, which comes ther belt; long breeches; boots, or buskins, without heels, the soles being of the same piece, and the seams above the foot, uniting near the toe, which terminates in a returning peak. These boots are so well prepared as to resist moisture a long time, and nothing can be better adapted for walking in the marches, which are so frequent in these countries. The principal objects of industry are agriculture, the preparation of tar, breeding of cattle, the chase, and fishing. The soil is fertile, and the same fields are sown every year. The corn ripens in seven or eight weeks; but such is the rigour of the climate that, during this short period, the frosts frequently destroy the hopes of the cultivator. Fortunately, the inhabitants are accustomed, during the most abundant harvests, to mix with their bread chopped straw, the roots of certain plants, or the bark of the pine-tree; and this practice enables them to support those famines which are but too frequent. The salmon fishery, of which we have already spoken, is extensive. Another species of salmon, called Taimen, the flavour of which is delicious, is found here; but not in sufficient plenty to be an article of commerce. This fish, which is also found |