The Sun.
London, England, 1810-01-18 00:00:00

OF THE ISLC OF BOURBON,

The following are some farther interesting par-
' ticelars of the capture of the Isle of Bourbon
" Ott the 20th of September Commodore Row-
ley (cumin inding the cruising squadron off the Isle
of France), io the Raisonalle, 64, accompanied by
the Boadicea, Captain Halley ; Sirius, Capt. Pym ;
and Aereide, Captain Corbet, with the Otter
.sloop,
Captain Willoughby, came from the cruizing sta-
tion off the Isle of France, to the Isle of Bourbon,
prepa;ed nor an attack upon the town of St. Pant,,
and shipping in the roads, which .t that time Con-
sisted of the Caroline frigate, co 48 guns, and 400
.men, with her two prizes, the Streatham and
Europe Indiamen, manned and, armed ; a small
privateer, formerly the Grappler gun-brig, and seve-
ral other small coasting vessels. On board the fleet
were Lieutenant-Cidonel Keinin,!, of his l'slaj,sey•s
56th Regiment, with about 200 men of thin Regi-
ment, and 170 Bombay sem s, from the Islas d of
Rodrig.'es - Colonel Keating having
been sent by the Bombay Government to take pos.,
sessh.e. of that Islaed, Which he had done about
two months beige). This force, with the marines
of the fleet, and about 100 seamen under Captain
Willoughby, in all 750 men, were 'ended from the
Aereide at four A. M. a few miles from the newn,
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Keating,
Ad pushed forward as fast as possible but from
the badness of the road did not errive at the lowa
till seven o'clock. The party divi&d, and attacked
the defence of the town, consisting of five batterie-o
three of which were furnished with furnaces for
red-hot shot. They experienced some resistance,
but by their persevering gallantry were in posses-
sion of the whole five before nine o'clock, as also
of the town. • The guns were turned upon the
French ships in the Reads, juq t.t the time our
ships were entering the bay. There, can ba
nu
doubt of what our would lia%e done. had there
been occasion ; but the French ships seeing them-
selves att,icked on both side, .struck be;ore our
ships were in a setiation to fire with ctfett ; so that
very few shots were fired. The Prootch ships de-
fended the,mseives well, while their d. t'eece could
be of any use, and sent a party to assist the troops
on shore. Captain Fym, of the Sirius, hoisted a
u;gnal for permission to anchor, which was granted,
but before he opened his fire, the ships struck.
" Etit,y hounioe att.ntion was shewn by Com-
modore Rowley and Lieutenant-Colonel Keating,
to the inhabitants, who suffered more trout the
plunder of their iswn slaves ,han from our troops.
We had between (Jo and 70 men hilleel And wound-
ed.— There never was any idea of keeping, posses-
sion of. the Island, as the force was not sufficient for
that pule:ose. The sole object was a coup de ruaiu,,
which was planned and executed with ability and
vigour. The ships in the R-oad.t, and the captured
cargces, were the inducements, the f_irrner of which
were taken, and about half the latter, brought
away, the rest having been burnt.
"The Governor of the bland came down with a
reinforcement born St. Denis, but r(turned without
effe&ing any • thing. Immediately alter his ret sun,
he pot an end-to hiS existence, leaving a written
paper upon his table, expl linieg the motives by
which he was induced to adopt a resolution of so
shocking_ a nature.--4A translation has already ap-
peared in this Paper.)
" The widow of the General having expressed a
wish to join her family at the Isle Of Fiance, Com-
modore Rowley humanely appointed a small vessel,
under 'a cartel this'', to take her there with her 'fami-
ly, servants, andeffeos„ an act highly gratifying to
the French, as well as the English Prisoners, who
had been liberated by the capture of the• town,
and who had been treated with the greatest kind-
ness and attention'ddring a residence of two months
on the Island. The English, by articles entered
into with the Commandant of St. Paul, retained
quiet possession of the town, and a cert•iin distance
round it, for eight days."

1

i

t.

Yesterthy was the day appOinted for the intro-
duaion of his Excellency the PERSIAN AMBASSADOR
to her MAJESTY, which was arranged to be con-
duaed with equal attention and splendour to that of
the iutroduaion to his MAJESTY. Soon after two
o'clock, her Majesty's carriage, and six heautiful
bay horses with threelootmen, who, together with
the coachman and postillion, were "dressed in state
liveries, in every rtspeet, as if to attend her MA-
JESTY; ,except w caring hats, instead of velvet caps,
arrived at his Eicellency's house in Mansfield-street.
SoOn after his Excellency's Master of the Mule and
Page, set off in his Excellency's carriage to the
Queen's Palace, with 'the presents brought by his
Excellency from his Court to her MAJESTY In a
short time after, his Excellency followed in his Ma-
jesty's carriage ; a number.of persons were earthed
round his Excellency's house-, in consequence, who
behaved in a very respectful manner. His Excel-
lency arrived a few minutes before three o'clock, at
the Queen's Palace, pieceeled by the carriage of Sir
STEPHEN CoTTERELL, the Master of the Ceremo-
nies, and accompanied in her M.ijesty's cariiage by
Mr. CHESTER, the Assistant Master of the Ceremo-
nies, Sir STEPHEN COTTERELL being indisposed,
and;Sir GORE OUSELEY, his Excellency's Interpreter.
His Excellency was conducted by Mr. CHASTER, to
her Majesty's Drawing-n.em,. and- introduced to
her MAJESTY by Earl MORTON,' her MAJ-ESTY'S
Chamberlain, with the same pomp and form as it
her MAJESTY was holding. a gland public drawing-
room, all her MAJESTY.ti state attendants being pre-
sent, consisting of Colonel Deshitow, her Ma.
JESTY'S Vice Chamberlain; Earl
__ H ANCOURT, the
Master of the Horse; Colonel UPTON; tire Equerry;
Master ANSON, her IVIAJusTY's Page of Honour,
and theother Pages ; Ladies 3. THY NNE and. ELY i
Misses COURTNEY, BRUDENELS, S. COLEMAN, and
WROTTRSLEY. Her MAJESTY was accompanied by
the PRINCESSES, and the Dukes of KENT, CAM-
BRIDGE, and BRUNSWICK. His Excellency deli•
vered his credentials to her MAJESTY, which were
most graciously received. His Excellency also de-
livered the presents from his Court, consisting of
• three boxes of jewels, several choice shawls, and a
i curious c.irpet, which were also most graciously re-

ceived,
His Ex*Cellency was in the, Palace about half an
11(',ur, .and then returned in her Maje Sty's carr►aLe
through the Park, and then got into his own cat -
riag,e. -His Exceitency is exrp,-c-ti'd to attend the
11. a-wing-room this .day, at St. James's Pedace,
celebtat.',on of her MAJIISI-IC$ birth-day.

=:7

t

CiIPTUIZED INDIAMEN.

I Pr

1
rarticulars of the Proceedings on Boald the Europe, during
:,. tt,t) :en A; cla
niiintblieet %:,:reeellitethheFt-lrigualit.eCLoanicpaart:i's:ltittps4: tgruera,tstsia.i.,iiiix:
',4';'-', t Commodore 1),ile; the Europe, Capt. Gelstone i and the
', ',s:' lion. Corripan‘,'s Extra Ship, Lord Keith, Capt. Camp-
I'i.' i• 359 men, commanded by M. l'errctier, on the looming of
ik' ..iay '3l, lat. and Long. the K eceding day, to. ;4. N. and
‘ I''`, .
t;' 1-,_; ;, 9'. 48. East lung. per Chronometer.

At sh. 30m. A.M. 'observed 'a strange sail to
windward, piped the—hammocks up, cleared the
s:iip-for action', and
-beat to quarters, though from
f,e'r first appearance we-supposed her :to be his Ma-
j4jsty'st ship Viaqroiur, late convoy, with which we
li;arted only six. days before.: At:7 A. M. when
w,thin -musket shot, she hoisted the French ensign,
con: meuced 'a brisk fire of round,
.bar, and grape,
which we imtnediately returned, and after a smart
cannonade of thirty minutes, she wore round our
us her raking tire in,passing, and run-.
riing down to leeward'of the Sir eatham, commenced
the action with her. At this period we had two.
Tll, .kitled, Thomas Roberts (armourer), and John,
11-rrnony Afore-topnian), aid one Lascar wounded.
Ouriore-topsail yard carried away in The. slings, two
shot through the foremast, four of the starboard, and
two of the larboard, four shouds cut thiough, all
t,,e toe mast back-stays, braces, and bowlines shot
away, and the sails completely riddled, several shot
in the hull, three of which were 'between wind and
water. .

From 7h. 30m, A.M.. until abOut eight, the
Streatham was opposed to a smart tire from the
trigste, w,,lien we observed her cOonts were
hauled down. During this time every exertion was

Made on our part, to join the contest, but from the,
crippled state of our rigging, &c. eNery attempt.
%vas fruitless, braces aid bowlines being all shot
sway. The frigate now bore' up, thwarted the
Lord Keith's hawse, giving her .a raking fire;
wore rounds kept firing at her in passing, haul: d
her wind or per firer stern, and gave her the rake.,
astern ; the Keith returning her fire as she iiasscd.
DUring this time we kept up our fire whenever A shot
would tell.—The frigate now hoVe to on our lax.-
.board-quarter, and recommenced the action, 'which '
was continued for about
.ten minutes, when she
filled, and stood to the N. W. .At this time we
liad'rceeived several shots in the hull, on the lar-
board-side. We then', passed to leeward of the
,S'treathant, nine A.M. and hailed her to know if
she had struck, which was answered in the at-fir
mative. The Keith now .made .sail, and stood
away .to the • south:. and' eastward. At a qu tiler
pan nine A. M. .the 'frigate tacked and 'stood for
the Streatham, to take, possession ,of Ler. We
had not at
,this time the least .management of

the ship, and the carpenter, had reported` there
was 'five feet water in the bold. Captain Gelstone
called, in consequence, as consultation of officers
sand passengers, before whom a statement of our
damages was laid, and the different opiniOns asked
of what would be most advisable' to be done,
when it was tlre unanimous opinion that, from the
Seat harm having k, the Keith haying left us,
and the disabled and unmanageable state of our own
thip, it would hut be.saciificing rhe crew to rnakp
further resi,tance
.and having endk-avoured by every
means in our power• to protect the plopettT of die
Company, and supporfthe honour of thy Brit flag,
we were reduced•to the unpleasant necessity of low-
ering our colours to the French frit.,•ate La- Caroline,
CapitaineTerretier, of 48 guns, and 350 men and
at ten, A. M. m.reretaketypossession of by'M. Bazin,
ed Lieutenant, when Captain Gtlstone. and Officers
were sent on board the tri,ate to surrender their
-A ms, when every polite ritternion'was shewn. them.

PARTICULARS ON BOARD THE EUROPE, AFTER THE

CAPTAIN AND OFFICIiRS 14AD, guITTED /IBA.
- The leak in the evening increased to gi fee, and
on, the following thorning, finding the water gain
upon the pumps, triiide signal to tae frigate, which
came within hair; reported the situation of the ship,.
• and received orders 'to remove the passengers otr
board the Streatham, to throvv the guns overboard,
• and that boats would 'be kept..in readiness to take
out the people, should. it be necessary to. abandon
the ship, in which case to .stutile her; applied for
more hands;, which was refused, as the boats of the
frigate were' not considered sufficient to relieve
more than those already. ou board the Europe, and.
her own people. The passengers were accordingly
removed' on board the Strialkam, whire•they
_re-
mained till. the. following &lay, and were treated
with every possible attention and civility by M. Ea:-
beady, the Officer in charge, as well as by the pas-
sengers of that ship.
On the following day the leak on board the £u-
rope, which was discovered to arise from the thirty-
six shot holes in the counter, "iix feet under water,
having been reported,topped, and the water got un-:
der, the passengers were oidereil on hoard again, and
the Europe made sail /.6r the Isle of 'France; in cum-
' pany with the frigate and the Streatham. it is but
common justice to Monsieur Bazin, before mention-
ed, as well ,as to Mous. Des Platte4es, the Officer
who remained in charge, and to hid second, Monsieur
Duval, to say, that every possible attention was paid
to the passengers, who were left in the undisturbed
possession of the cabin, with a particular request
that they would consider themselves' therein as if
• nothing had happened, and whatever requests were.
nyide, they were granted with a reaiineis eviocitig
a eel wish to oblige. The ;only property lust was.
plundered by the Lascars belonging to the ships. The
men sent on board from- the frigate behaved with
great -civility.
The Ladies were, by this treatment, soon relieved
from their fears, which 'must have been considerable,
both from the uhexpetied commencement of the
tiring, befoie t hey had time to retire to the gun-room,
and from a shot having passed through it while they.
wete there, and the uplimers which in consequence.
Clew on all sides. '
In stating what is doe to our enemies, we most
not forget to pay a just tribute to the conduit of our
friends also; and it is but truth to Say, that every ex-
ertion was madeion the part of Captain Gelstone, his
Officers, and ship's company, the whole of whom
evinced the utmost readiness to recommence the E!c-
lion, if that tutiasure could, in the general opinion,

have been attended with such Apl asprel of ultimate
success or escape, as to havejuitilled the sacs 'lice of
lives which must inevitably have ensued from a pro-
longed contest
.vt ith a force. so far superio,: to the
Europe. ,

FRENCH. ACCOUNT OF THE ACTION.

PORT A VOL EON .41

Extraff from the Letter addressed from the Isle Bonaparte+
to his ExCellency Captain. General Decaeti, by Lieut. Fe.
d'retier Comniandant of his Majesty's frigate La Caroline.
My Geueral—l have the hotiotr of informing
you, that on the 22d of July, I entered the Bay of
St. Paul, with his Najesty's :frigate La Caroline, :Ind.
.two ships in company, which I captured in the Bay
of Bengal, namely, the Streatham and the Europe.
These two vessels are vary richly laden ; tlseir car-
goes consist chiefly of • !fief; boxes of indigo, "Ibl4
bales of dry goods, 1843 halei of silks. 1 ,000 bags
ofsaltpetre,. and 25 bales of handkerchiefs.
traa from the Journal of Lieut. Ferretier, com-
manding his. Majesty's frigate La Caroline :
On the 2lst of May,;(presions to this date, M.
Ferretier had'dispatched two
.prizes) beim- in g. 15.
north lat. and 87. 20: east long, at day-light a strange
sail was announced by • the' watch: Three ships,
with three masts each, were immediately descried'
to windward, :steering N. N. E. distant abbot three
'leagues to starboard, under a press of sail, 'which I
suffered to approach in succession,' with a- view to
ascertain who they-were; About five ta'slock in the
morning I.prepared for amen, and manoeuvred so as
to come up to them with all set. • While 'we'
were coining up, the three ships did. not in the least
alter their course, and made -private signals. Ob-
serving that we did not answer. them, they inter-'
changed signals among :themselves. s 1 then con
chided that theyglaelonged to the Company, .having
one tier of guns it h carronades on the forecastle end::
quaitee-deck (les gaillards.)--I ttiediatelY,order-
ed every man to his station, and inspected them,;,
minutely. , The- spirit and alacrity manifested by
every individual on board, .gave me the surest.
pledge of succeeding in the disproportionate attack
I had determined to make. .
At six o'clock, being within musket-shot of the .
sternmost ship, we hoisted the French flag, which
was saluted by all my officers and men with three
cheers of ViveTErnpereur apd the anion instantly
ontmehced: Our tire was so well'supported, that
this ship, aftermaintahaing her position above twenty
minutes alongside of us, wore, in order to get out of
the range of our guns, and to repair her damage.
Her fire was at first very brisk, but it sllickened to-
wards the conclusion This ship being.mucb crips
Pled and ungovernable, and oheerving the impessillie'
lity of her escaping in that situation, I proceeded to
attack the ship immediately a-head of her, which
carried` the Commodore's pendant. 1 directed the
guns on the starboard side to be loaded, with express
• orders not to fire till We should be within pistol-shot.
'At ten minutes before seven, we began' the at-
: tack, and kept up an incessant fire for one hour,
during which the two other vessels came up, and
discharged several broadsides' at our stern larboard
quarter.
At half past seven, I had the misfortune to lose
my master (liciere de inanteUvre), M. Vandercruce,
Who was a most excellent officer; his head was shot
off by a cannon-ball, as he stood by me on the quar-
ter-deck. The same shot tarried off half of my hai,
and tvounded-me slightly in the cheek. I then or-
dered M. Ilabaudi, the second officer in command
on the forecastle, to replace M. Vandercruce.
At eight o'clock, our fire having been kept up
without intermission, the Commodore's 'ship struck
hercolours. -1 Instantly orderedthe larboard tack to
be made, and opposed my broadside to the two other
ships who were now engaged with me. I direa-
.ed ary•fire particularly against the headmost ship,
and my two first broadsides were so well directed,
that site shamefully took to flight. The second ship,
being 'on the opposite; discharged two broadsides at
us, and run before the wind. We made the same
tack with her,-passing at a short distance from the
ship that had struck, I determined to take posseSsion
of her, and for that purpose sent Mona. Rabaudi on
board, with orders to take the command of her. On
his takifig possession, he immediately sent the Eng-
lish Captain: and his Officers to me, and hoisting the
boat on board, I direeled my course to the crippled
ship, which was to leeward of us, making all puss
sible sail, and still keeping up her colours.
That ship, seeing That we were bearing down on
her, and gained considerably, hauled her wind and
struck her colours. I sent M. Deplanches, Sub-
. Lieutenant (Insigne de Vaisseau) on board to take
the command of her. The report which he made
of the bad state in Which her hull was, haying re-
ceived three shot under water, which caused her als
ready- to make twelve feet of water; and the damages
sustained in her' masts and rigging by the vessel
Which hair:just struck, obliged me, to my great re-
gret, to( softer the third to'escape, she being at this
time three leagues to wiudwatd of us.
I now thought only of shifting the prisoners 'and
their effects. The number of the prisoners amount-
ed to 200 Europeans, who were found divided among
the two vessels. The pumps of the 'Europe could
not kept free by the small number of people that re-
mained on board her. I sent Moos. Bazins one Qf
the First Lieutenants, with a strong party of my
crew., to give all the assistance that may be neeessas
ry. The zeal with which' M. Basin andthe officer.
commanding, applied themselves'to repair the da-
: 'mars of the ship, soon put her in a condition to
make her way to these islasids. I likewise sent a
strong party on board the Streatham, to repair the da-
mages sustained by her.
I employed two days in putting both the prizes in
a condition to make sail, and upon consideration I
resolved to convoy them. We therefore steered al-,
together for 'the Isles of :France and Buonaparte
(Bourbon). The Streatham being put in a condi-
aion to mount her guns, which consisted of thirty-,
so Port Napoleon, formerlY Port North West, is the;prin-
cipal place and'harbour of the Isle et France, and the scat
of the Government of the Viceroy., General Decaen fills
that offite at present.
f Isle Buonaparte. The Isle of Bourbon has recently re.'
ceived this denomination as a compliment to the new dynas.
ty, and in order to destroy a memorial of the old. The dif.
ficnlty of getting into and out of Port North West, the rai-
-1 cipal harbuttr of the Isle of France, causes the road of Sr,
Paul, in tie Isle Buonaparte, or Bourbon, to be generally
preferred by the I- tench cruizers fur the superior facility
of depositing their plunder, and starting on fresh enterprizes.
•