Page:The life of Matthew Flinders.djvu/430

. But no harm was done to her. She was merely detained from May 27th, 1803, till June 6th, when she was released by order of the Admiralty. In any case Flinders had nothing to do with that.

The third motive was that Captain Flinders' logbook showed an intention to make an examination of Ile-de-France and Madagascar, from which Decaen drew the inference that, if the English Government received no check, they would extend their power, and would seize the French colony. Herein the General did a serious injustice to Flinders. His log-book did indeed indicate that he desired "to acquire a knowledge of the winds and weather periodically encountered at Ile-de-France, of the actual state of the French colony, and of what utility it and its dependencies in Madagascar might be to Port Jackson, and whether that island could afford resources to myself in my future voyages." But information of this description was such as lay within the proper province of an explorer; and the log-book contained no hint, nor was there a remote intention, of acquiring information which, however used, could be inimical to the security of the French colony.

Decaen's mind had been influenced by reading Francois Péron's report to him concerning the expansive designs of the British in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. "There is no doubt," he informed his Government, "that the English Government have the intention to seize the whole trade of the Indian Ocean, the China Seas and the Pacific, and that they especially covet what remains of the Dutch possessions in these waters." He derived that extravagant idea from Péron's inflammatory communication, as will be seen from a perusal of that interesting document.

By these strained means, then, did Decaen give a semblance of public policy to his decision to detain