Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/113

Jan.] diorders. The mall-pox is the dieae mot dreaded by the inhabitants; for not being endemic, it occaions here, as well as in every part of India, the mot dreadful ravages, whenever it is imported amongt them from foreign countries.

The mater of a merchant veel from Bourdeaux, which had arrived here a few days before us, immediately came to acquaint us that the Commander of the naval forces at Ile de France, having received ome information relative to the fate of La Péroue, had dipatched a frigate to the Cape, in order to communicate his intelligence to the Commander of the expedition ent in earch of that unfortunate navigator. The frigate had ailed from Ile de France a few days before our arrival.

Our Commander Dentrecateaux dipatched an officer to the Governor of the Cape to arrange the ceremonial of the alute. This officer received from the Chargé d'Affaires of France the dipatches which Citizen Saint-Felix, Commander of our naval forces in the Indian eas, had ent to Dentrecateaux by the frigate Atalante, Captain Bolle, which had immediately ailed back for Ile de France.

I hall here inert the letter addreed to our Commander, with the depoitions of two maters of merchant veels, who were at Batavia during the