455


A  MEMOIR

CONCERNING    THE

EXPEDITION  to  MADAGASCAR,  for  the  Formation
of  a  Royal  Establishment  on  that  Island;  the
Execution  and  chief  command  of  which,  were
intrusted  by  his  Majesty,*  to  the  Count  de
Benyowsky,  proprietary  Colonel  of  a  Corps  of
Volunteers,  in  1772.
PRELIMINARIES.
As  the  success  of  every  remote  enterprize  which  is
intended  to  form  an  establishment  of  Europeans,  is  de-
pendant always  on  precise  orders  and  instructions,  as
well  as  preparations  and  well-founded  operations,  made
in  consequence  of  a  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  pro-
portioned to  the  advantages  which  are  proposed  to  be
obtained,  I  think  it  necessary  to  give  an  account  of  the
circumstances  which  preceded  my  arrival  on  this  island.
Circumstances  which  prove,  that  notwithstanding  the
very  scanty  means  which  have  been  afforded  me,  I
have  succeeded  in  forming  treaties  of  friendship  and
alliance  with  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  this
extensive  island  ;  and,  consequently,  that  if  I  had  not
been,  as  I  may  say,  totally  abandoned  by  the  Minister,
*  The  King  of  France.
456


ENTERPRISE  IN  MADAGASCAR

which  was  the  source  of  the  miseries,  diseases,  and
mortahty,  to  which  myself  and  my  people  were  exposed  ;
the  island  of  Madagascar,  at  this  day  in  alliance  with
France,  would  have  formed  a  power,  capable  of  support-
ing her  colonies  of  the  isles  of  France  and  Bourbon,
and  defending  her  establishments  in  India,  as  well  as
securing  new  branches  of  commerce  to  that  kingdom,
which  would  have  carried  immense  sums  into  the  royal
treasury.
