Madagascar [antikvár]

As the success of every remote enterprize which is intended to form an establishment of Europeans, is dependant always on precise orders and instructions, as weil as preparations and well-founded operations, made in consequence of a knowledge of the country, and proportioned 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 ver)' 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, which was the source of the miseries, diseases, and mortality, to which myself and my people were exposed; the island of Madagascar, at this day in alliance with Francé, would have förmed a power, capable of supporting, her colonies of the isles of Francé and Bourbon, and defending her establishments in India, as weil as securing new branches of commerce to that kingdom, which would have carried immense sums into the royal treasury. In order to exhibit in the most perspicuous manner, the different obstacles which I have experienced since my arrival in this island, and to develope those events which by sudden revolutions have procured me favourable advantages in forming this establishment, I shall give an account of the originál dispositions of the Minister, upon which it was ordered that I should regulate my operations.