Going to See our Neighbour' under it, as the Vicar of Wakefield's family
'Going to Church.'"

He was much interested in an inspection of the Mesnil estate, where
Laperouse had resided when as an officer of the French navy he had
visited Ile-de-France, and which in conjunction with another French
officer he purchased. It was here, though Flinders does not seem to have
been aware of the romantic fact, that the illustrious navigator fell in
love with Eleanore Broudou, whom, despite family opposition, he
afterwards married.* (* The charming love-story of Laperouse has been
related in the author's Laperouse, Sydney 1912.) "I surveyed the scene,"
wrote Flinders, "with mingled sensations of pleasure and melancholy: the
ruins of his house, the garden he had laid out, the still blooming
hedgerows of China roses, emblems of his reputation, everything was an
object of interest and curiosity. This spot is nearly in the centre of
the island, and upon the road from Port Louis to Port Bourbon. It was
here that the man lamented by the good and well-informed of all nations,
whom science illumined, and humanity, joined to an honest ambition,
conducted to the haunts of remote savages, in this spot he once dwelt,
perhaps little known to the world, but happy; when he became celebrated
he had ceased to exist. Monsieur Airolles promised me to place three
square blocks of stone, one upon the other, in the spot where the house
of this lamented navigator had stood; and upon the uppermost stone facing
the road to engrave 'Laperouse.'"

Investigations made in later years by the Comite des Souvenirs
Historiques of Mauritius, show that Airolles carried out his promise to
Flinders, and erected a cairn in the midst of what had been the garden of
Laperouse. But the stones were afterwards removed by persons who had
little sentiment for the associations of the place. In the year 1897, the
Comite des Souvenirs Historiques obtained from M. Dauban, then the
proprietor of the estate, permission to erect a suitable memorial, such
as Flinders had suggested. This was done. The inscription upon the face
of the huge conical rock chosen for the purpose copies the words used by
Flinders. It reads:

LAPEROUSE

ILLUSTRE NAVIGATEUR

A achete ce terrain en Avril 1775 et l'a habite.

Le CAPITAINE FLINDERS dit:

"In this spot he once dwelt, perhaps little known to the world, but
happy."

(Comite des Souvenirs Historiques. 1897.)

Flinders' pen was very busy d