ve been done by
an officer of equal rank; but he had no intention to make me a prisoner
until he should receive orders to that effect. The explanation attending
this apology seemed to be strange; and the next time captain Neufville
came to the house I observed to him, that it appeared singular, after
having been confined six months, to be told I was not a prisoner, and
asked him to explain it. He said, no certainly, I was not a prisoner--my
sword had not been taken away; that I was simply detained for reasons
which he did not pretend to penetrate, and put under _surveillance_ for a
short period.

[* It being afterward suspected, and not without reason, that some of the
gentlemen had forced the door, we were officially informed that the
sentinels had received orders to shoot any one who might be seen on the
roof; this produced greater circumspection, but the pleasure of the walk
and having a view of the sea was such, that it did not wholly remedy the
evil.]

In this affair of the sword I thought myself rather handsomely treated;
but about three months afterward, one of the lower officers of the staff
came to demand it in the name of the town major, by order of the
captain-general. When told the circumstances which had occurred upon the
same subject, he said the general had consented to my wish at that time,
but had since altered his mind; and upon the promise of sending an
officer of equal rank, he said there was no officer of the same rank at
that time in readiness--that colonel D'Arsonval (the town major) would
himself have come had he not been engaged. I might, by a refusal, have
given the officer the trouble of searching my trunks, and perhaps have
received some further degradation; but since the order had come from the
general, who had broken his word, my sword was delivered, with the
observation that I should not forget the manner of its being taken. The
officer described himself as _lieutenant-adjutant de place_; he conducted
himself with politeness, and did not ask if I or Mr. Aken had any other
weapons.

A seaman of the Cumberland and another prisoner from Flacq made their
appearance one morning behind the wall of our inclosure. They had come to
make a complaint of the scantiness of their provisions; for besides
bread, they had only six ounces of meat or fish in the day, without salt
or vegetables, which afforded them but a poor dinner and was their only
meal in twenty-four hours. Several petitions and compla