the squadron of three frigates which General Decäen had despatched from Port Louis. In the presence of a force so overwhelming Captain Lambert of the Iphigenia had no alternative but to yield his vessel and the islet. He tried hard to save the former; but General Decäen had arrived at Grand Port, and he dictated terms of absolute surrender. They were with a pang accepted. The Iphigenia and her crew were made over to the French, and the Tricolor once more floated over the little fort of the Isle de la Passe.
Thus ended the first attempt of the English on the Isle of France. If we are bound to admire the pluck, the daring, the determination displayed by our countrymen, we cannot, in candour, refuse an equally appreciative acknowledgement of the combined skill and courage by which Duperré converted an apparently certain defeat into a most decisive victory. Later in his career Duperré accomplished great things. In 1814 he defended the lagunes of Venice against an Austrian army; in 1823, at the head of a French squadron, he compelled the surrender of Cadiz; in 1830, commanding a French fleet, he besieged and took Algiers. But it is probable that whenever, during the time intervening between that last great feat of arms and his death in 1846, he might have been disposed to pass in review the events of his distinguished life, he referred with the greatest satisfaction to the repulse and destruction of an English squadron of superior force at Grand Port on the 24th and 25th August, 1810!
