most untiring exertion. They had, however, the good fortune to debouch into the more open country without any opposition. Just, however, as they reached that more open plain they came upon the advanced picquet of the enemy. The men of the picquet had not evidently anticipated an attack from that quarter, for they were surprised, and, after a faint and irregular fire, they retreated from their position.
Their fire, however, faint and irregular as it was, effected some damage. Two grenadiers were killed, and two officers and several men wounded. Some officers and men likewise succumbed to the intense heat and to the fatigue of the march. The French picquet having retired, General Abercromby encamped his force in the open ground in front of the wood. He resumed his march in the morning with the intention of pushing on to Port Louis. But the heat of the day and the extreme scarcity of water rendered this impossible, and the little army, after marching only five miles, was forced to take up a position for the rest of the day and for the night at Moulin à poudre on the banks of a small river called Pamplemousses, which thus covered the camp.
To return to General Decäen. This officer had anticipated that the English army would disembark at a point nearer to Port Louis — whence the road to the capital was shorter and easier — and he had taken his measures accordingly. He had never imagined that an invader would land his troops on a point where the inland country was covered by an almost
