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14 THE EAKLY FKENCH IN INDIA. chap. Nassau, called it Mauritius ; abandoned by them at some time between the years 1703 and 1710; and 166G. occupied later, between that period and 1719, by the French, who changed its name to the Isle of France. Bourbon, or Mascarenhas, called so after a Portuguese nobleman, was absolutely desolate when the French, touching there on the way to Madagascar in 1649, took possession of in the name of the King of France. It remained uncolonised till 1654, when eight French- men and six negroes emigrated to it from that island, but deserted it again four years later. The island continued uninhabited till 1672, when, on the collapse of the Madagascar enterprise, an inconsiderable number of the colonists took possession of it, and formed the nucleus of a settlement which was one day to be powerful. But the French India Company had not wasted all its resources in their attempts on Madagascar. In 1666 another expedition was fitted out, and the command of it bestowed upon one Francis Caron, a man who pos- sessed at that time considerable reputation for expe- rience in Eastern undertakings. Caron, though of French origin, had been born in Holland, and he had spent many years of his life in the service of the Dutch re- public. At a very early age, he had obtained a situation as a cook-mate on board a Dutch man-of-war bound for Japan; but during the voyage he showed such intelli- gence that he was promoted to the post of chief steward. This office gave him a little leisure which he devoted to the study of arithmetic. On the arrival of the vessel at Japan, he at once applied himself to the study of the language of the country. Having acquired this know- ledge, he was able to make almost his own terms with the agents of the Dutch Company, and he was soon appointed a member of the general council of adminis- tration, and director of commerce. But, little satisfied with this, he applied for a post of still higher impor-