Labourdomais, BERTRAND FRANÇOIS MAHÉ DE

Labourdomais, BERTRAND FRANÇOIS MAHÉ DE, a famous French naval officer, was born February 11, 1699, at St Malo, and already in 1723 was captain in the naval service of the French Indies. Next year he distinguished himself so greatly at the capture of Mahé on the Calabar coast that he was permitted to add its name to his own. In 1734 he was appointed governor of the islands Île de France and Bourbon, and his wise measures ere long made them flourishing colonies. In 1740 he was given command of a squadron in East Indian waters, and during the next five years he inflicted great loss upon England. In September 1746 he compelled Madras to capitulate, but failed to push his success in consideration of a contribution of nine million livres. Accused by Duplex by betraying the interests of the company, he returned to Paris in 1748, where he languished three years in the Bastille, but was set free and declared guiltless in 1752. He died September 9, 1753. Like most Frenchmen he wrote Mémoires (1750), but his name best survives from its mention in Paul et Virginie. A monument was erected in 1859 at Port Louis on the Île de France.—His grandson, Bertrand François Mahé de Labourdomais (1795–1840), was a famous chess-player, and wrote a Life of his grandfather (1827).