Calcutta January 1811

My Dear Flinders
          I have not had the pleasure of hearing
from you since we parted off the isle of France owing
I imagine to the activity of our friends in that quarter.
Fortune smiled on them for a short time to make
our final victory more agreeable. It is incredible the
satisfaction which the Capture of that Island has
diffused all over India and every one is now surprized
that an {interpasse} of such importance should never
have been attempted before. The Merchants of this
place feel very grateful and propose giving his Lordship
a magnificent entertainment upon the occasion.
Indeed they have some reason to be so for the [illegible]
war [illegible] which all Veƒsels sailing in these seas
had rendered all commerce extremely precarious.