His quarters, shared with Atkin at first, were in a small house, part of a
café, "under the dark entry, and up the narrow stairs into a bedroom,
while the door was bolted, and the regular tramp, tramp, of the sentry
kept on hour after hour."

It was a meagre room, containing two truckle-beds, two rush-bottomed
chairs, a broken old gilt-bordered looking-glass, and evil smells. At 6
a.m. the sleeping men were wakened by the patrol of an armed grenadier in
the bedroom--a needless annoyance. The meals of fresh meat, bread, fruit,
and vegetables were a luxury.

Monistrol, the colonel commanding the garrison, a few days later took
Flinders to the home of General de Caen, whose secretary again asked why
his vessel was so small. Where were his scientific men, why did he go to
Port Northwest at all, and why did he chase a vessel? (This query referred
to his endeavour to overtake a pilot-boat.) He gave his reasons in full,
and expected to be allowed to go back to the _Cumberland_. Shortly
afterwards a message came from the governor asking him to dinner, but he
refused, saying, "Unless I am a free man, I will not come to the
governor's table."

On July 12th, 1804, he wrote to Sir Joseph Banks:--

"Since my imprisonment in this island I have written to you, Sir
Joseph, several letters, and by several conveyances. Some of them
must no doubt have been received. General de Caen still keeps me
closely confined, but he has lately given me the greater part of
my books and papers, and, therefore, I shall again be able to
proceed in preparing the accounts of our discoveries.