Companions of Misfortune: Flinders and Friends at the Isle of France, 1803-1810 In 1803, Captain Matthew Flinders, returning from an important voyage of discovery, was imprisoned on the then French island of Mauritius. This book tells the story of his 6 ½ year exile and of the men and women there who befriended him. These were the tumultuous times of the Napoleonic Wars and the Indian Ocean was just one of many theatres of conflict.Yet on this remote French colony encircled by a blockading English naval squadron, which threatened their safety and their very subsistence, small group of local inhabitants – and their prisoners – provided a lesson in mutual tolerance and esteem which showed that nobility of spirit can transcend cultural and national divides. This book of 200 pages, written by British historian Marina Carter describes the occupations and distractions of the celebrated Captain Flinders while at the Isle of France and furnishes new information gleaned from letters written to him by his friends from the island.