 Despite the British attack on Saint Paul , French frigates continued to operate in the Indian Ocean , Hamelin personally leading a cruise in the Bay of Bengal during the autumn . His ships seized a number of small merchantmen and in the Action of 18 November 1809 he personally defeated and captured three large East Indiamen in convoy . Before his squadron and their prizes returned to Île de France in late December , they had also captured the British brig HMS Victor and the large Portuguese frigate Minerva . During the winter few ships were at sea , as the risk of being caught in a seasonal hurricane was considered too severe to operate between December and March . Rowley correspondingly withdrew most of his forces to the Cape of Good Hope , leaving a handful of smaller ships to watch the French islands . Hamelin too kept his forces in harbour at Île de France , replenishing his ships and recruiting sailors from the large pool of unemployed men in Port Napoleon . 
