 Africaine 's journey to Madras took several months and Corbet made a number of stops on his passage , the final one being at the small British island base of Rodriguez in early September 1810 . There Corbet was informed of the disaster at Grand Port and on his own initiative immediately sailed south to augment Rowley 's weakened squadron . Arriving off Isle de France at 06 : 15 on 11 September , Corbet spotted a French schooner near Île <unk> and gave chase , the schooner sheltering behind the reefs at Grand Bay on the eastern side of the island . At 07 : 30 , Corbet ordered the frigate 's boats to enter the creek into which the schooner had fled , the small craft entering the waterway in the hope of <unk> and capturing the vessel . As the boats approached , French soldiers and militia appeared along the banks and began firing on the British sailors . Fire was returned by Royal Marines in the boats , but Africaine 's barge grounded soon after the ambush was sprung and became trapped , French gunfire killing two men and wounding ten . The other boat reached the grounded and abandoned schooner , but the six men aboard were unable to move the vessel unaided and were forced to depart , coming under fire which wounded five men , before they could escape the French trap . 
