Mahé de La Bourdonnais was born in Saint-Malo, Brittany. He went to sea when he was at the age of 10, and in 1718 entered the service of the French East India Company as a lieutenant. In 1724 he was promoted captain, and displayed bravery in the capture of Mahé off the Malabar Coast that the name of the town was added to his own. For two years he was in the service of the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa, but in 1735 he returned to French service as governor of the Isle de France (now Mauritius) and the Île de Bourbon (Réunion). His first five years' administration of the islands was vigorous and successful. A visit to France in 1740 was interrupted by the outbreak of hostilities with Great Britain, and La Bourdonnais was put at the head of a fleet in Indian waters. Mahe de Labourdonnais was a fa