willoughby 's authority was quite real : the orders , which he allowed granby to read , were from commodore rowley and indeed specific : the port , if it existed , could not be tolerated , and must be taken before it were fortified ; the grounds for doing so a mere bagatelle of a technicality : the regent had ordered the remainder of the continent claimed on the basis of fleming 's circumnavigation , which might as easily have given france a claim by the journeys of la perouse .