enemy, and suffering
greatly from want of provisions, raised the siege and fell back.

As soon as they had drawn off, Charlie entered the fort. The rajah
received him with the greatest warmth. He was, however, much
distressed at the capture of a hill fort, at some distance from
Permacoil. In this he had stowed his wives and treasure, thinking that
it would be unmolested. The French, however, had, just before
Charlie's arrival, detached a strong force with some guns, and these
had captured the place. The force which had accomplished this had, he
now heard, marched to Trinavody, a fort and town thirty miles away,
upon the road by which the force which had besieged the town was
retiring. The treasure was a considerable one, amounting to seven lacs
of rupees, and as the rajah stated his willingness that the troops
should take possession of this, if they could but rescue his women,
Charlie at once determined to attempt the feat.

The main body of the enemy would not reach the place, until the
afternoon of the following day. Charlie soon collected his men and,
making a detour through the country, arrived next morning within a
mile of Trinavody.

The town was a small one, and the fort one of the ordinary native
forts, built in a parallelogram with flanking towers. The place,
however, contained a very large and solidly built pagoda or temple. It
was surrounded by a wall, forty feet high; and at the gateway stood an
immense tower, with terraces rising one above the other.

Capturing a native, Charlie learnt that the fort was tenanted only by
the troops of the native rajah of the place, the French detachment
being encamped in the pagoda. He at once rode forward with his troops,
dashed through the native town, and in through the wide gateway of the
tower, into the courtyard within. Beyond two or three straggling shots
from the sentries, he had so far encountered no opposition, and the
native troops in the courtyard, thrown into wild confusion by this
sudden appearance of a hostile force, threw down their arms and cried
for mercy. From the temple within, however, the French infantry, a
hundred strong, opened a brisk fire.

Charlie sent some of his men on to the tower, whence their fire
commanded the flat roof of the temple, and these speedily drove the
defenders from that post. The field pieces were unlimbered, and
directed towards the gate of the inner temple, while a musketry fire
was kept up against every window and loopho