TER VII

_THE SIEGE OF GHERIAH_

Hardly had the fleet taken up its position, when I saw on the land
side a great army of Indians march down to the edge of the river and
pitch their camp at the end of the sandy neck, so as to cut off all
chance of escape from the defenders of the fort.

These, as I found out, were Morattoes, the king of that country,
though not friendly to the English, having agreed to join them in this
enterprise. Indeed, it appeared that the pirates themselves were
revolted subjects of this king, having their origin in the treachery
of one Angria, the Morattoe admiral, who cast off his allegiance and
seized and fortified divers strong places along the coast, where he
set up an independent power. For this reason the Morattoes had
despatched an army under their principal general, Ramagee Punt, to
assist in extirpating the pirates and regaining their former
dominions.

As soon as the ships had swung to their anchors I saw a boat put off,
bearing a flag of truce, to summon the pirates to yield up their
fastness. But this proposal evidently miscarried, for the boat
returned shortly, without any motions being made towards a surrender.
At the same time I saw the gate on the landward side of the fortress
opened and a chieftain wearing a rich dress come forth, accompanied by
a train of attendants, and cross over the sand spit into the
Morattoes' camp, from which he did not return that night.

This looked to me like a piece of treachery, as though the pirates
were seeking to make terms with their fellow-countrymen behind the
backs of the English. No doubt this transaction bore the same look to
those on board the fleet, for when I came up on deck in the morning to
see if any change had taken place during the night, I was astonished
to see the space between the Morattoes' camp and the sand spit covered
with tents, in which were about two thousand troops newly landed from
the fleet, the last of the boats that had put them ashore being then
half-way back, and rowing right round the grabs and gallivats, which
were moored altogether close in under the walls of the fortress. It
was not difficult for me to guess that this bold exploit was the work
of Colonel Clive, who had thus placed himself between his treacherous
allies and the enemy, effectually putting a stop to all underhand
communications between them. And I learned afterwards that but for
this determined action on his part, the fortress would have been