389 



(hat possibly they might be some kind of spies or agents em- 

 ployed by the Gracias to carry mc off. On an investigation by 

 the Surat police, this proved to be the fact; and Mr. Callander 

 afterwards obtained certain intelligence of the plot by means of 

 his correspondents in Guzerat. The Gracia rajah of Ahmood in- 

 formed him, that the Mandwa and Veloria chieftains had again 

 summoned the soothsayers, and made sure of my capture. I was 

 once more destined to a hill fortress, and the emissaries were to 

 have been handsomely rewarded. 



Finding their last plot discovered, the Gracia hirelings left the 

 Surat districts; but, from an apprehension of similar attempts, we 

 immediately repaired to a house within the city. Having neither 

 health nor spirits to encounter fresh difficulties, I embarked on the 

 first vessel bound to Bombay, on the breaking up of the monsoon, 

 some weeks before the rest of our family ; for after the melancholy 

 scenes at Baroche and Dhuboy, and our unsettled situation at 

 Surat, I anticipated more satisfaction at Bombaj'. Soon after 

 receiving orders from the o;overnor and council for the evacuation 

 of Baroche, we sent the English ladies to Surat, before the com- 

 mencement of the rains. With them the charm of society vanished; 

 a gloom pervaded the city, confidence in its Asiatic inhabitants 

 was lessened, and many of the native troops deserted their colours. 

 It is unnecessary to detail unpleasaut circumstances, which, from 

 lapse of time and change of affairs, have lost their interest. 

 Neither have I particularised the incantations and ceremonies 

 which were performed in the Hindoo temples, to propitiate Ga- 

 nesa, the god of wisdom and policy, with other deities, in favour 



