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TRAVELS IN 
These are certainly important considerations, and de- 
manded all the vioilance and attention of our Government in 
Jndia. Even a small force of French troops, had they been 
thrown upon the coast of Malabar, at the very moment when 
our forces were drawn off into the Mysore, against the Sul- 
taun's army, might have proved fatal to our possessions on 
this coast. The usurper would, no doubt, have obtained his 
reinforcement from the Isle of France, and probably without 
our knowledge, rendering, by their means, the conquest of 
Seringapatam doubtful. Jf, in such a state of things, the 
French forces could have gained a footing at Bombay, Goa, 
or Guzzarat, and intrigued themselves into an alliance with 
the Mahratta powers, though it might not have realized their 
project of an Indian empire, it would, at least, have been 
destructive of our possessions in the west of the peninsula, 
the holding of which, indeed, Mr. Anquetil considers as fatal 
to our power in India. 
On this subject his opinion is not singular; before the 
overthrow of the Mysore kingdom, there were many of our 
own countrymen, whose sentiments in this respect accorded 
with his ; and who, like himself, have not only a profound 
knowledge of Indian politics, but are well acquainted with 
the physical and moral character of the natives, their several 
connections and relations ; and who, at the same time, pos- 
sess the advantage that local information so eminently affords. 
The reduction of the Sultaun, it is true, has contributed in 
no small degree to our security on the Malabar coast ; has 
consolidated our power in Southern India, and rendered the 
junction of foreign forces with the Mahratta chiefs more dif- 
