1-88 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
hewn out of the solid rock with immense labour ; and 
the other portions,, where masonry was employed, were 
constructed of massy cubes of stone, from ten to twelve 
feet long, fastened with a cement which gave them 
the stability of one unbroken mass. The bastions 
were mounted with fifty-four guns. The largest fort 
on the main land belonging to Angria was called Fort 
Goa. It was built precisely in the same manner as 
that on the island, equally strong, and presenting a 
formidable battery of forty guns , 
It seems strange that this dreaded pirate should 
have been allowed to carry on his depredations with 
impunity for such a length of time. The Bombay 
government, indeed, had long determined to suppress 
them, but nothing effectual had ever been done ; 
for though several expeditions were undertaken, 
they had hitherto all failed. Commodore Mathews, 
with his squadron and a small army of Portuguese, 
had joined the Bombay sea and land forces in an 
enterprise against one of Angria’s forts, but was de- 
feated by the treachery of his allies, the Portuguese, 
who, dreading the enemy’s power, thought it prudent 
to make peace with the pirate, and leave their asso- 
ciates, thus weakened, to the decreased chance of suc- 
cess. The expedition failed in consequence ; and 
the ships and troops returned to Bombay, except the 
Shoreham man-of-war, which struck upon the rocks 
and was wrecked. 
It being now evident that no final advantages were 
to be expected against this daring marauder, who had 
by this time become the terror of the Indian seas, un- 
less the co-operation of the Mahrattas was first ob- 
