45° 
HISTORY OF MAURITIUS. 
that he could not give too ample marks of his gratitude to his friends, the English, 
he therefore concluded a perpetual alliance offensive and defensive with them. He 
augmented the limits of the Company’s territory in India, and enlarged their privi¬ 
leges : he distributed six hundred thousand rupees to the soldiers and sailors, and at 
the same time indemnified the Company for the losses which they had sustained, by 
a payment of two millions sterling. Soon after these events Admiral Watson died, 
from the unwholesomeness of the climate. The French, in order to repair so many 
losses, equipped a new armament, under the command of M. D’Ache, officer of 
marine, and M. de Lally, who commanded the French land forces, which consisted 
of two thousand European troops. It appears to have been the opinion of the French, 
that this force would have been sufficient to have re-established their affairs, but 
they were mistaken; for though they took the fort and town of St. David, Admiral 
Pocock, who commanded the English squadron there, defeated them in two engage¬ 
ments, and cut off all communication between thqir army and ships. The truth is, 
that the French were not only discouraged and disunited, by their repeated disasters, 
but also wanted both provisions and money, as well as all military stores necessary 
for their operations. 
As to the land forces, under the orders of M. Lally, their conduct was irregular 
to the last degree. Not having money sufficient, as we have already observed, to 
continue his operations, he requested a loan from an Indian potentate, called the 
King of Tanjour, and his demand being rejected, he besieged the capital of that 
prince, but without success. He then endeavoured to repair this disaster by 
seizing a Dutch ship, where he found a sufficient quantity of money to enable 
him to undertake the siege of Madras, or Fort St. George. The place was 
defended by Colonel Draper and Major Brereton, and M. Lally was obliged to 
raise the siege, after having employed two months in that vain enterprize. The 
remonstrances which he sent into France, on that occasion, describe the horror and 
distraction of his mind, and the kind of intelligence that prevailed between him and 
those he commanded; while the English not only gained every advantage over him, 
but also reduced the rich town of Surat, on the western side of the Peninsula of 
India. On the 16th of April, 1759, the English army began the campaign, under 
the command of Major Brereton, who made himself master of the important town 
and fortress of Congeveram; and at the same time Major Ford took by assault the 
town of Masulipatam: thus a border of eight hundred miles in length, along a trading 
