Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 1.djvu/360

 320 IIISTOliY 0|- IM^IA. [Book II

AD. 1673. been lost liy the witlulrawal oi the factory, and the presidency at Surat were disposed to consent, provided they could obtain compensation for past and security against future injuries. These conferences were not unobserved by tlie Mogul authorities, and gave rise to suspicioiLS, of which the results afterwards became apparent.

War with At the very time when the bonds of amity with the Moguls were thua

and aiiiancu looscued, tlic poUtics of Europc had been undergoing a change which threat<jned rauce. ^^ gxposc the Company once more to an unequal contest with the Dutch. Hostili- ties were in fact declared; but, at the same time, by the alliance of England with France, which had nov/ a considerable fleet in the Ea.st, the interests of the Company were better protected than formerly. With a wi.se precaution, however, they endeavoured to make themselves independent of foreign aid, and vigorously pushed on the fortifications of Bombay. They were thus engaged, but the works were far from completed and very inadequately garri.soned, when, in February, 1673, Rickloff van Goen, the Dutch Governor-general of India, made his appearance on the coast with a fleet of twenty- two ships, having 1 000 regular troops on board. Bombay was evidently the object of attack, and could scarcely have resisted had it been made on the instant ; but the Dutch lost time by endeavouring in vain to secure the co-operation of a land force under Seva- jee, and when at last prepared for action, lo.st heart on seeing the kind of reception which awaited them. Pi^esident Aungier, who fortunately happened to be in Bombay at the time, exerted himself, as Orme hyperbolically expresses it, " with the calmness of a philosopher and the courage of a centurion." Besides

Bombay 400 Em'opean soldiers, he succeeded in mustering 1500 militia, chiefly Portu- •ruese and natives. Nor was he destitute of a marine force. In the harbour lay two frigates, a Dutch prize fitted up as a ship of war, and three armed sloops which had been lately built as a protection against the Malabar pirates ; to this force a most important addition was opportunely made by the arrival of four French ships, which, on being informed of the danger, had hastened from Surat. Rickloft^ under these circumstances, satisfied himself with reconnoitring, and then suddenly disappeared.

Madras On the Coromaudel coast the Dutch had excited similar alarm, and great

fears were entertained for the safety of Fort St. George. Here, however, the French again proved important auxiliaries, and by means of a powerful fleet not (^nly kept the Dutch in check, but made themselves masters of Trincomalee, in the island of Ceylon, and took St. Thom^ by storm. The latter capture, as the place is situated only at a short distance from Madras, gave the Company more alarm than satisfaction, and they were therefore not displeased when, after a short tenvire, the French were expelled and St. Thome returned to the posses- sion of the King of Golconda. Another success of the Dutch gave them deeper concern. On the 22d of August, 1673, the Dutch fleet engaged in the .siege of St. Thome fell in with the Company's homeward bound ships, ten in number, and