Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/443

Book X. began to wax scant, and they were waiting for more which had been embarked on the 14th in a brigantine from Pondicherry. However, their fire disabled a twenty-four-pounder on the royal bastion, and completed the ruin of all the embrasures on the right face of the ravelin; in which a shot from Lally's penetrated quite through the merlon: in the night, the enemy attempted to push their gabions close to the covered way of the N. E. salient angle, from whence pioneers were sent to overset them, who rolled some into the sea, and pulled others into the covered-way; this contest was maintained at repetitions for three or four hours, and supported by the hottest fire of musketry, and of grape shot from the north-east bastion, and the fascine battery on the beach: 70 discharges were made out of one of the guns: five Europeans were killed and ten wounded in the night and day, most of whom suffered in these attacks: one Sepoy was likewise killed, and six wounded: on the 24th, a twenty-four pounder was disabled on the north-east bastion, of which the works had scarcely received in the night a repair adequate to the detriment of the preceding day: but six of the embrasures in the north ravelin were restored; the other three still remained unfit for service. At seven in the evening, a party of the enemy, consisting of 50 men, who had waited for the dark, advanced from the nearest crochet to the stockade, from which the guard, which consisted only of 12 men, ran away to the blind before the N. E, bastion; they were immediately sent back with the addition of a more resolute Serjeant and ten grenadiers; but were scarcely returned, when this serjeant was shot dead through the stockade; on which the party stopped, waiting for directions; and the officer commanding at the blind recalled them; after which it was thought imprudent to make another attempt to recover the stockade, although capable of giving much annoyance to the enemy's work.

At night, a messenger from Tritchinopoly brought a letter from Captain Joseph Smith, with intelligence he had received from Angengo. The Presidency ten days before had received advices from Mr. Pococke, that the squadron had arrived on the 10th of December at Bombay, where he found six of the company's ships