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 CHAPTER III

The First Blow for Predominance

Into the details of the quarrel between the chief civil authority in India and the commander of the fleet, I shall enter only so far as they affect the main object of my book. By the orders transmitted to him from Paris, La Bourdonnais was compelled to admit the superior authority on land of the Director-General of the French settlements in India. The idea of the capture of Madras had been a leading idea alike with Dupleix and La Bourdonnais. Yet, now that the hour had arrived to strike the blow, whilst Dupleix remained firm and constant to his purpose, La Bourdonnais showed a disposition to hold back. He proposed first to attack Fort St. David, a fort purchased in 1691 by the English, near the town of Gudálur, sixteen miles south of Pondichery, and which at one time had been their head-quarters. When Dupleix protested against this proceeding as too petty, La Bourdonnais declared he would sail in pursuit of the English fleet. He did sail, caught sight of it, but unable to bring it to action, returned, the 25th of August, to Pondichery. There again he displayed great unwillingness to undertake the expedition against Madras. The burden of his objection