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162 was owing to the kindness of the English consul, Mr. Baldwin, that means were at last provided for him to reach India, He embarked at Suez and sailed thence at the end of the year 1777 for Madras.

Amongst those whom de Boigne had met in his European wanderings was an English nobleman, Earl Percy. With him he had formed a friendship, and Lord Percy had in consequence furnished him with letters to Lord Macartney and to Warren Hastings. On his arrival at Madras, de Boigne wished at first to act independently of the British Government. But the circumstances of the time were against him. The British were on the eve of their last war with Haidar Ali, and it is natural to suppose that they should be unwilling to afford opportunities for foreign adventurers to find their way to the camp of that formidable leader. Having no other resource, then, de Boigne, who had been a major in the Russian service, accepted the rank of ensign in the 6th regiment Madras Native Infantry.

The war broke out immediately afterwards. It happened that the 6th regiment N. I. was one of those under the command of Colonel Baillie when that officer was attacked by the combined forces of Haidar and Tippú at Perambákam in September, 1780. A few days before that fatal conflict, however, two companies of the 6th regiment had been sent to escort supplies of grain to the main army. With these two companies was de Boigne, and in this manner he escaped the almost entire destruction which befell the main body of his regiment.