Page:History of the French in India.djvu/204

 182 LA BOURDONNAIS AND DUPLEIX. chap, vessels at Goa and Surat, he would reunite his IV * squadron, and return with a force, sufficient to coun- 1746. terbalance the English force, to the Koromandel coast. But to carry out this plan he required to draw upon all the resources of Pondichery. He required to borrow from her all her soldiers, all her heavy guns, a great part of her ammunition, and the remainder of her all but exhausted stores. He de- manded of Pondichery, in fact, to take upon herself all the risks which might possibly attend his cruise, remain- ing herself all the time open to the attacks of an enemy. This idea, however, quite mastered him for the moment, and he pressed it, with all his earnestness, upon Du- pleix. " Aid me," he said, " with the same zeal with which you aided me for the taking of Madras, and we shall be able not only to recover ourselves, but to gain fresh advantages." It is doubtful whether, even under any circumstances, the Governor of Pondichery would have felt himself justified in undertaking so great a risk, even with the prospect of gaining so important an advantage. Cer- tain is it that, after the experience of the preceding four months, Dupleix felt no inclination to permit the safety of the colony to rest on the caprices of a man who, up to that time, had never ceased to thwart and oppose his best devised schemes. Considering that the squadron of Commodore Peyton was yet unconquered, he felt it was absolutely necessary for the safety of Pondichery, that the bulk of the fleet should proceed to an anchoring ground, whence it might be recalled on an emergency. Such a position did Achin, in the opinion of himself and his Council, offer. Although, therefore, the letters of La Bourdonnais making this proposal were couched in the most conciliatory lan- guage ; although in them Dupleix was urged to forget the past, and give once more, as he had given before the expedition to Madras, all the resources of Pon-