Page:History of the French in India.djvu/424

 398 THE FALL OF DUPLEIX. chap, which they had inaugurated. Astruc after his defeat resigned his command, and proceeded to Pondichery. 1753. His successor, M. Brennier, determined to attempt to effect by blockade the object that force had failed to compass. He succeeded in reducing the townspeople to extremities : the price of rice speedily rose to one rupee the pound ; of firewood there was an absolute want ; the city became rapidly deserted by its inhabi- tants, who preferred even the risk of attack from the enemy to death from starvation. In his chief object, however, Brennier had no better fortune than his pre- decessor, for Lawrence, determined to employ every possible means to avert disaster, moved with the main body of his army in the direction of Tanjur, leaving Dalton to defend the city. On learning this movement on the part of Lawrence, Brennier proposed to himself two plans : the first to storm TrichinapalH whilst so weakly guarded ; the second, to move upon Lawrence with his whole force and destroy him. But, unfortunately for his own pur- poses, he allowed his mind to rest upon both objects at the same time, instead of concentrating all his energies upon one. Thus, the better to carry out the first, he sent into the town a devoted Frenchman, named de Cattans, who engaged to act the part of a deserter, and whilst so employed to make drawings of all the internal defences, and to indicate the weak parts of the fortifi- cations. It happened, however, that de Cattans was discovered, and obtained a promise of his life solely on the condition that he should indicate to the French leader the strongest parts of the fortress as those which were the weakest and least guarded. This was accord- ingly done.* So much time, however, had passed in the interval that before these papers reached Brennier he was entirely engrossed by the other plan — the inter- hanged as a spy in sight of the Lawrence to the city. — Orme.
 * De Cattans was nevertheless French force, on the return of Major