Page:History of the French in India.djvu/435

 mainville's humiliating failure. 409 of the gate — the exact locality of which, however, was chap. known only to the deserter. Whilst they were ad van-, ' m cing, the English had hurried to the gate, and had X753. commenced an indiscriminate fire into the passage lead- ing up to it. The night was dark, and they conld take no aim ; nevertheless, their first fire killed the English deserter and the two petardiers when within a few paces of them. The others, not knowing exactly what had happened, began, after some little confusion, consequent on the darkness, to attempt the escalade. Their ladders, however, had suffered so much from the enemy's fire and from other causes, that they had but a small number available. Those that they had were nevertheless boldly planted, and an officer preceded by a drummer and followed by his men led the way up one of them. The drummer, however, was killed, the officer pulled into the town, and the ladder thrown back. Others were similarly treated, until, having lost all their ladders, without ropes or any means to retreat down the rock they had ascended, exposed to the fire of the enemy without being able to return it ; the French were driven to despair. They could not even make known to the garrison their wish to surrender. For some hours longer, hiding themselves as best they could, still exposed on the least movement to a continued fire, they were left in the most pitiable position When at last day dawned, it was only that the greater part of this large force, which had set out with such hopes of victory, which had had victory within its grasp, might surrender, en masse, prisoners of war. Of the entire body of 600 men, eight officers and 364 men were taken prisoners, many were wounded, one officer and 40 men were killed ; the remainder, nearly 200 in number, jumped down from the rock into the ditch, and though several of them were maimed in the attempt, were carried off by their comrades. It would seem, in sober truth, that a fatality did attend