Page:History of the French in India.djvu/552

 526 THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE. chap. Jesuit that he might be made use of to frighten the XI1 ' JKaja of Tanjur, his nephew, upon whom the French 175g had a claim for fifty-five lakhs of rupees in consequence of a bond given to Chanda Sahib, and made over by his son, Raju Sahib, to Dupleix. " Thus," added Lavaur, to Lally, " you will obtain, at easy cost, the means of equipping your force for Madras, and gaining at the same time a considerable augmentation of influence." Lally did not like the plan. His mind was bent upon Madras. Any object that would delay the movement against that place was to him unpalatable. The Tanjur expedition was a diversion from the direct line he had marked out for himself, and of which he never once lost sight — the expulsion of the English from India. But he was helpless. Dnsupported by the authorities of Pondichery and by d'Ache he could not march to- wards Madras. Unwillingly, therefore, and solely as a means whereby he could eventually carry out his own plans, he consented to move upon Tanjur. Meanwhile d'Ache had sailed on his projected cruise, and had arrived on the 16th (June) off Karikal, which it had been his intention to leave the next day. But a curious fatality attended all the counsels of the French at this epoch. Had d'Ache left Karikal, as he inten- ded, on June 17, he would almost certainly have inter- cepted two English ships which were conveying to Madras a portion of the annual supplies of specie from England. This supply would have been more than sufficient to enable Lally to equip his army and to march to Madras. Unfortunately for him, however, and for the French cause, the members of the Council of Pondi- chery were so alarmed at the idea of being left exposed by the contemplated absence of Lally, to an attack from the English fleet, that they sent a pressing message to d'Ache to return. This message reached him on the 16th. More pliable to the wishes of the Council than to those of Lally, he suffered himself to be persuaded,