Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/94

 'One Plan of Calcutta in China paper, strong.

'One ditto of ditto in thin China paper with the Citadel on it.

'One cartouche finished with the renvoys.

'One Plan of the Citadel with the scale of the Plan of the Town.'

The taking of Fort St. George by the French (1746) and the destruction of Fort St. David at Cuddalore (1758) were still rankling in the minds of the Company. The French name of the thief is a possible clue to the reason of the theft and to the destination of the stolen property ; the Fort William authorities may have found it convenient to make the excuse of bad workmanship in order to alter the original plan. The loss of valuable documents, for which Brohier was responsible, was sufficient reason virtually for his dismissal, whatever official reason may have been given. Whether his work was good and lasting upon the bridge that bears his name there is no possibility of ascertaining ; for under the master hand of De Havilland it was widened, and very little of Brohier's structure remains.

The Wallajah bridge was named after Mohammed Ali, upon whom was bestowed the title of Nawab Wallajah. He was the Company's ally in the wars with Haider and the French, and he received permission to build himself a palace in Madras at Chepak (1767). With Orientals it is considered a great honour to have a town or building named after them. The first lease granted to the English upon the Coromandel Coast had that condition attached to it. Madras was, and still is, known among the natives as Chennaputnam, the town of Chennappa, who granted the lease. The bastion and the fort gate that opens towards the bridge received the name of Wallajah at the same time as the bridge ; and the road leading from the Chepak Palace to the Mohammedan