down, and in the Madras Record there is the following grim entry :

"That notice was given to the inhabitants of Pondicherry that they are permitted to pull down their houses, provided they carry materials to Madras, Cuddalore, or Fort St. David."

Orme in hand, we wander over the fields attempting to settle where was the bleaching town and the North Redoubt and follow in the theatre of its actions the great siege until the sun sets a golden ball beneath the ocean, the sky for a few seconds grows blood-red, and darkness falls on the land.

XV

CUDDALORE

WELVE miles south of Pondicherry is situated Fort

of, secon

with the great names of Stringer Lawrence, and Clive, must always be to Englishmen who take pride in the brave deeds of their forefathers, one of the most memorable places in the Empire.

One morning at dawn we manage to squeeze ourselves into a jutka, which is to take us to Cuddalore. The operation requires considerable skill and agility, for the jutka is a small box on two wheels. A small pony drags the box, and a large naked black savage drives it. At full gallop we proceed through the streets of Pondicherry. Our body sways to and fro, and our knees, being in our mouth, threaten to dislocate our jaws. When we reach the suburb we pray for mercy and implore the driver to stop. prefer to walk, and with some difficulty we extricate our bruised and battered bodies. Delightful was it to enjoy

We

The morning was fresh and

once more the use of our limbs. the sea was golden with the rising sun. The peasants were coming to market. The men looked fine robust fellows, and many of the young women were handsome, and one was struck with the free grace that distinguished their movements as they went by, carrying huge baskets on their heads. Men and women laughed and chatted, and the children trotted by their side, looking solemn and grave, as only Oriental children can. But they are always picturesque,

with their naked legs and their short bright jackets of orange and yellow. Large carts laden with vegetables rolled by, and we were struck with the size of the oxen, their delicate skins, and long stately horns. The road, lined with large trees, passes through a fertile country, dotted with populous villages. The ryots are working in the fields, and from a broad tank close by comes a creaking sound. It is due to the water buckets which the men are raising with their feet as they have done from time immemorial in the east. "The land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, where thou sowest thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; but it is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven."

The sun now grows too powerful for us to continue our walk, and we have again to resort to the jutka. Deeply rejoiced are we when, after driving through a stately avenue, we reach the porch of a fine upper-storied house. It is the official residence of the Collector, and with the wide and generous hospitality, which is a special characteristic of the Madras Presidency, he had kindly placed it at our disposal, and sent servants to attend to our wants. The house has many historic associations, for it is the garden house so often mentioned in the old Madras records, and was built one hundred and sixty years ago. Orme writes:

"At the distance of a mile and a half to the north-west of Fort St. David was a country house, appointed for the residency of the Governor, behind which, to the north, was a large garden, inclosed with a brick wall, and, before the house to the south, a court with buildings on each side of it."

The garden, with its old trees, still exists, and the buildings on each side of the court have been converted into offices for the Collector. In two rooms are neatly arranged the old muniments. Turning over their leaves we realize more fully than we did before that the founders of the Empire

were factors and merchants. It is the price of mulmuls and taftas which occupied their minds, and they devoted their days to drawing up charter-parties and bills of lading. They ask their masters to send them writers and workmen, and they are greatly pleased when they receive a letter from Madras advising that "they had sent us one John Dyer, a bricklayer, whom our honourable masters have entertained to serve for five years at the rate of ninety pounds sterling per annum, to commence from July 18, the day of his arrival." But these factors were not mere money-making merchants, for the old records bear witness that they were endowed with a strong sense of duty to God and their country, whose honour and interests they were always ready to defend, and many a street fight and many a signal deed of valour did the old fort witness.

It was in the year 1690 we purchased it from the Mahrattas, and Mr. Hatsell was ordered "to go to receive possession of the fort and pay the money," and with him were to be sent "some factors to be of council there, also a Lieutenant, two Ensigns, gunners, etc., officers, one hundred soldiers, twenty matrosses, twenty laskars, thirty great guns, one hundred barrels of powder, two hundred musquets, one hundred cartouches, one hundred swords, and ammunition, etc., necessary for such a garrison and settlement," and it was resolved "that the guns, stores, and household stuff be removed from Conimeer and the southern factories thither."

The cession included not only the fort but the adjacent towns and villages "within ye randome shott of a piece of ordnance." The best brass gun at Madras was sent with Hatsell, and he was informed that it "lyes in the gunners art to load and fire it to the best advantage." The gunner was evidently skilled in his art, for on September 23, 1690, at the time when Dutch William was busy establishing his power in Ireland, the "randome shott" was fired and it fell beyond Cuddalore. And to this day the villages in

cluded within the range of "that randome shott" are known as the "Gundu Gramam" or "Cannon Ball Villages."

The English proceeded at once to introduce law and order into their new possession. Mr. Haynes, Mr. Watts, and Macudum Nina were appointed justices of the Choultry “to try and determine causes Civill and Criminal, and to execute according to sentence, lyfe only excepted, which must be done by another court of judicature." "All tryalls of moment" were to be registered by “ an English Clark of said coart," "and the differences amongst black merchants" be decided by " Arbitrators of their own cast." It was also proposed that a mint should be established, but the mint for coining silver and gold was not formed till the beginning of 1747, when the capture of Madras by the French made Fort St. David the chief settlement on the coast.

All, and their name is legion, who have read Macaulay's brilliant essay on Clive, know that he was one of the prisoners. who escaped from Madras to Fort St. David. It was at Fort St. David he gained, by the daring courage which he displayed, his first commission. In a despatch to the court of Directors, dated May 2, 1747, we read:

Mr. Robert Clive, writer in the service, being of martial disposition, and having acted as a volunteer in our late engagements, we have granted him an Ensign's commission, upon his application for the same."

An old writer, in English worthy of the great lexicographer, informs us :

'As Ensign he served under Admiral Boscawen at the siege of Pondicherry, September, 1748; his gallant conduct in the defence of the advanced breach gave the first prognostic of that high military spirit, which was the spring of his future actions and the principal source of the decisive intrepidity and elevation of mind which were his characteristical endowments."