beach, that of Lorrain, with the Battalion of India, on the rising ground to its right.

A number of the natives who had remained in their houses to the last hour, now crowded up to the works, but were refused admittance. The French troops being all employed plundering, and having been reported in a state of intoxication from the cellars of arrack they had broken open, it was decided to sally out upon them; 500 picked men from the European regiments, with two field-pieces, were accordingly placed under command of Colonel Draper, who suggested the design; 100 with Major Brereton, followed as a support. Such was the negligence of the French, that the approach of the party was not observed until it had entered the streets of Black Town, when the drum-boys, by mistake, struck up the Grenadier's March; the men cheered, and alarmed the enemy, who advanced a party to meet them, which delivering their fire, did some execution. Draper, however, pushed on, leaving a platoon to occupy the entrance into one of the side streets, and wheeling suddenly round a corner into a broad street, he came on the flank of the Lorrain regiment and Battalion of India; the leading troops fired heavily, and the guns having been advanced, also opened with execution; the French did not stand a moment, but ran into the houses on either side of the street; their guns were even deserted and taken possession of by Colonel Draper, and a few of his men, until the Battalion of India

crowded up together, and opened a hot fire, which was kept up for about twenty minutes, when Draper, fearing that Lally's regiment might intercept his retreat, gave orders to retire; the order, from no drummer being procurable, was not fully understood, and the grenadiers of the Madras European regiment, who had been placed in an enclosure, and were hotly engaged, were not aware of the retreat of the rest of the party until it was too late to follow them, and being surrounded by the whole French force in an untenable post, were obliged, after a gallant resistance, to surrender; there were eighty of them, and their loss was severely felt, being justly considered the best soldiers of the garrison. Draper returned with the rest of his party, which, as it neared the fort, got into some confusion, but closed upon its supports who stood firm. The regiment of Lally were too drunk to act with effect. No officer but Lieutenant Bullock was killed on the spot; but Major Palier, Captain Hunce, and Ensign Chase, of the Palier came corps, were very severely wounded.

into the fort, but the other two were taken. Lieutenant Elliot, of the corps, was shot through the body, but recovered; three other officers-Smith, Blair, and Cook, were wounded and taken prisoners, also 103 men, eighty of whom were of the corps, and nineteen of them wounded. Fifty returned wounded, and upwards of fifty were killed, of whom twenty were found in houses in Black Town, stabbed with bayonets, their antagonists lying dead beside them.

The garrison lost 200 men and six officers, killed, taken, and wounded, by this unfortunate sortie. The enemy suffered a much greater loss, twelve officers wounded, Saubenet mortally, and three killed on the spot; only four prisoners were taken, of whom one was the Count D'Estaigne.

The following day, under cover of the houses, the enemy commenced their batteries; some shells from the fort were thrown among them when a good chance offered; their battering guns were however still at sea, not having arrived; and on the day of the sally, a party under Lieutenant Airey from Chinglyputt captured on its way from Pondicherry the only mortar they had. The experience of a few days had convinced the Nabob that quarters in a beleaguered fort were far from comfortable: on the night of the 20th he and all his family were embarked in a small vessel and landed at Negapatam, from whence he proceeded to Trichinopoly; his followers gradually disappeared every night, and in a few days not one remained; a most fortunate event, as relieving the garrison from a very great nuisance.* On the nights of the 19th, 20th, and 21st, sallies were made by small parties of natives headed by twenty or thirty Europeans, but attended with little success and as trifling loss. Captain Preston from

*On the 17th, Mr. Pigot issued the following general order :-" As soon as we have obliged the enemy to raise the siege, the Governor promises, in the name of the Company, to present the garrison with 50,000 rupees, which sum shall be divided among them within five days after the enemy's retreat."

Chinglyputt, endeavoured to intercept the detachment escorting the prisoners taken on the late sally, who on the 17th were sent off to Pondicherry, but unfortunately he missed the party during the night. On the 22nd the guns for the breaching batteries arrived on board the sloop Harlem.

On the 26th, Mahomed Issooff arrived at Chinglyputt, and joined Captain Preston; he had reduced several small posts and ravaged the enemy's country in all directions. On the 27th, his horse were despatched to ravage with fire and sword the country round Conjeveram, from which the enemy drew their supplies, and the same day marched with his infantry, supported by Preston's detachment of eighty Europeans of the corps, two field-pieces, and six companies of Sepoys, and arrived at the Mount on the 29th, where they were joined by the horse from Conjeveram. Early in the morning of the 30th, they were attacked by 500 Europeans, of whom 100 were cavalry, 300 Sepoys and 800 cavalry, sent by Lally to surprise them; these they repulsed, and the Europeans in a charge took two field-pieces from the enemy. On the 28th December, another sally through Triplicane was made from the fort, and a despatch was intercepted, but nothing else of consequence occurred, and the year ended with the completion of two batteries, one called the Lorrain, from being near where that corps was posted, the other, for the same reason, named the Lally.

Since 1751, when the English received back Madras, much improved in its fortification, they had done much towards perfecting what the French had begun the area of the fort had been much enlarged; the north and western faces were extended and strengthened; the glaces were complete, and nothing but mines were wanting to make the fort strong in every respect; before the sea-gate a strong work had been thrown up sufficient to prevent a surprise, which was all that was required on that side.

At break of day on the 2nd January, the Lorrain battery opened from both cannon and mortars, and also Lally's shortly after from four 13-inch mortars. The fort soon silenced the guns, but the mortars continued their fire, and during the day threw eighty shells into the fort, but which, although they caused much mischief to the buildings, neither killed nor wounded a single person. On the 3d, an affair took place near St. Thome, between Captain Preston's and Mahomed Issooff's troops, and the French: the enemy, 650 Europeans, of whom 150 were horse, fell unexpectedly upon Mahomed Issooff's troops, whom they quickly routed. Preston coming up suddenly with his small party of eighty of the corps and 600 Sepoys, attacked the French and drove them back in disorder, recapturing Mahomed Issooff's guns: the enemy had nearly 100 killed and wounded; among the former were two officers. Of the corps only six were killed and wounded, and