Page 118 - INDIANNAVYV1

S<0 HISTOKY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
he also stated that, unless a squadron of six men-of-war, with
bomb-vessels, should proceed from England, and act in con-
junction with the Dutch, it woidd be impracticable to keep on
terms with the Mogul or the petty princes on the Malabar coast.
He requested that if such a fleet was despatched, the instructions
to the commander should be distinct and positive, as three of the
King's ships which had been sent out, had done nothing to
suppress the pirates, and had returned home with cargoes of
private goods, on account of Sir Nicholas Waite and others,
while the fourth, the ' Harwich,' had been wrecked on the coast of
China ; the Indian seas, therefore, had been left with no other
defence than what the guns of the Company's ships could afford,
while the supply of recruits this season had been inadecpiate to
the defence of Bombay.*
Accordingly, in the following season, two ships- of-war, the
' Severn' and ' Scarborough,' were equipped, Captain Richards,
formerly in the Company's service, being appointed Commodore,
with instructions to cruise between Madagascar and Mocha, and
to convoy the Mocha fleet thence to Surat, where he was to
consult with Sir John Gayer as to his future plans.
Captain Hamilton, in his "New Account of the East Indies," -^
gives an interesting account of a conflict into which he was
drawn against a plundering party of Belooches and Mekranees,
—
while proceeding to Tatta. He says : " In 1699 a pretty rich
caflilla was robbed by a band of four or five thousand villains,
the guard, consisting of two hundred and fifty horse, were
entirely cut off, and above five hundred of the merchants and
carriers, which struck terror on all that had commerce at Tatta.
It was my fortune, about four months after, to come to Larri-
bundar, with a cargo from Malabar, worth above £10,000. I
could find no Tatta merchants that would meddle with my
cargo before it was carried to Tatta ; but agreed on the prices
of most of the species of my goods, and finding no other remedy
but travelling by land, in a caffilla of one thousand five hundred
beasts, and as many, or more men and women, besides two
hundred horse for our guard. About the middle of January we
set out, and after we had marched about sixteen miles, our
scouts brought in news of the Ballouches and Mackrans being
just before us, in great numbers. I had thirteen of my best
firemen Avith me in the front where my beasts were. We being-
all mounted on little horses, alighted, and set our beasts
on our flank and front, to serve us for a barricadoe, to
defend us from sword or target men, and we, at the same time,
had room enough to fire over our barricadoe. We were not
long in that posture, till the enemy sent a herald on horseback,
with his sword brandishing, and when he came within call of
us, he threatened, that if we did not instantly surrender at his
* Bruce's " Annals," vol. iii., pp. 439-40.