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120 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.

of fifty gnns, and the 'Anglcsea,' of forty, after cruising,
during February and March, 1747, off the Cape of Good Hope,
made their ai)])earancc near Bombay in August, and having
captured the 'Princess Mary,' a ship from Madras, hovered
about the coast with a view of intercepting the East Indiameii
of the season as they arrived from England. The only
protective measure which the Government of Bombay could
adopt was to equip for sea three of their ships-of-war, of
greatly inferior force, and the}^ also dispatched six fishing
boats, to give the alarm to any English vessels approaching
the shores of India.
In 1748 a mutiny took place on board the 'Borabfcy,' one of
the ITnest of the Company's ships, of which we will give an
account. It appears that the crew of the 'Anson,' an India-
man captured by the French off Bombay in August of the pre-
ceding year, were drafted into the ships of the Bonjbay Marine,
with their own consent, according to the official account,
although they maintained that they were impressed into the
service. A large number were placed on board the ' Bombay,'
and sent in her on a cruise. As the ship lay at anchor at
Rajapore, on the 1st of March, 1748, Samuel Hough, the com-
mander, who was sitting at supper with his chief and second
officers, and the surgeon, had his attention suddenly arrested by
a disturbance on deck. Immediately the cabin-door was thrown
open, and some of the crew rushing in with muskets in their
hands, swore that they would blow out their officers' brains if
they did not instantly surrender themselves as prisoners.
Instead of yielding, Captain Hough made a dash at his
assailants, and endeavoured to seize the ringleaders. They
retreated, were followed by him and his officers, and one man
standing close to him fired a musket at his head. Had he not
with his arm struck the barrel upwards, the ball must have
passed through his brain ; as it was it carried away part of his
cap. All the officers then proposed to bar themselves in the
steerage, but attempted in vain to close the doors until Hough
procured a sword from his own cabin, and with it again
rushed upon deck. The mutineers, having now broken open the
arm-chest, summoned their officers to lay down their anus,
protesting that all they required was their liberty, that oppo-
sition to them was useless, as the whole crew were acting in
combination, and expressing a hope that they might not be
compelled to put their officers to death. Captain Hough, seeing
no hope of repressing the mutiny by violence, flung his sword
away, and, standing unarmed before the whole body of seanjen,
asked them, in God's name, why they behaved thus. They
vernment of Pondiclierry were the factories, or comptoirs, of Chandernagore in
Eenpal, Karical on the coast of Coroniaudel, and Mahe about thi'ee or four niileij
iiom Tellicherry on tlie Malab.ir coast.