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182 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.

Sahib, who had marched across from the Carnatic. In conse-
quence of complaints against General Matthews for alleged
rapacity, and Ibr having violated the rules of civilized warfare,
in ordering his troops to give no quarter to the enemy taken in
arras at the storm of Onore and Ananpore, he was recalled before
these events took place, and it was while General McLeod,
accompanied by Colonel Humberstone, Major Shaw, and other
officers, was proceeding in the ' Ranger ' to the Bednore coast
to take up the command-in-chief, that the action with the Mah-
ratta fleet, already detailed, took place.
One of the finest episodes of the war was the defence of
Onore,'^ against an army often thousand men, by Captain Tor-
riano, Avhose force consisted of seven hundred and forty-three
officers and men, of whom only forty-two were European soldiers ;
of the remainder, two hundred and seventy-one were regular
Sepoys, and sixty-one were European and Native seamen from
the Company's galivat ' Wolfe,' of six guns. With this garrison,
assisted by the guns of the ' Wolfe,'which maintained a heavy flank-
ing fire on the enemy, and assisted materially in the defence,
Captain Torriano held the place for several months, occasionally
receiving some supplies from a Company's cruiser. On the 12th
of August, when the ' Wolfe ' fired a salute in honour of what
is known in the Western Presidency as " cocoa-nut day,"t the
enemy were so exasperated at what they regarded as an act of
during these protracted operations, in whicli he encountered in five general
actions, a siq)erior fleet, commanded by perhaps the best admiral France has
ever produced, we must award him a high rank among the naval heroes of this
country.
* Hyder Ally had always been desirous of rivalling the maritime power, if not
of the English, which he recognized to be a hopeless task, at least of the Mahrattas,
upon whose strong castle of Gheria with its ports, he must have cast an envious
eye. He did his best with Onore and Mangalore, his chief ports, though neither
of them were of any extent or value, and at both places he constructed ships. A
writer who visited Onore in December, 1775, says of the ships he was constructing at
:—
that port " Here are two frigates buildino near the castle ; one of thirty-two guns,
the other of twenty-four guns. Being desirous to examine their construction, I
went in company with two other English gentlemen near to them, without
otlering to go on board, lest it should give oll'ence. The Governor, being there,
overlooking the men at work, observing us walking away, very civilly invited us
to go on board and examine them, adding that it would give him great pleasure
if we would candidly give our opinions on them. We went on board both of
them, and were surprised to find the work so well performed, particularly as they are
the first ships of so great a burthen that have been built in Hyder Ally's country.
When finished they will be two complete frigates, being very strong and of a fine
mould ; they have a prow and are what they call " grabs," and one of them is
larger than the 'Bombay' gi-ab. Instead of the head or stern fronting the river,
their broadsides do ; they are built with their sides parallel to the banks. On my
asking how they launched tliem, I was told that when ready, they laid long,
straiglit timbers squared, which reached from the shijo's bottom to the water.
Then they take away the supports from the side next the river, and the
ship resting on those timbers, which are greased, by the force of elephants, first
at one end, and then at the other, alternately, is pushed into the river."
t " Cocoa-nut-day" is so called by the English, from the natives of the coast
throwing that fruit into the sea, previous to trusting vessels on it after the south-
west monsoon which ends towards the latter part of September.