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278 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
out that they have never again l)een able to make head there.
In 181;^, xMr. Grant, now First-Lieutenant of the ' Prim-e of
AVales,' again distinguished himself by cutting out, with a
party of seamen and marines i'roin his ship, a pirate vessel that
had taken shelter in the Ranpeer River, Scinde. In consequence
of his meritorious services, Captain Carnac (afterwards Sir
James Rivett Carnac, Governor of Bombay) Political Resident
at Baroda, strongly recommended him to Government, and
Lieutenant Grant was appointed to the command of the
Guicowar's naval force, which was no sinecure in those days, as
the Joasmi pirates were at the height of their power, and their
well-armed and manned dhows, sailing in squadrons, swept the
Arabian Gulf and the coasts of India, almost as far south as
Bombay. Within a year of his appointment Lieutenant Grant,
when on a cruise, recaptured off Damaun, a ship under English
colours that had just been seized by a large pirate vessel, which
he drove off. In 1815, during the course of the military opera-
tions in Kattywar, Lieutenant Grant landed with his men and
took command of the artillery at the siege of the fort of
Kundorna. The Guicowar lost upwards of one thousand five
hundred men killed and wounded during the investment of this
important fortress, and Lieutenant Grant effected the breach
in a short time by the accuracy of the fire of the guns which he
himself served. For this service he received the thanks of
Government, and the Political Agent at Kattywar, writing on
the 8th of July, 1815, from the camp, bore testimony to the
"indefatigable zeal" he displayed, and added, "the professional
exactness and skill with which the shots were thrown, and the
general effect of the ordnance, were such as frequently to call
for the marked commendation and applause of the superior
officers, as well as the troops in genei-al of this force."
In the same year Lieutenant Grant was convoying twenty-
four trading vessels with two armed pattamars, when a fleet
of Joasmi pirates hove in sight and began to attack the convoy
;
a sharp action now ensued, and Lieutenant Grant succeeded in
beating the enemy off. He also captured a pirate vessel out of
Cutch, which had been harassing the trade along the Kattywar
coast, and a little later in this year (1815) captured, off Pore-
bimder,* a pirate vessel commanded by the notorious chief,
Hussein Nurreadah, who had, for a long time, preyed on the
trade of the Gulf of Canibay. For these services he received
* Porebuiider, on the Kattj'war coast, in tlie district of Jetwar or Biirda, is a
place of considerable commercial importance, and the town, which is within tlie
fort, is surrounded by walls one and a half miles in circmnference. The Rajpoot
Eana of Porebuuder is subordinate to the Guicowar of Baroda, to whom he pays
tribute, as well as to the British Government, to whom a portion r)f the customs'
dues was ceded in 1809 for tlie maintenaiu-e of a small military force. Fifteen
miles from Poi-ebunder is Novee Bunder, the capital of the district, a place of
commercial note.