Page 297 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

JOB CJHARNOCK FOUNDS CALCUTTA 297

adorned poles in Hooghly, immensely to the gratifi­
cation of the impoverished inhabitants of that ruined
town.
At Hijili the English garrison soon began to realize the
truth that more soldiers die by disease than by the
weapons of war. A low-lying pestilential spot, it was about
the worst situation that could have been selected for an
encampment of English soldiers, most of whom were
fresh from home. Disease quickly appeared in their ranks,
and as the hot months came on it worked such frightful
havoc that the proportion of sick was never less than a
third. Meanwhile, the Mogul forces had been steadily
accumulating on the mainland opposite the island. They
had erected there a battery which enabled them to domi­
nate the river and even threaten the fort.
Action had to be taken if the island was not to be made
altogether untenable. A series of raids were consequently
organized with the object of harassing the enemy and
giving the men a little wholesome excitement. Though
i
they were uniformly successful the overwhelming
numbers of the enemy enabled them to make good all
damage that was done. When one battery was destroyed,
another and heavier one was established.
In May the arrival of the Nabob’s general with twelve
thousand fresh troops was the signal for a more vigorous
effort to overwhelm the English. New batteries were
erected along the river and a constant fire from them was
kept up. The range was good, and under the harassing
effect of the bombardment, combined with the natural
depression engendered by heat and disease, the spirits of
the garrison fell to zero.
Becoming more audacious with the absence of any initia-