Page 298 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

298 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

tive on the side of the besieged the Moguls landed a
force of several hundred cavalry and artillery on the island,
captured an unfinished battery, killed one of the English
officers who was sick and carried off his wife and child
into captivity. They would assuredly have captured the
fort if the English had not rallied and after a desperate
fight driven the assailants off. But though victory was
temporarily won, the general situation was blacker than
ever. Charnock had buried half his men, and of the other
half only one hundred were fit for duty. Of the forty
officers who had originally been of the expedition actually
only one remained at his post.
Charnock, surveying the situation with the eye of an
intelligent though amateur strategist, came to the conclu­
sion that a move must be made to protect the approach to
the landing place if absolute disaster was to be avoided.
A suitable position existed in a solidly constructed build­
ing about halfway to the landing stage which he had used
as a battery. This post, together with the one at the land­
ing place, was strengthened by the calling in of the small
vessels which had been posted around the island. With
the additional men obtained from the shipping Charnock
maintained a gallant fight against the Mogul troops which
were besieging the fort. He succeeded in keeping the
enemy at a respectful distance, but whether unaided he
could have maintained the unequal struggle for any
lengthened period is doubtful, having regard to the
steady depletion of his forces by disease.
Happily for him, happily for the cause of which he was
the faithful champion, at the critical moment there ap­
peared on the scene a welcome reinforcement of men in a
ship which had arrived from Europe. This detachment

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