Page 302 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat
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302 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

                  before any definite result could be reached Heath had
                  reverted to his old idea of seeking a new site for a settle­
                  ment.
                    Early in November, the whole of the establishment
                  having been embarked, the long prosecuted quest assumed
                  a new phase. Heath, who was “ everything by turns, and
                  nothing long,” had only a vague idea of what he really
                  wanted to do. His first move, delayed until towards the
                  end of November, was to make an attack on the Mogul
                  camp at Balasor. The action was attended with the
                  usual success, but the troops stained their victory by ex­
                  cesses committed in the town against Christian and non-
                  Christian, friend and enemy alike. Nothing much came
                  of the affair save that the fives of the English factors, who
                  had been imprisoned and taken up country on the landing
                  from the ships, were placed in jeopardy. A letter received
                  at this juncture from the Company’s representatives at
                  Dacca announcing that the Nabob was favourable to their
                  proposals brought the policy of negotiation once more
                  into the ascendant. But by the end of the year Heath
                  was again on the war path. His objective this time was
                  Chittagong. There had been some question earlier of the
                  English helping the Moguls in a war which they were wag­
                  ing against the King of Arakan, and on the arrival of his
                  fleet off the port Heath sounded the local authorities on
                  the point. Finding that there was no desire locally to
                  enlist his aid the English commander turned his thoughts
                  to an attack on the town. A cool survey of the situation,
                  however, brought home to him the extreme risks which
                  would attend such an enterprise. Next his restless mind
                  swung round to the idea that the King of Arakan might
                  be used as a stalking horse for his plans. But his Majesty,
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