Chap. VI] ATTEMPTS ON BOMBAY. 331
of petty deductions, which produced much discontent among their own .servants, ad loss. and imposed various new burdens which were loudly complained of by the other inhabitants. At the same time temporizing expedients became the order of the day; and both the Moguls and Mahrattas, emboldened by the pusillani- mous spirit in which their encroachments were met, set no limits to their arro- gance. As if Bombay had been set up as a prize to be contended for, they were now only intent on deciding whether Siddee or Sevajee was to be the winning The si.uiee
, 111 !• !• .'111(1 Sev.ijei
party. It would almost seem that the Company were gradually makmg up their minds to some sucii disastrous and ignominious result ; for, in the face of remon- strances from India, complaining of the reductions ah-eady made, and distinctly stating that without additional expenditure and reinforcements the island would be lost, the court intimated their final decision that the fortifications having been the source of the heaviest expense, were to be continued in their present state without further improvements — that the manning of the batteries was to be reduced to the lowest scale pos.sible — and that, with the exception of one small frigate, the armed ships stationed for guarding the harbour were to be sold. The letter of the court, after putting the island in jeopardy by these most imj)rovident and niggardly injunctions, ludicrou.sly, or, as some would rather tfrm it, insultingly, concludes with a recommendation to the governor to maintain strict discipline, and have the garrison always prepared for a vigorous defence.
The above letter, addressed in the beginning of 1679 to Surat, which, by the tnjuaicious
. retrench- way, was also to furnish its quota of reduction, by being degraded from a presi- ment.
dency to the less expensive form of an agency, produced a remonstrance which made the court pause before proceeding further in their reckless career of retrenchment. Surat accordingly resumed its rank as a presidency, and Bombay obtained some slight addition to its gamson. The change of policy thus indi- cated unhappily proved evanescent; and though Samliajee, now at the head of the Mahrattas, in consequence of the death of his father, was known to have aggressive designs on Bombay, its gamson, in Januar^^ 1683, could barely uuister 100 European.s, clamouring for additional ])ay as absolutely necessary to furnish them with the means of subsistence. On a former occa.sion, when similar complaints were made, the only step taken was to tantalize the cora- plainers by obtaining letters-patent from the cro^vn for the e.stablisliment of a mint at Bombay, a measure which, however useful in itself, only increjised the quantity of coin without giving them any larger share of it. On the present occasion tiie conqilaints were similarly treated ; and the letter from home in 1 68+ was chiefly occupied with announcing the erection of a court of admiralty, the judge of which, appointed by royal commission, was to have jurisdiction as far as tile Company's limits extended, and employ it specially for the suppression of unlicensed trading. In this airangement Bombay was thus far interested, that it was not only to become the seat of the new court, but to be regarded in future
