•JJ-S HISTOID' OF INDIA. [Book II.
AD iiisu Nor was tliis all. The Portuguese were to be dealt with aftei- a similar fashion : and if they continued to exact customs at Tanna and Caranja, the president at Bombay was not only to refu.se them, but to employ the fleet and military forces at his disposal in seizing Salsette and other dependencies, which it was asserted that the grant of the port and island of Bombay ought to have canied along with it. Kxtrava- Xlic extravagancc of these schemes, sufficiently aT)T)arent in itsell' was si£rnall-
gance of ° '^11 ' O .
theschemes. proved bv the re.sult. On the 28th October, 1686, in consequence of a quarrel between three English and some native soldiers in the bazaar at Hooghly, hos- tilities were prematurely commenced. The nabob's troops were defeated, and Hooghly suffered severely by a cannonade of the Company's fleet. Before this event, Shaistah Khan, the nabob, was disposed to compromise matters with the Company, or submit their differences to arbitration. An amicable settlement was now impossible, and indeed was not desired by the Company, who had made up a list of claims exceeding in the aggregate £500,000 sterling, and were indulging the hope that by their warlike succe.sses a considerable portion of it might be secured for their treasury, though they must have been aware that many of the items charged were fictitious, or at least conjectural As a speci- men the following may be mentioned : — " For detaining ye agent with ye silk at Cassumbuzar, 400,000 rupees' (£40,000). "For what extorted from us in presents, &c., 200,000 rupees" (£20,000). 'To demorage of shipping, the three last years, 2,000,000 rupees ' (£200,000). " For charge of 1000 men and twenty ships for ye war, also 2,000,000 rupees" (£200,000;.
Their failure. Immediately after the attack on Hooghly, the Moguls, pretending to be intimidated, but merely with the view of gaining time, obtained a cessation of hostilities, during which the servants of the Company removed with their pro- perty from that town, and on 20tli December, 1686, fixed on Chuttanuttee, or Calcutta, as a safer station while negotiations were pending. How these would issue soon became apparent ; for the nabob, making no secret of his intentions, seized upon the English factory at Patna, and imprisoned all the inmates. The prospects of the Company now became sufficiently alarming. The prematm-e attack had made the Moguls aware of what was intended ; the subsequent delay had enabled them to complete their preparations; and it had become impos.sibIe to disguise the fact, that the armament which had been pro^dded was inadequate to its object. Chittagong could not be attacked with any probability of success. In pi'oportion to the extravagance of the hopes which had been entertained was the despondency produced by failure. ^Ir. Gj'fford, the president of Madras, first took alarm. Aurungzebe's army was approaching. It had already con- quered the kingdom of Bejapoor ; that of Golconda was on the point of sharing the same fate. What then was to prevent it from continuing its victorious career, and advancing upon Madras? Fort St. George, to reinforce the expedi- tion to Bengal, had been left almost entirelv without a garrison and without
