A. D. 1760
as many sepoys, had not lost three men, and might have held out for ten days longer before the assault could have been risked. The prospects of the French were now gloomy in the extreme. Their resources were almost exhausted, and the schemes suggested for replenishing Coote rejects a present from Mortiz Al. the treasury did little more than revive bitter quarrels and recriminations between the civil and military authorities. Coote meanwhile continued to reap the fruits of his victory. Mortiz Ali, in Vellore, on hearing that the British army had, after the capture of Arcot, encamped in that direction, feared that he might be called to account for the suspicious, if not hostile course which he had for some time pursued, and sent Coote a sum of 30,000 rupees. He refused it, stating that he was not authorized either by the nabob or the presidency to levy tribute. Mortiz Ali replying that it was a present to himself, as a mark of homage to a great commander, according to the custom of the country, the money was accepted, but only to be added to the general stock of the prize- money of the army The honourable contrast which Coote's conduct on this occasion presents to that of the civil and military authorities in Bengal, when similarly tempted, will not be overlooked.
His continued successes. Coote marched from Chittapet on the 26th of February, and arrived on the 29th at Tindyvanum, a place of large resort, situated at the junction of several roads leading to Pondicherry, from which it is only twenty-five miles distant. The object of this march could not be misunderstood; and the French, who had commenced the war in the full confidence of establishing an undisputed supre- macy, became aware that their next struggle must be for existence. To prepare for the worst, they endeavoured to obtain possession of all the commanding posts in the vicinity. One of the most important of these was the fort of Permacoil, situated about eighteen miles north-west of Pondicherry, and capable both from its position and its strength of protecting the intervening territory. It had previously been in a great measure overlooked; but immediately after the defeat at Wandiwash, Lally saw the use which might be made of it, and induced the native governor to admit a party of French with some cannon into it. After the capture of Chittapet and Arcot, suspecting that he had committed himself to the losing party, he wrote Coote, pretending that the French had gained admittance by surprise, and offering to assist him in ousting them. It seemed worth while to put his sincerity to the test; and hence, when the rest of the army was on the way to Tindyvanum, Coote had preceded them with most of the cavalry, and two companies of sepoys, and advanced as far as Permacoil. It consisted, as usual, of a pettal or town, and a fort; the former surrounded with mud walls, and the latter crowning the summit of a precipitous rock, rising to the height of 300 feet at its narrow end, and gradually lowering to 200 feet at the other. The governor gave all the assistance he had promised; but it would have been of little avail had the garrison, though small, been properly provided for a siege. Shortly after the attack began their fire slackened from want of
