rning. Then the gate was opened, and the French in the ravelin
entered the fort, and became prisoners with the rest of the garrison.
The whole number of prisoners exceeded three thousand, of whom five
hundred were Europeans and the rest Sepoys. The loss of the English
was twenty-two Europeans killed, and sixty-two wounded. The Sepoys had
fifty killed and a hundred and fifty wounded. The rajah's people, who
had kept up their false attack upon the ravelin with much more bravery
and resolution than had been expected, also lost a good many men.

Considering the natural strength of the position, that the garrison
was, both in European troops and Sepoys, considerably stronger than
the besiegers, that the fort mounted a hundred and twenty guns, and
that a relieving army, enormously superior to that of the besiegers,
was within fifteen miles at the time the assault was made, the capture
of Masulipatam may claim to rank among the very highest deeds ever
performed by British arms.

Chapter 28: The Defeat Of Lally.

A large quantity of plunder was obtained at Masulipatam. Half was at
once divided among the troops, according to promise, and the other
half retained until the permission, applied for by Colonel Forde, was
received from Madras for its division among them.

The morning after the capture of the town, the Mahratta horse of
Salabut Jung appeared. The nizam was furious when he found that he had
arrived too late; but he resolved that when the three hundred French
troops, daily expected by sea, arrived, he would besiege Forde in his
turn; as, with the new arrivals, Du Rocher's force would alone be
superior to that of Forde, and there would be, in addition, his own
army of forty thousand men.

The ships arrived off the port three days later, and sent a messenger
on shore to Conflans. Finding that no answer was returned, and that
the fire had entirely ceased, they came to the conclusion that the
place was captured by the English, and sailed away to Pondicherry
again. Had Du Rocher taken the precaution of having boats in readiness
to communicate with them, inform them of the real state of affairs,
and order them to land farther along the coast and join him, Forde
would have been besieged in his turn, although certainly the siege
would have been ineffectual.

Rajah Anandraz, greatly terrified at the approach of the nizam, had,
two days after the capture of the place, received a portion of the
plunder as his share, an