out reinforcements in several small bodies,
not only was there much loss, but great uncertainty prevailed among
the scattered commands as to conditions elsewhere. This uncertainty,
loss, and delay profoundly affected the political situation in India.
When Suffren first reached the coast, the English had on their hands
not only Hyder Ali, but the Mahrattas as well. Peace with the latter
was signed on the 17th of May, 1782; but, owing probably to an
opposition party among them, the ratifications were not exchanged
until December. Both there and in the court of Hyder Ali there was
division of interest; and representations were made from both to the
French, who, though suspicious, could obtain no certain information of
the treaty, that everything depended upon the relative military
strength of themselves and the English. The presence and the actions
of Suffren were all that France had to show,--the prestige of his
genius, the capture of Trincomalee, his success in battle. The French
army, cooped up in Cuddalore, was dependent upon the sultan for money,
for food, and for reinforcements; even the fleet called on him for
money, for masts, for ammunition, for grain. The English, on the other
hand, maintained their ground; though on the whole worsted, they lost
no ships; and Bickerton's powerful squadron was known to have reached
Bombay. Above all, while the French asked for money, the English
lavished it.

It was impossible for the French to make head against their enemy
without native allies; it was essential to keep Hyder from also making
peace. Here the inadequate support and faulty dispositions of the home
government made themselves felt. The command in India, both by land
and sea, was intrusted to General de Bussy, once the brilliant
fellow-worker with Dupleix, now a gouty invalid of sixty-four. With a
view to secrecy, Bussy sailed from Cadiz in November, 1781, with two
ships-of-the-line, for Teneriffe, where he was to be joined by a
convoy leaving Brest in December. This convoy was captured by the
English, only two of the vessels escaping to Bussy. The latter pursued
his journey, and learning at the Cape of Good Hope that Bickerton's
strong force was on the way, felt compelled to land there a great part
of his troops. He reached the Isle of France on the 31st of May. The
next convoy of eighteen transports, sailing in April for India, was
also intercepted. Two of the four ships-of-war were taken, as also ten
of the trans