he colony secure, independent of his squadron, he
departed for the Ile de France, arriving there October 25th. On the
17th of December the whole French force, under the command of d'Orves,
sailed for the Coromandel coast. On the way the British 50-gun ship
_Hannibal_, Captain Alexander Christie, was taken. On the 9th of
February, 1782, Comte d'Orves died, and Suffren found himself at
the head of twelve ships of the line: three 74's, seven 64's and two
50's.[144] On the 15th Hughes's fleet was sighted, under the guns of
Madras. It numbered nine of the line: two 74's, one 68, five 64's, and
one 50. Suffren stood south towards Pondicherry, which had passed into
the power of Hyder Ali. After nightfall Hughes got under way, and also
steered south. He feared for Trincomalee, in Ceylon, recently a Dutch
port, which the British had captured on the 5th of January. It was a
valuable naval position, as yet most imperfectly defended.

[Illustration]

At daylight the British saw the French squadron twelve miles east (A,
A) and its transports nine miles south-west (c). Hughes chased the
latter and took six. Suffren pursued, but could not overtake before
sunset, and both fleets steered south-east during the night. Next
morning there were light north-north-east airs, and the French were
six miles north-east of the British (B, B). The latter formed line
on the port tack (a), heading to seaward; Hughes hoping that thus the
usual sea-breeze would find him to windward. The breeze, however, did
not make as expected; and, as the north-east puffs were bringing the
enemy down, he kept off before the wind (b) to gain time for his ships
to close their intervals, which were too great. At 4 P.M. the near
approach of the French compelled him to form line again, (C), on the
port tack, heading easterly. The rear ship, _Exeter_, 64 (e), was left
separated, out of due support from those ahead. Suffren, leading one
section of his fleet in person, passed to windward of the British
line, from the rear, as far as Hughes's flagship, which was fifth from
the van. There he stopped, and kept at half cannon-shot, to prevent
the four ships in the British van from tacking to relieve their
consorts. It was his intention that the second half of his fleet
should attack the other side of the English rear. This plan of
intended battle is shown by the figure D in the diagram. Actually,
only two of the French rear did what Suffren expected, engaging to
leeward of the