Chap. II r.] THE NABOB OF AECOT ATTACKS xMADRAS. 419
treat with him, he imprisoned them, and proceeded to take up his position near a.d. i746. the spot where Labourdonnais had erected his batteries. His subse(pient opera- tions displayed considerable skill. A shallow stream which ran along- the west side of the town, and reached the sea about 700 yards below, was so dammed up at its mouth by a mound of sand as to form a kind of wet ditch. To get rid of this obstruction, he employed a great number of men to make an outlet for the water by cutting through the mound ; and at the same time sent a strong party three miles to the north to take possession of the only s})ring from which the inhabitants were supplied with good water. Thus threatened, Du})leix opened his fire from the walls on the 21st of October. He had no idea, however, of sub- TheNaimi.
1.1.. n . ,, « ij»ii- 1 of Arcot re-
mitting to the indignity of a siege, and therefore, on the following day, sent out pui8e<i fwm
a body of 400 men to act on the offensive. They had with them two field-pieces, ' *' ™*' which they had concealed, and with which, when the enemy advanced with an appearance of resolution, they opened a most destructive fire. The Moguls, who had never seen artillery so served before, were confounded, especially at the rapidity of the discharges, turned then- backs, and fled with the utmost precipi- tation. The French had not lost a single man, and remained masters of the whole tents and baggage. Maphuze Khan seemed disposed, after collecting his scattered troops, to make a stand in the neighbourhood, but on leaji'iiing that the French expected a reinforcement from Pondicheny, hastened off to St. Tliom^, situated on the coast, about four miles to the south. In this town — which, known to the natives as Mailapur, owes its European name to a tradition of being the place where the apostle St. Thomas suffered martyrdom, and had attained great splendour under the Portuguese, though it had again sunk into comparative insignificance — Maphuze Khan occupied a position which, had he known to profit by it, would have cut off the communication between Pondi- cheny and Madras. This was obviously his intention, but he managed so ill as only to place himself between two fires, the reinforcement from the former advancing to attack him in front, while a detachment of 400 men from the latter attacked his rear. The detachment airived so late that this part of the i)lau fjiiled. The reinforcement, however, persisted in their original intention, and after forcing a pjissage across a stream, on the north side of which the enemy were advantageoasly posted, drove them back at the point of the bayonet, and ft)llowing close upon their heels into the town, where both resistance and retreat were impossible, made fearful slaughter. Conspicuous among the fugitives, who escaped to the plain to the westward, was ^Maphuze Khan, mounted on an elepliant, on which the great standard was displayed. These encounters with the native troops establislied a new era in Indian warfare. The infinite superiority of European discipline was no longer doubtful ; and from the valour displayed by some of the natives who had been exercised in it, and fought on xatives may the French side, the important fact was discovered that a native anny might be cffiden*
formed, and so trained as to become the most effectual instrument of European
soldiers.
