16 THE EARLY FRENCH IN INDIA. France, than, as a reward for his exertions, and possibly to incite him to others, the King at once conferred 1667. upon the Caron the riband of St. Michel. In the following year an extension of operations was resolved upon. Marcara was directed to proceed to the court of the then independent king of Golkonda, with the view of obtaining from him the privilege of trading throughout his dominions, and of establishing a factory at Machhlipatan (Masulipatam). To procure this, Marcara had not only to fight his way through those obstacles peculiar to an oriental court, but he had to meet also the opposition of the English and of the Dutch. However, he triumphed over all difficulties, and on December 5, 1669, obtained a firman which permitted the French Company to undertake negotia- tions in the dominions of the King, without payment of duty, import, or export ; a license was granted him at the same time to establish a factory at Machhlipatan. Thither, accordingly, Marcara proceeded.* It is curious, that the one fatal feeling which attended all the efforts of the French to establish themselves in India, and which contributed very greatly to their fail- ure, should have shown itself at this early epoch. This feeling was jealousy. It seldom happened that a man, high in office, could endure that any great feat should be accomplished by another than himself. Barely could a sense of patriotism, a love of country, an anxiety to forward the common weal, reconcile a servant of the French Company to the success of a rival. We shall see, as we proceed, what golden opportunities were lost, what openings were deliberately sacrificed to the grati- fication of feelings as mean and paltry in themselves, as they were base and even treasonable in men who had been sent to advance the fortunes of their country in a distant land. The French had not been two years in Surat before
- Memoires du Sieur Marcara; Histoire des Indes Orientales.
