Page:History of the French in India.djvu/92

70 THE RISE OF THE FRENCH POWER IN INDIA. °m P ' ^ as ^ ern merchandise intended for the rivals who were - - converting the mud huts of Chattanati into the sub- 1731. stantial warehouses of old Calcutta, the landing-places of Chandranagar were comparatively deserted. To govern a settlement thus fallen into a state of pas- sive and assenting decrepitude Dupleix was deputed in 1731. But, decaying and lifeless though he found Chandranagar, Dupleix regarded its situation with far other feelings than those of anxiety or dismay. He saw, almost at a glance, the capabilities of the place, and, conscious of his own abilities, having tried and proved at Pondichery his ideas regarding the power of trade, he felt that the task of restoring the French settlement would, under his system, be comparatively easy. The office of intendant had for him this great recommendation, that there was something for a man to do, and he felt that he was the man to do it. Little time did he lose in de- liberation. He at once set in action the large fortune he had accumulated, and induced others to join in the venture. He bought ships, freighted cargoes, opened communications with the interior, attracted native mer- chants to the town. Chandranagar soon felt the effect of her master's hand. Even the subordinates, whom he found there, recovering under the influence of his ex- ample from their supineness, begged to be allowed to join in the trade. Dupleix had room for all. To some he advanced money, others he took into partnership, all he encouraged. He had not occupied the intenclantship four years, when, in place of the half-dozen country boats which, on his arrival, were lying unemployed at the landing-place, he had at sea thirty or forty ships, a number which increased before his departure to seventy- two, engaged in conveying the merchandise of Bengal to Surat, to Jeddo, to Mocha, to Basra, and to China. Nor did he neglect the inland trade. He established commercial relations with some of the principal cities in the interior, and even opened communications with