Chap. VIT.l WAELIKE SCHEMES. 341
Comorin to the Gulf of Persia." To give effect to this appointment, he wa.s to ad. icss. fix the seat of government at Bombay, while Surat was to be reduced to a simple factory ; and he was to maintain a kind of state, by the attendance of a guaid of English grenadiers under the command of an ensign with the rank of captain. It was presumed that the removal to Bombay would give umbrage to the Mogul government, but under the new policy this was a very secondary consideration, as not only the Mogul, but Sambajee and the native princes generally, were to be given to understand that the Company had now in Bombay an impregnable retreat, from which they woidd be able to retaliate at sea for any exactions and depredations to which they might be subjected on shore. This was no empty menace, for the same vessel which carried out the above pubhc instructions, carried others of a still more important nature, tran.^mitted from a secret com- mittee, with the approbation of the king, and intended not to be made known till the moment for acting upon them had arrived.
An armament on a far larger scale than the Company had ever before fitted wariiko out had .sailed from England. It consisted of ten .ships, mountnig from twelve to seventy guns each, and carrying as many troops as, with those which were ordered to join them on their arrival, would make 1000 regular infantry. Its destination was Bengal. On arriving there, and forming, with the Company's ships, a fleet of nineteen sail, it was to effect a landing at Chittagong, on the north-east side of the Bay of Bengal, and take permanent possession of it, forti- fying it in the best manner, mounting 200 cannons upon it, establishing a mint, and levying five per cent, customs on the inhabitant.s. The possibility of a failure .seems never to have been contemplated. The instructions, accordingly, pre- suming a complete success, enter into a number of minute details for the purpose of regulating future proceedings. After Chittagong was captured and made secure, and all Mogul ships of every description had been seized and declared lawful prizes, the expedition was to proceed up the eastern branch of the Ganges against Dacca. Supposing, as a matter of course, that the nabob and his troops would immediately save themselves by flight, peace was to be offered to him on the following conditions: that he should cede the city and teiritory of Chitta- gong to the Company, and pay the debts he owed them ; that lie should allow the loipees coined at Chittagong to pass current in his district, and restore all privileges according to ancient firmans. Should he claim restitution of the ships and property seized, he was to be told that the parties were to bear their respective losses and expenses diu'ing the war ; and that, while these were the most favourable terms which the Company were disposed to concede, even these would not be binding upon them, unless they were ratified and embodied in a regular treaty by the Great Mogul.
As if a single war were not enouiih at one time, the armament was also to siam t« bo commence hostilities with the King of Siam, and seize his vessels by way of compensation for the losses which the Company had sustained in his dominions.
