Chap. III.] SIEGE OF PONDICHEIIRY RAISED. 427
it was not so much taken as abandoned, in consequence of the accidental explo- ad. 1748. sion of a large qiantity of gunpowder.
The besieging army moved from Ariancoopan on the 2Gth of August, and siegaof Pm-
. . dicherry
proceeded, after forcing the redoubt which guarded the opening in the hedge coiiime.;c«.i. leading to the north-west, to prepare for commencing operations in that quarter, the engineers having selected it as the most eligible. To facilitate the commu- nication between the fleet and the camp, the ships were moved to the north of the town. In sieges, the first pandlel is usually made within 800 yards of the covered way, but so ignorant were the engineers of the commonest rules of tiieir profession, that when they opened ground on the 30th of August, it was at the distance of 1 500 yards. By slow and laborious steps, they kept creeping on till they reached the distance at which they ought to have begun, and then only made the astounding discovery that they had begun the siege from a wrong direction. Between their woi-ks and the town lay a morass, which, by bi>ui«1'^^i> of
besiegers.
means of a back water, had been flooded. What was now to be done ? Septem- ber was already far spent, and the rainy season would soon commence. To commence anew wtis impossible, and the only alternative which remained was to retire at once, or to persist in operations which held out little or no promise of success. The former part of the alternative was the wiser, but shame mingled with other considerations to prevent the adoption of it, and by great exertions, during which many lives were lost, two batteries of eighteen and twenty-four pounders, the one of eight and the other of four pieces of cannon, were constructed on the edge of the moniss ; these were followed by two bomb- batteries. The fire, which would have been crushing at a shorter distance, pro- duced little effect, and was, moreover, returned double by the besiegers. A kind of diversion was attempted by the ships, which began to batter the town, but cis those of two tiers conld not come nearer than 1000 yards, their fire never told. According to the French account, the only person killed was an old Mala- bar woman passing along the street.
The final result was now only too apparent. No impression had been made S'ege n^. on the defences, sickness prevailed in the camp, and the rainy season had com- menced. The ships ran the risk of being driven off" the coast, perha])S wrecked upon it ; and the country would in all probability become so flooded, that the removal of the cannon and heavy stores, though still practicable, would soon be impossible. To persist would therefore have been madnes.s, and the decision of a council of war was scarcely necessary to sanction the order which was issued to raise the siege. Five days were employed in the humiliating process, and on the ()th of October, the troops began their march back to Fort St. David. The mortality, by casualty or sickness, had been very great, particularly among the Europeans, of whom 1065 out of the original 3720, or verj- nearly a third of the whole, perished. The smvivors, at least those of them who were respon- sible for the operations, had not the satisfaction of thinking that they had done
