Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/186

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been so completely crushed, nor need the prince have met with such an ignoble end.

Every foot of the country round Trichinopoly is associated with this struggle between the French and the English for supremacy in South India. There are battlefields in all directions. The cantonment stands upon an old battlefield over which the cannon-balls have roared. It is no uncommon thing for an iron shot to be turned up in the gardens by the marmotty of the gardener. Trade jealousy was at the bottom of the strife, although the ostensible reason for the presence of the Europeans was the support of the rival claims of the native rulers. It was during these wars that Clive distinguished himself. He seems to have borne a charmed life. Men on either side of him were shot dead, while he remained untouched. His presence of mind and intrepid courage carried him safely through every difficulty.

It is said that he often climbed to the top of the rock to study the surrounding country. The view towards all points of the compass is grand. The country lies like a map below ; every rock and landmark mentioned by Orme in his fascinating history is distinguishable through the clear atmosphere. During the nine years that we were at Trichinopoly I frequently went to the top, sometimes in the early morning, sometimes at sunset. The greys and golds and pale-blue haze of the early hours of the Indian day had a beauty of their own, but the time to feast the eye in colour was in the evening when the sun had just disappeared below the horizon. Crimson, orange, and purple flooded the heavens in the west, and the green vegetation took on a richer tint. If the moon were floating in the east, the picture was complete.

At all times of the day Olive's presence haunted the rock, especially in the narrow space at the summit where the temple of Ganesa stands. From that very spot he must have looked down upon the old fort with its walls