and worthy of a Presidency town. The tenth is by no means ugly, but being of iron it is less picturesque. It is on the marina, where it carries the road across the mouth of the Cooum.
The most interesting of the stone bridges though it is neither the handsomest nor the largest is the one across the northern arm of the Cooum near the fort. It bears the inscription, 'Wallajah Bridge, erected by order of Government in 1755 on piers which had been laid about 1740 ; Mr. J. Brohier, Engineer.' The fort gate, opening on to the road that passes over the bridge, has received the same name.
The date given by the inscription, 'about 1740,' for the foundation of the piers does not agree with the records. In 1742 Major Knipe was appointed chief engineer ; he was the first of a long line to command the Madras corps, which was then in its infancy. His attention was at once directed to the enlargement of the fort. Before this could be done it was necessary to deflect the river, which ran close beneath the walls. Knipe lost no time in setting about the work (1743) ; but it was not until the bed of the river was altered that the piers of the new bridge could be built. Want of funds prevented him from completing it ; there was so much else that was more important to do.
Plans for the enlargement of the fort had been prepared by Mr. Smith, the father of Colonel Joseph Smith, the bugbear of Haider Ali, but before they could be executed the French were in possession (1746). The fort was given back three years later (1749), but nothing could be done until money came. Thus it happened that the bridge was not completed until 1755.
At that time Brohier, whose name figures in the inscription, was an ensign in the Madras Engineers. Promotion came to him rapidly, and in 1756 he was
