to relinquish his intentions, and turn his views to other quarters for the support he was so anxious to obtain.
The revolution in France, and the succeeding war between the English and that country, gave a glimmering of hope to the almost desponding Tippoo. The capture of Pondicherry by the British in 1793 had ruined a number of the inhabitants of that place, several of whom sought refuge and the means of subsistence in the capital of Mysore. Here they were received with open arms by the Sultan, who expected by their means to improve the discipline of his army, and to form an alliance with and receive succours from France.
One of these adventurers, a watchmaker, became Tippoo's Secretary for Foreign Affairs; but his credit at the Court of Mysore was soon after eclipsed by a fellow named Ripaud, an obscure inhabitant of the Isle of Bourbon. This man, possessing a spirit of adventure, and inspired by the self-confidence peculiar to his countrymen, had, in concert with some other desperate characters, seized upon an English merchant-vessel, and, adopting the respectable profession of piracy, had cruised for some time in the Indian seas, with indifferent success.
In the beginning of the year 1797, Ripaud was driven by stress of weather into Mangalore, to solicit the means of repairing his shattered vessel. There he met with Gholaum Ali, whom the Sultan had formerly employed on the embassy to France. To him Ripaud boldly represented himself as second in command at the Mauritius; and stated that he had come to give notice of a large force being ready at that island, to co-operate with them in driving from India their common enemy. He was immediately forwarded to Seringapatam, where the monarch, contrary to the advice of his most prudent counsellors, who assured him that this stranger was an impostor, received him into his entire confidence.
The result of this wise proceeding was an arrangement by which the master of the vessel, though recognised in his high character of an envoy, was, for the
