The restless Mannajee
began stopping and plundering small native craft belonging to Bombay, with
the intention, no doubt, of flying at higher game in time. Reprisals were
at once ordered, and a vessel of Mannajee's was captured. This brought him
to reason, and the vessel was released on his signing a bond to make good
the losses he had caused. The loss of Madras was telling against the
English, everywhere. In Bengal the Mahrattas seized the Cossimbazaar
flotilla bound for Calcutta, valued at four lakhs of rupees. Mannajee
still continued to be troublesome, till the Seedee, taking advantage of
the situation, attacked and captured Thull, which kept him quiet for a
time.
Considerable anxiety was caused in Bombay, at this time, by the appearance
of three French men-of-war cruising on the coast, with the evident
intention of waylaying the Company's ships from Europe. One of them was a
fifty-gun ship, and there was nothing in Bombay harbour to cope with her.
To meet the difficulty, a large number of fishing-boats were sent out,
each with an English sailor on board, to creep along the coast and warn
all incoming ships.
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