Frankland,
special friends of Mr. Drake, attended the ladies to the ship--'twas the
Dodalay, of which they are owners--and they stayed on board with 'em--the
cowards, to set such an infamous example! And well 'twas followed. 'Tis
scarce credible, but Captain Minchin, our gallant commander, and Mr.
Drake, our noble president, went down to the ghat and had 'emselves rowed
off to the shipping and deserted us: good God! do they deserve the name
of Englishmen? One of our gentlemen standing on the steps was so enraged
that he sent a bullet after the cravens; others did the same, and I would
to heaven that one of their shots had took effect on the wretches! We
made Mr. Holwell governor in the Quaker's place; and I tell you, Desmond,
had we done so before, there would have been a different story to tell
this day.
"Mr. Holwell saw 'twas impossible to withstand the Nawab's hordes much
longer, and spoke for an orderly retreat; but he was overrid by some of
the military officers; and besides, retreat was cut off, for the ships
that had lain in the river moved away, and though we hung out signals
from the fort asking 'em to come back and take us off, they paid no heed;
nay, they stood farther off, leaving us to our fate. What could we do?
Mr. Holwell sent to Omichand in his prison and offered to release him if
he would treat with the Nawab for us. But the Gentoo refused. All he
would do was to write a letter to Manik Chand asking him to intercede for
us.
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