forbidden; their Mahommedan servants left them, and their creditors were made to give an account to the Governor of all debts owing by Europeans.  The Dutch and French tried to exonerate themselves by laying all the blame on the English, but the Governor refused to make any distinction, and called on the three nations to pay fourteen lakhs of rupees as a compensation for the losses occasioned by piracy.  Sir John Gayer was a man of action.  Like Macrae, to be mentioned later in these pages, he had first brought himself into notice as a sea-captain, and as Governor of Bombay had upheld the Company’s interests for four years, in circumstances of no ordinary difficulty.  The time for some decided action had arrived if the Company’s trade was to continue.  On receiving intelligence of these occurrences, he appeared off Surat with three armed ships, and sent word to the Governor that he would neither pay any portion of the fourteen lakhs, nor give security.  At the same time he intimated that he was ready to furnish convoys for the Mocha ships, as he had already done, and, in proof of good will in acting against the pirates, pointed out that, now the war in Europe was at an end, a royal squadron was on its way to the Indian seas to extirpate them.  The European traders on the west coast had always been so submissive to the Emperor’s authority that this unexpected display of vigour astonished the Governor:  he moderated his tone.  The Dutch declared they would abandon the Surat trade rather than pay; so the Governor consented to make no demand for past losses, if the English would engage to make good all future losses by piracy.  This was also refused.  Finally, the English, French, and Dutch agreed to act in concert to suppress piracy, and signed bonds by which they jointly engaged to make good all future losses.

Onerous as these terms were, the agreement came not a moment too soon.  The news of it reached Aurungzeeb just in time to procure the reversal of an order he had issued, putting a final stop to all European trade in his dominions.  He told the Surat Governor to settle the matter in his own way.  In pursuance of the agreement, the Dutch convoyed the Mecca pilgrims and patrolled the entrance to the Red Sea, besides making a payment of Rs.70,000 to the Governor; the English paid Rs.30,000 and patrolled the South Indian seas; while the French made a similar payment and policed the Persian Gulf.

An experience of the Benjamin yacht at this time showed that pirates were not prone to wanton mischief, where there was no plunder to be gained.  In November, the yacht lay at Honore, taking in a cargo of pepper, when the well-known pirate ships Pelican, Soldado, and Resolution came into harbour for provisions.  Seeing the Bombay Governor’s yacht, they naturally concluded that some attempt would be made to prevent the natives from supplying their wants.  They at once sent word to the master of the Benjamin that they had no intention