The Bombay fleet, consisting of four grabs, the London and the Candois, and two other ships, with a galliot, having an additional thousand men on board for this enterprise, sailed to attack a fort belonging to Angria upon the Malabar coast.  Though their strength was great, yet they were totally unsuccessful in their enterprise.  It was this fleet returning home that our pirates discovered upon the present occasion.  Upon the sight of the pirates, the commodore of the fleet intimated to Mr. Brown, the general, that as they had no orders to fight, and had gone upon a different purpose, it would be improper for them to engage.  Informed of the loss of this favorable opportunity of destroying the robbers, the governor of Bombay was highly enraged, and giving the command of the fleet to Captain Mackra, ordered him to pursue and engage them wherever they should be found.

The pirates having barbarously sent away the galliot with her men, they arrived southward, and between Goa and Carwar they heard several guns, so that they came to anchor, and sent their boat to reconnoitre, which returned next morning with the intelligence of two grabs, lying at anchor in the road.  They accordingly weighed, ran towards the bay, and in the morning were discovered by the grabs, who had just time to run under India-Diva castle for protection.  This was the more vexatious to the pirates, as they were without water; some of them, therefore, were for making a descent upon the island, but that measure not being generally approved, they sailed towards the south, and took a small ship, which had only a Dutchman and two Portuguese on board.  They sent one of these on shore to the captain, to inform him that, if he would give them some water and fresh provisions, he might have his vessel returned.  He replied that, if they would give him possession over the bar, he would comply with their request.  But, suspecting the integrity of his design, they sailed for Lacca Deva islands, uttering dreadful imprecations against the captain.

Disappointed in finding water at these islands, they sailed to Malinda island, and sent their boats on shore, to discover if there was any water, or if there were any inhabitants..  They returned with the information, that there was abundance of water, that the houses were only inhabited by women and children, the men having fled at the appearance of the ships.  They accordingly hastened to supply themselves with water, used the defenceless women in a brutal manner, destroyed many of their fruit-trees, and set some of their houses on fire.