8. Such was the state of things in Southern India when Sir Eyre Coote arrived from Calcutta with all the troops that the governor-general could collect. He happily reached Madras before the expected French fleet appeared in the Indian seas. Without an hour's delay Coote sought the enemy, and brought him to battle at Porto Novo, a haven some forty miles south of Pondicherry. Though he could only muster nine thousand men to oppose a force ten times as numerous, yet after six hours of conflict the enemy fled in dismay. Every town on the coast under French rule was seized at once, so that when the French fleet arrived it found no port where it could refit. Its nearest station was in the Mauritius, two thousand miles away. 9. Many forgotten battles, with varying fortune, were fought in the five years that followed this great victory; but by 1783 the war had burnt itself out, leaving the Carnatic a scene of desolation. In Bengal, however, our governor-general had been able to maintain peace and to insure to the natives the fruits of their labours. "Under the nawabs," says Macaulay, "the hurricane of Mahratta cavalry had passed annually over the rich plain of the Ganges. But even the Mahratta shrank from a conflict with the mighty children of the sea; and the rich harvests of the Lower Ganges were safely gathered in under the protection of the English sword." One homely instance may be given of the general security felt by the poor natives under British rule. "A good rain this for the bread," said one Indian peasant to another. "Yes," was the reply, "and a good government under which one may eat bread in safety." 10. In all his schemes for the success of his rule and the honour of his country, Hastings was constantly thwarted by a member of the Supreme Council, named Francis. The quarrel between them at last, according to the custom of those days, led to a duel. In this duel, we get a glimpse of the calm courage and high spirit of the man, who was as a pillar on which rested the whole fabric of our rule in India. The seconds in the duel had taken the precaution to bake the powder for their respective friends, nevertheless, Francis' pistol missed fire. Hastings obligingly waited until he had reprimed. This time the pistol went off, but the shot flew wide of the mark. Then Hastings coolly returned the shot, and the bullet entered the right side of his foe. As soon as he was well enough to travel Francis went home to England, and poisoned men's minds against him.