In this state of affairs, Monsieur Lalli seeing that the siege had been protracted to a considerable length, and that no success had followed their attacks, and also that the officer defending the fort was a man of consummate experience, consulted with the other officers, and determined on the following plan:— viz. that a body of their troops should be arrayed as English soldiers, and separated from their army, and at night sent to the distance of one stage, by the route of Girgut Paleh and Choongul Peenth;* and that a French officer, who understood the English language, and could read and write English perfectly well, should be appointed with these troops. This plan was carried into effect, and Lalli himself enjoined the officer to do his best in deceiving the Commandant of the fort, and then sent him and his detachment off in the manner above described. In pursuance of this scheme, the French officer wrote a letter to the Killadár or Commandant of the fort, purporting that he was appointed, with a large force from Madras, to convey supplies to the garrison, and to aid them against Hydur; that he would be there soon, and that the Killadár should be on the alert, for that on the morrow, at about eight o’clock in the morning, he would enter the fort, and attack the enemy. When the letter, which was taken by a pair of Hurkaras, (letter carriers,) was received by the commanding officer, although the receipt of the letter gave him pleasure, and the reading of its contents made him smile, still, the name or signature appended to it surprised and threw him into doubt and suspicion; for he knew that the officer named had been deputed to Sika­kole (Chicacole) and Gunjam, to collect grain and gun-bullocks. This was well known to the Commander of the fort, and, therefore, after much consideration, he surmised— for “good sense is half a miracle”*— that this most likely was a ruse or deception of Monsieur Lalli’s. Nevertheless, he was still undecided what to think, when, the next day a sharp fire of musketry and the roar of artillery were heard from the road indicated by the despatch of the day before. The Killadár or officer, hearing this, took up his telescope, and looking out sharply, saw two bodies of troops close together, firing at each other; but, with all their firing, no signs of wounded men, could be descried by the telescope; on the contrary, it appeared merely the sound of powder without ball. This cleared away the officer’s doubts, and the beauti­ful image of truth* unveiled her radiant face to him, and he became certain that treachery was intended. He, therefore, collected the garrison on the same side of the fort, loaded all his guns with grape­shot, and kept them in readiness. By this time the false reinforcement had arrived near at hand, and the officer in command of them sent a mes­sage, by a Hurkaru, that, thank God, he had arrived safe, and that he requested the gate of the fort might be thrown open, that he and his men might enter, and that they might converse with each other, and dine together.— The Killadár, in reply, inti­mated that it would be advisable for him to halt his men for an hour or two on the Glacis, that is, out­side the ditch, until the gate could be opened; for, that a strong wall had been built behind it, which it would take some time to break down, and there­fore, in the meanwhile, they had better rest them­selves. When the false reinforcement reached and halted on the brink of the ditch, the Commandant of the fort mounted a bastion, and having carefully examined the movements of the new comers, the cut of their beards and moustaches, &c., immediately gave orders to his artillery men and musketeers to open their fire. This cannonade soon beat the vapour of folly and the affectation of valour out of their empty heads!— A terrible blow thus fell on the officer and his men, who, not finding time to take up their arms and baggage, escaped to camp with their lives only. In fine, the officer in the fort, with great penetration, saw and avoided the snare laid for him, and thus gained a victory. When the Nawaub heard of the bad management of the siege, and of the defeat of his troops, he was exceedingly angry, and immediately ordered the Frenchman to the presence; the other officers also were recalled with their troops, but the fort still continued to be surrounded or blockaded by the cavalry.