Commodore James, who commanded the squadron, now directed his fire at Fort Goa; which was being feebly attacked, on the land side, by a Mahratta force; which had been landed from the Mahratta fleet, accompanying the English ships, a few miles down the coast. The fort shortly surrendered; but while the Mahrattas were marching to take possession, the governor, with some of his best men, took boat and crossed over to the island; of which, although the fire had ceased after the explosion of the magazine, the English had not taken possession.
The fire from its guns again opened, and as Commodore James thought it probable that the pirates would, in the night, endeavour to throw in large reinforcements, he determined to carry it by storm. The ships opened fire upon the walls; and, under cover of this, half the seamen were landed. These ran up to the gate, and thundered at it with their axes.
Charlie and his companions aided the movement, by again opening a heavy fire of grape upon the guns which bore upon the sally port; and when the gates were forced the garrison, utterly dispirited by the crossfire to which they were subjected, at once laid down their arms.
[Chapter 16]: A Tiger Hunt.
Commodore James was greatly astonished at the easy success which he had gained. The extraordinary cessation of fire from the sea face, and the sound of artillery within the walls, had convinced him that a mutiny among the garrison must have taken place; but upon entering the fort he was surprised, indeed, at being received with a hearty English cheer, from a little body of men on the summit of an interior work. The gate of this was at once thrown open, and Charlie, followed by his party, advanced towards the commodore.
"I am Captain Marryat, sir, of the Company's service in Madras; and was captured three months ago by these pirates. When you attacked the place, yesterday, I arranged to effect a small diversion; and with the assistance of these five native officers, of my soldier servant, here, and these ten men of the merchant service, we have, I hope, been able to do so. The native officers disabled the greater portion of the guns, during the night; and when you opened fire this morning we seized this inner work, which is also the magazine, and opened fire upon the rear of the sea defences. By dint of our guns, and of menaces to blow up the place if they assaulted it, we kept them at bay until their flag was hauled down."
"Then, sir," Commodore James said, warmly; "I have to thank you, most heartily, for the assistance you have given. In fact, it is you who have captured the fortress. I was by no means prepared to find it so strong; and, indeed, had come to the conclusion, last night, that the force at my command was wholly insufficient for its capture. Fortunately, I determined to try the effect of another day's fire. But, had it not been for you, this would assuredly have been as ineffectual as the first. You have, indeed, performed a most gallant action; and I shall have great pleasure in reporting your conduct to the authorities at home."
The sailors had now landed in considerable force. The garrison were disarmed, and taken as prisoners on board the ships. Very large quantities of powder were found, stored up, and strong parties at once began to form mines, for the blowing up of the fortifications.
This was a labour of some days. When they were completed and charged, a series of tremendous explosions took place. Many of the bastions were completely blown to pieces. In others, the walls were shattered.
The prisoners were again landed, and set to work, aided by the sailors. The great stones, which composed the walls, were toppled over the steep faces of the rock on which the fort stood; and, at the end of a fortnight, the pirate hold of Suwarndrug, which had so long been the terror of the Indian Seas, had disappeared.