property.

7. All inhabitants to retain their property. _Answer_. This to be
left to the Admiral's sense of equity.

8. The French Factories up-country to be left in the hands of their
present chiefs. _Answer_. This to be settled by the Nawab and the
Admiral.

9. The French Company's servants to go where they please, with their
clothes and linen. _Answer_. Agreed to.

It is evident that the capitulation was badly drawn up. Civilians
who had taken part in the defence, as had all the Company's
servants, might be justly included in the garrison, and accordingly
Admiral Watson and Clive declared they were all prisoners of war,
and that article 9 merely permitted them to reside where they
pleased on _parole_. On the other hand, Renault and the French
Council declared that, being civilians, nothing could make them part
of the garrison, and therefore under article 9 they might do what
they pleased. Accordingly, they expressed much surprise when they
were stopped at the Fort gates by one of Clive's officers, and
forced to sign, before they were allowed to pass, a paper promising
not to act against Britain directly or indirectly during the course
of the war.

Another point of difficulty was in reference to article 7. The town
had been in the hands of the British soldiers and sepoys for days.
Much had been plundered, and both soldiers and sailors were wild for
loot. They considered that the Admiral was acting unjustly to them