_A TROUBLED YEAR IN BOMBAY_

Loss of the _Hunter_ galley--Quarrel with Portuguese--Alliance of
Portuguese with Angria--War with both--A double triumph--Portuguese make
peace--Angria cowed--Matthews reappears--Trouble caused by him--He
returns to England--Court-martialled--The last of Matthews.


The year succeeding Boone's departure was a stirring one in Bombay. On the
27th February, the _Eagle_ and _Hunter_ galleys, while off Bassein,
convoying a Surat ship, were attacked by four of Angria's grabs. After a
five-hours' engagement, during which the _Hunter_ made three attempts at
boarding, an unlucky shot ignited some loose powder, and the galley blew
up, every soul on board perishing. A similar explosion, though less
serious, took place on board the _Eagle_, which forced her to take refuge
in a shattered condition in Saragon harbour. Here the Portuguese showed
such unfriendliness, that the Council were obliged to send other galleys
to protect and bring the _Eagle_ away.

Since the conclusion of the Portuguese treaty with Angria, an angry
correspondence had gone on between Goa and Bombay, and soon the old causes
of quarrel were revived. The chief of these was the levying of duties at
certain places. The General of the North, who had tried to force on a
quarrel a year before, smarting, doubtless, under the treatment he had
received from Matthews at the siege of Alibagh, began to levy duties on
provisions coming from Bombay to Portuguese territory. Phipps retaliated
by levying customs duties at Mahim, which the Portuguese had always
claimed to be free to both nations. The quarrel grew hot. The General of
the North forbade all communication with Bombay, and, on the 26th May, a