fell aboard the _Restoration_, and boarded. On this, the colours were
struck, Leake ran below, an example that was followed by his crew, and the
ship was taken. When they were released, some months afterwards, the
Council, after due inquiry, decided that Leake and his officers should not
serve the Company again till the Directors' pleasure was known.

Meanwhile, the Coolees of Guzerat had become very troublesome. In 1749,
they captured a Bengal ship with Rs.60,000 in hard cash on board, and a
cargo of nearly equal value. Their depredations continuing, the Dutch
proposed joint action against them; so, in December, 1750, a joint Dutch
and English squadron forced the defences of the Coorla River, burnt and
captured twenty-three of their vessels, and reduced them to quietness for
a time.

Toolajee had now become very powerful. From Cutch to Cochin his vessels
swept the coast in greater numbers than Conajee had ever shown, and
cruised defiantly off Bombay harbour. But for the presence of four King's
ships on the coast, Bombay trade would have suffered severely. When
Boscawen left Indian waters,[3] after receiving over Madras from the
French, he detached four ships, the _Vigilant_, Tartar_, _Ruby_, and
_Syren_, to cruise on the West coast, under Commodore Lisle. For two years,
the protection afforded by Lisle's squadron gave some security to the
Bombay coast trade. As the small sailing boats, in which the coast trade
was carried on, made their way under convoy of the King's ships, Angria's
squadrons hovered round to pick up stragglers, and several slight
encounters took place. The superior sailing powers of the Mahratta vessels
enabled them to keep out of range of the big guns, while they snatched
prizes within sight of the men-of-war. Thus, in February, 1750, three
small traders were snapped up, while under convoy of the _Ruby_, by an
Angrian squadron that hung on their tracks for four days, between Bombay