Intelligence of the disaster at Anjengo did not reach Bombay till the
beginning of July. The monsoon was in full force, and no assistance could
be sent till it was over. Men and supplies were gathered in from Carwar
and Surat, and, on the 17th October, Mr. Midford, with three hundred men,
reached Anjengo. His report on the state of affairs he found there makes
it a matter of surprise that the place had not fallen. The safety of the
fort had been entirely due to Gunner Ince. Sewell's behaviour was that of
a fool or a madman. Together with Lapthorne, he had set the example of
plundering the Company, and their men had done as much damage as the enemy.
Sewell, as storekeeper, had no books, and said he never had kept any.
Lapthorne had retained two months' pay, due to the men killed with Gyfford,
and asserted his right to it. Much of the Company's treasure was
unaccounted for, and Mrs. Gyfford had carried off the books. Midford sent
Sewell and Lapthorne under arrest to Bombay, where they were let off with
a scolding, and proceeded to restore order. The Rani and Venjamutta were
friendly, but told him he must take his own vengeance on the Nairs for
their inhuman action. So he commenced a series of raids into the
surrounding country, which reduced it to some sort of subjection. Soon
there came an order for most of his men to be sent back to Bombay, where
warlike measures against Angria were on foot. A cessation of arms was
patched up, and Midford installed himself as chief.

He proved to be no honester than his predecessors. He monopolized the
pepper trade on his own private account, making himself advances out of
the Company's treasury. In less than a year he was dead, but before his
death Alexander Orme,[11] then a private merchant on the coast, was sent
to Anjengo as chief of the factory, at the special request of the Rani.
Before long, Orme had to report to the Council that there were due to the
Company, from Gyfford's estate, 559,421 fanams, and that 140,260 gold
fanams had disappeared during Midford's chiefship which could not be