Of the privateers which hung about in Indian waters, one of the most notorious was the _Malartic_, which had captured two of the East Indiamen, _Raymond_ and _Woodcot_, of 793 and 802 tons respectively. Whenever it was known that this ship was in the offing, no merchantman dared put to sea. She eventually captured the _Princess Royal_, an 805 tonner, and other East Indiamen, but was herself finally taken by the Company’s ship _Phœnix_. So great was the relief occasioned by this deliverance that Captain Moffat, the _Phœnix’s_ commander, was afterwards publicly presented with a sword of honour. But an even more dangerous privateer was the _Confiance_. This was a very beautiful ship, and the envy of every captain who set eyes on her. Captain Eastwick, who knew her well, and to whose account I am indebted, described her as follows:—“She sat very low upon the water, and had black sides with yellow moulding posts, and a French stern all black. She carried a red vane at her maintopgallant masthead, very square yards and jaunt masts, upright and without the smallest rake either forward or aft. Her sails were all cut French fashion, and remarkable, having a great roach and steering sail, very square. There was not a ship in those seas that she could not overtake or sail away from. It was the custom of her commander, Captain Sourcouff, to ply his crew with liquor, and they always fought with the madness of drink in them.”
It was this ship which attacked the East Indiaman _Kent_, and after a heavy engagement killed or wounded no fewer than sixty of the merchantman’s crew, with the result that the latter was forced to haul down her flag. When the news of this occurrence reached Calcutta, two of the Company’s frigates were sent in pursuit of the privateer, and both coming up with her began to attack with such determination that it was certain the _Confiance_ would have to yield. This, however, she refused to do, and though she had only twenty-two guns, her captain fought his ship with great gallantry, and even though his losses were necessarily great, he was able at the end to escape by the speed of his ship. The _Kent_, however, was retaken from the clutches of the _Confiance_ and brought into Calcutta, and a few years later the _Confiance_ herself was also captured. And you may imagine with what joy the news of her capture was received when it was reckoned that within one single twelvemonth not less than £2,000,000 worth of British shipping had been captured or sunk by the French privateers or men-of-war.