He played his part at the capture of Gheriah, and, in the following year, when the news of the disaster at Calcutta became known in Bombay, he was sent down in the _Revenge_, with four hundred men, to join the force sent up from Madras under Watson and Clive.

Off Calicut he encountered the French ship _Indien_, carrying twenty-four guns and over two hundred men, and captured her.

He afterwards joined the board of Directors, was created a baronet, had a seat in Parliament, and, in time, became chairman of the Company.
Sterne, in the last year of his life, formed a close friendship with Mr.
and Mrs.James, and, a few days before he died, recommended his daughter Lydia to their care.
On the 22nd March, 1755, James sailed from Bombay in the _Protector_, forty guns, having with him the _Swallow_, sixteen guns, the _Viper_ bombketch, and the _Triumph_ prahm.

The following day, he sighted an Angrian squadron of seven grabs and eleven gallivats, which he chased for a couple of hours without success.

Two days later, he was joined off Chaul by the Peishwa's fleet, consisting of seven grabs, two batellas, and about forty gallivats.