1802, they embarked at Suez and returned to India, having thus served to give the world a high idea of the power and resources of England.

On new-year's day, 1802, Lord Wellesley wrote to the Court of Directors, tendering his resignation. In effect, he had met with treatment from that body which a man of his high spirit could not endure. Nor indeed could harmony have well been expected; for he was a nobleman and a statesman, while they could not divest themselves of the principles of the counting-house. They had become sovereigns, and yet they would act as merchants.

Lord Wellesley had increased the army, a measure of absolute necessity; the Directors sent a peremptory order for its reduction, which he wisely disobeyed. He gave his brother, Col. Wellesley, when left to command in Mysore, such additional allowances as he deemed suitable; the Court ordered them to be reduced. He had appointed his other brother, and other men of capacity, to situations of trust; and the Court, assuming a power which it did not possess, insisted on displacing them, and nominating others in their place.

But it was not merely that his enlarged views of polity went far beyond the limited vision of the Directors, his measures had excited the anger of a powerful, and deeply selfish body, who had great influence in the Court-the ship-owners of London. For, finding that the tonnage allotted to private merchants in the Company's ships was quite insufficient, beside being uncertain and dreadfully expensive, he permitted the merchants of Calcutta to take up ships on their own account, for carrying Indian goods to England. As these ships were Indian-built, the Company and the ship-owners trembled for their respective monopolies, and became virulently hostile to the Governor-general, who, however, was supported by the Board of Control.

The foundation of the college of Fort William was another measure which transcended the ideas of the Directors, and therefore met with their most strenuous opposition.

The duties of the servants of the Company in India were no longer what they had been originally. Formerly they had only to act as clerks and factors, now they were required to discharge the duties of statesmen and judges, as residents at native courts, as collectors of the revenue, as presidents of courts of justice. It appears plain to common sense, though Lord Wellesley seems to have been the first to perceive it, that the mere reading, writing, and arithmetic education of the old writer would no longer suffice, and that a knowledge of the languages, laws, and institutions of India was now become absolutely requisite. To give this and other appropriate branches of knowledge, the Governor-general, whose own mind was richly stored with the literature of the west, and all whose ideas were vast and magnificent, erected a college at Fort William, whither he proposed that all the young men destined for the three Presidencies should be sent, and where, under the guidance of two pious clergymen, they should be subjected to academic discipline, while their minds should be enlarged, and their hearts strengthened by instruction in ethics, history, jurisprudence, and international law, and be taught the requisite

oriental languages by competent native instructors. But the Directors were both affrighted and offended; they ordered the immediate abolition of this splendid institution, and would only permit of meagre establishments at the three Presidencies, for teaching the common dialects of the country. Lord Wellesley's plan was certainly too vast, and was liable to many objections; but he had made it evident that a change of system was indispensable, and the Company afterwards founded a college in England for the proper instruction of their young civilians.,

At the request of both the Court of Directors and the Board of Control, Lord Wellesley consented to remain some time longer in India, and he soon had abundant occupation for his time and talents.

CHAPTER IV.

Affairs of the Marattas-Treaty of Bassein-Commencement of Maratta War-Sindia's French Troops-Capture of Ahmednugur, Baroach, and Alyghur-Battle of Delhi -Delivery of the Emperor-Capture of Agra-Battle of Laswaree-Of Assye-Capture of Asseerghur-Battle of Argâm-Capture of Gawylghur-Treaties with the Rajah of Berar and Sindia.

THERE were now, in reality, only two powers in India, the English and the Marattas. The former was united under one system, and one hand, and had the support of a powerful empire, and the advantages of European knowledge; the latter was divided into a number of independent, and sometimes hostile states, and had only the degree of knowledge hereditary in the east. In any conflict, and such was sure to come, the final result conld hardly be doubtful.

Lord Wellesley, to avert the danger of collision, had been anxious to induce the Peishwa, as head of the Maratta name, to form a subsidiary treaty with the British government. That prince was at this time, however, merely a puppet in the hands of Sindia, now the most potent of the Maratta chiefs; for the power of the Holkar family had nearly ceased. In 1797, Tukajee Holkar died, leaving two legitimate, and two illegitimate sons. The two former disputing the succession, repaired to Poona, where Sindia murdered one, and made the other his dependent, he also possessed himself of the infant child of the murdered prince. But Jeswunt Rao Holkar, one of the remaining sons, having made his escape from Poona, contrived to collect an army of adventurers, and proclaimed his infant nephew, and on the 14th October, 1801, he gave Sindia battle near Indore, the capital of the Holkar family, at the head of nearly 70,000 men. But he was routed, and fled, with the loss of his artillery and baggage. He, however, speedily repaired the disaster, and in the following year he marched with a large force for Poona.

The Peishwa was anxious to emancipate himself from the power of Sindia, but at the same time he had a strong dislike to becoming a dependent on the British. He therefore refused to consent to the proposed treaty until after the defeat of Holkar, and the augmented power of Sindia, when he

A. D. 1803.

offered to subsidize six battalions, but not to be stationed in his dominions, and to assign territory in Hindustân for their payment. As he really had no territory north of the Nerbudda, and there were other objections, this treaty was rejected. The negotiation then languished, till Holkar was within a short distance of Poona. The Peishwa then sent to the resident, Col. Close, offering to agree to the troops being stationed within his territory, and to assign for their maintenance a district bordering on the Toombudra. A few days after (October 25, 1802) the troops of the Peishwa and Sindia gave battle to those of Holkar. The Peishwa, to be prepared for the event, moved out of the city with the banner of the empire, and at the same time sent his minister to the resident with the subsidiary treaty, and his seal affixed to it. After a sharp conflict of some hours, victory remained with Holkar. The Peishwa fled to the fort of Singhur, and thence to the coast, whence he was finally conveyed in a British ship to Bassein (December 16). He was there joined by Col. Close, who had remained some time at Poona, where he was treated with great respect by Holkar, and on the last day of the year the subsidiary treaty was signed and sealed.

The British were now to put the Peishwa in possession of his dominions. For this purpose the whole subsidiary force of the Nizâm's territories, and a portion of his own troops, marched to the frontier town of Porainda, within 116 miles of Poona. It was then joined (April 15, 1803) by a large detachment of the Madras army, under Major-gen. (late Col.) Wellesley, to whom the chief command had been assigned by Lord Clive. The whole force now numbered about 24,000 foot, and 12,000 horse. Holkar had retired from Poona, leaving there a garrison of 1500 men. reported that it was their intention to plunder and burn the town on the approach of the British, and Gen. Wellesley, in order to prevent this, made a march of sixty miles in thirty-two hours, and arrived unexpectedly before Poona. The garrison retired when he appeared (April 20), and soon after (May 13) the Peishwa, accompanied by Col. Close, re-entered his capital.

It was

It was a great object with Lord Wellesley to induce Sindia to agree to a treaty, similar to that with the Peishwa. For this purpose Col. Collins had been sent to the camp of that prince, which was now at Bûrhampûr, in the Deckan. Sindia thence moved to meet the army of the rajah of Berâr, accompanied at his own desire by Col. Collins, to whom, in a conference he said, "After my conference with the rajah of Berâr, you shall know whether it will be peace or war. "", These chiefs met on the 4th June, and after various fruitless efforts to obtain explicit answers from them, the resident quitted Sindia's camp on the 3rd August, and war with the confederates commenced.

The plan of the war formed by Lord Wellesley was grand and comprehensive. While Gen. Wellesley was to act against the confederates in the Deckan, Gen. Lake, the commander-in-chief, was to enter Sindia's territories from Oude, destroy if possible his army there, under French officers, extend the British dominion to the right bank of the Jumna, and obtain possession of the person of the emperor. It was also intended to annex Bundelcund, and to take Cuttack from the rajah of

143

Ac

Berâr, which would give to the British the whole line of coast from Bengal to Cape Comorin. cording to Lord Wellesley's usual and generous practice, both commanders were vested with the fullest powers, either for war or negotiation.

The French corps of Sindia's, which had become so important, had been originally formed by a man named De Boigne, a native of Savoy, who, having entered the French service, had afterwards passed to that of Russia. Having become acquainted with Lord Percy, he afterwards proceeded to Madras, furnished with letters from that nobleman to Lord Macartney, and to Mr. Hastings. He there entered the service of the Nabob of Arcot, but he soon went to Bengal, and telling Hastings that his object was to explore Cashmere and the shores of the Caspian, he proceeded to Lucknow, with letters from him to the vizîr and the resident. He, however, stopped there, and engaged in trade; but soon after he entered the service of Sindia, to whom he was strongly recommended by the resident, Mr. Anderson. He disciplined for him two battalions, which were found so effectual, that the number was finally raised to twenty; and all Sindia's victories had been gained by their discipline and prowess. These battalions were officered by both French and Englishmen ; they were formed into three brigades, whose commanders were named Perron, Pedrons, and Sutherland. Some years later, De Boigne, who had amassed a fortune of, it is said, 400,000l., quitted the service of Sindia, and returned to Europe, and the chief command then fell to Perron.

Perron had come to India as a common sailor, in a French ship of war. He had entered De Boigne's corps, and had risen by his talent. As in the usual way districts had been assigned to the former for the support of his troops, Perron succeeded to them, and he consolidated his power, and extended his influence so much, that he had, as Lord Wellesley says, "founded an independent French state on the most vulnerable part of the Company's frontier," namely, on the banks of the Jumna.

The two British armies took the field simultaneously, early in August. On the 8th, Gen. Wellesley appeared before Ahmednugur: and on the refusal of the killidar to surrender, the pettah was carried, and a battery was opened against the fort (10th). Two days after (12th) it surrendered, and Sindia thus lost all his territory south of the Godâveri. A few days later (29th) the town and fort of Baroach, on the Nerbudda, were taken by a force sent against it, under Col. Wordington.

On that very day (29th) Gen. Lake crossed Sindia's frontier from Canouj, and proceeded to attack a part of Perron's corps which was stationed near Alyghur. The British cavalry, supported by the infantry and the guns, advanced against it; but the enemy fled without venturing to receive their charge. An attempt to bribe Pedrons, who commanded in Alyghur, to surrender, having failed, preparations were made for the attack of that fort; and ere break of day, on the 4th September, the storming party, led by Col. Monson, advanced against it. Though exposed to a destructive fire, they succeeded in blowing open the first gate; they forced a second, and a third; at the fourth they could only force the wicket, but they made

their way through it, and mounted the ramparts, and in the space of an hour from the first attack they were masters of Alyghur. They found here a great quantity of stores, and 281 pieces of can

non.

Shortly after, Perron put into execution a design he had formed for some time, namely, that of quitting Sindia's service, and retiring with his property, which was large, into the British territory. For this he had various motives; the English he saw were determined to destroy his power; but even if they did not, he had been supplanted in the favour of Sindia, who was both jealous and afraid of him, by a native chief named Ambajee Inglia, and this last had intrigued successfully with his officers. After the capture of Alyghur, he renewed the application he had more than once made to the British authorities; it was promptly complied with, and he proceeded to Luck

now.

Gen. Lake now advanced toward Delhi, and on the 18th, after a march that day of eighteen miles, his troops arrived within six miles of that city. But just as they were going to encamp, the enemy began to appear, and the general on advancing with his cavalry to reconnoitre, found them drawn up in order of battle on a rising ground, their flanks protected by swamps. They were commanded by a Frenchman named Louis Bouquin. Gen. Lake resolved to attack them, and sent orders to his infantry and artillery to advance. Meantime the cavalry suffered from the enemy's guns, and the general's own horse was killed under him. He at length ordered the cavalry to fall back, in the hope of drawing the enemy from their position. His plan succeeded; they advanced with their guns; the cavalry still retreated till the infantry came up, they then opened and allowed the latter to pass; and though the enemy continued to rain grape and shot on them, they steadily advanced with their muskets to their shoulders, till within a hundred yards of the enemy's line. They then fired a volley, and, headed by the general, made a charge of bayonets. The enemy broke and fled; the cavalry poured through intervals made by the infantry, and pursued them to the Jumna. The loss of the enemy is stated at 3000, that of the British at 450 men, in killed and wounded. All their stores and ammunition, with sixty-eight pieces of ordnance, fell into the hands of the victors, who encamped next day opposite to Delhi. On the 14th they began to cross the river, and on that same day Bouquin, and four other French officers, surrendered themselves.

In Delhi they found the Emperor Shah Alum, now a blind, helpless, poor old man. He had been for many years a puppet in the hands of the Marattas, but he experienced his worst treatment, not from them, but from Gholâm Kâdir, a son of Zabita Khan, the Rohilla, whom he had made his Ameer-ul-Omrah. The emperor, to escape his tyranny, sought in secret the aid of Sindia, on whose approach the Rohilla resolved to plunder the palace and retire. For this purpose he violated even the sanctity of the Zenana; and after insulting and abusing the emperor in every possible way, he deprived him of sight with his dagger, and then fled to Meerut 3. When Perron got the 3 He was afterwards taken, his eyes, ears, nose, hands, and feet were cut off, and he was shut up in an iron-cage.

command of this part of India, Delhi was under his authority, and the unhappy emperor met with somewhat kinder treatment. Still his lot was a hard one, and he rejoiced at the prospect of falling into the hands of the British. He received the general seated under a small tattered canopy, the best his fortunes would allow, and bestowed on him all he had to give, a profusion of high sounding titles. To restore him to dominion was now a thing not to be done; but means were henceforth supplied sufficient to yield him in abundance all the enjoyments of life.

Leaving Lieut.-col. Ochterlony with a garrison in Delhi, Gen. Lake marched for Agra. On his arrival, (Oct. 4,) he summoned the fort. No answer being returned, he cleared the town of the troops that were in it, and commenced operations for the siege. On the 14th the garrison sent demanding a cessation of hostilities, till they should have proposed terms. The general agreed, and sent an officer to them; but he found nothing but dissension among them, and while he was there they even recommenced firing. They had only sought to gain time; on the 17th, however, when the great battery was completed, and began to play on the fort, they offered to capitulate, and next day they marched out, being secured in their persons and property. The ordnance found here exceeded 200 guns.

An army composed of fifteen battalions from the Deckan, and two which had escaped from Delhi, provided with a numerous train of artillery, being still in the field, Gen. Lake left Agra (27th) in pursuit of it. By leaving his heavy artillery at Futtipore, and by making forced marches, he reached on the 31st the ground which the enemy had quitted that morning. He now resolved to pursue them with his cavalry, in order to detain them till the infantry should come up; and setting out at midnight, after a march of twenty-five miles he came up with them soon after day-break (Nov. 1,) near the village of Laswaree. Supposing them to be in retreat, he departed from his original plan, and resolved to attack them at once. But his cavalry could make no impression, and men and horse were mowed down by the Maratta artillery. At 11 o'clock the infantry came up, and the enemy then sent offering to surrender their guns on terms. He gave themi an hour to consider, and when at the end of it no answer had come, he put his troops in motion. The infantry moved in two columns, one of which was to turn the enemy's right and attack the village of Laswaree, the other was to support the first; the cavalry was formed in two brigades.

The march of the first column lay along the bank of a rivulet where they were for some time concealed from the view of the enemy, but as soon as they came in sight, a tremendous fire of grape was opened upon them. The king's 76th was at the head of the column, and such was the havoc made in its ranks, that when it arrived at the point from which the charge was to be made, Gen. Lake thought it better to attack at once with it and some other infantry which had come up, than to wait for the rest of the column which had been delayed. As this "handful of heroes," as the general justly termed them, advanced, they In this condition he was sent to Delhi, but he died on the road.

4 It lies seventy-three miles north-west of Agra.

A. D. 1803.

145

The victory was due to the indomitable valour of the 76th, and the native troops which supported them. The conduct of the general is liable to the charge of temerity and want of judgment; but of his courage there could be no doubt. He headed every charge, he had two horses shot under him ; and his soll, who was his aid-de-camp, was himself wounded in the arm as he was remounting his gallant father.

The victory of Laswaree completed the overthrow of Sindia's power in the north. We will now trace the contemporary course of events in the Deckan.

After the reduction of Ahmednugur, Gen. Wellesley moved to Aurungabâd. The troops of the confederates were now at Jalnapûr, forty miles eastward of that city, and their design seemed to be to go on southwards, cross the Godâveri, and advance on Hyderabâd. To prevent them he proceeded to that river, and marched along it eastwards. The enemy then moved northwards from Jalnapûr till they were joined by sixteen of Sindia's disciplined battalions, commanded by two Frenchmen. Meanwhile Col. Stevenson with the Nizâm's subsidiary force had taken Jalna; and as the two British forces were now near each other, the two commanders held a conference (Sept. 21), and arranged a plan for a combined attack on the enemy on the morning of the 24th at a place named Bokerdun, where they were said to be lying. The general was to attack their left, Col. Stevenson their right. The former marched so as to arrive on the 23rd within twelve or fourteen miles of the enemy; but on that day to his surprise, he found himself within six miles of them, for Bokerdun being the name of the district as well as of the town, it was the former his informants had meant. It was only the enemy's right that was at the town; their camp extended thence several miles to Assye. As Col. Stevenson would not be up till next day, and it was reported that the enemy was about to retire, and as if he himself were now to fall back he might be harassed by them, Gen. Wellesley resolved to give battle, though their army contained four times as much infantry as his own, had a numerous cavalry, abundance of artillery, and was strongly posted.

As the enemy's right, in front of which he found himself, consisted wholly of cavalry, he resolved to attack their left; and crossing a river which lay between them, he advanced to the attack with his infantry in two lines, supported by the cavalry in a third. The enemy having occupied the village of Assye with infantry and cannon, Gen. Wellesley directed the officer commanding the pickets on the

mistaking the orders, led directly on it, followed by the 74th, which was to support the pickets. The consequence was, that they suffered most severely by the cannonade from Assye, and were also charged by the enemy's cavalry, to repel which the general was obliged to bring the British cavalry sooner into action than he had intended. It also suffered from the cannonade, and when the time came for employing it in pursuit, it was unable to act. Another bad result was, that when the cavalry was thus withdrawn from the rear, many of the enemy who had, in Indian fashion, lain on the earth as if dead, rose and turned their guns on the backs of the British. The enemy finally went off, leaving 98 pieces of cannon in the hands of the victors, and 1200 men dead on the field. The loss of the British was very severe : out of a force of 4500 men, they had 428 killed, and 1138 wounded, a third of the entire number.

It was a disputed point among military men, whether Gen. Wellesley was justified in engaging with such a disparity of force; but all were unanimous in praise of his skill and conduct in the action. His personal courage also was conspicuous, and two horses were killed under him.

When Col. Stevenson came up, he was prevented from going in pursuit of the enemy by the necessity there was for the wounded men having the care of his surgeons. He then moved northwards into Candeish, where Bûrhampûr, the capital, opened its gates (Oct. 15), and the strong fortress of Asseerghur, named the Key of the Deckan, capitulated as soon as he had opened his batteries against it (20th). Meantime, Gen. Wellesley remained in the south, covering his operations, and protecting the territories of the Nizâm and the Peishwa by a series of rapid and harassing marches.

Sindia, who had now lost the whole of his possessions in the Deckan, became anxious to treat, and his envoys, though without proper credentials, appeared in the camp of Gen. Wellesley. Their master at first disavowed, then acknowledged them; and at length a cessation of arms was accorded him, provided he always kept at a distance of 40 miles from the British troops: but the general refused to extend it to the troops of the rajah of Berâr, whose interests he wished to separate from those of Sindia.

;

Col. Stevenson was now moving, by directions of Gen. Wellesley, to attack the strong hill-fort of Gawylghur, to the north of Elichpûr, in Berâr ; and meantime that general advanced to support him, descending the Ghâts by Rajoora. The rajah of Berâr's army, commanded by his brother, was at a place named Parterly, not far from Elichpur, and the cavalry of Sindia, who had not yet ratified the armistice, lay within four miles of it. Col. Stevenson, on hearing of Gen. Wellesley's advance, prudently halted, and the armies joined (Nov. 29) within view of the enemy's camp, who retired at their approach. The general had no intention of pursuit, as the day was hot and the troops had made a long march; but on his going to put forward the pickets, he saw the enemy drawn up on the plains of Argâm, about six miles from where he had intended to encamp. His plan was formed at once he resolved to attack; and the British troops advanced in a single column, parallel to the enemy's lines, the cavalry leading. The line of

L

the enemy extended five miles; the village of Argâm, with its gardens and enclosures in its rear, and a plain, intersected with water-courses, in its front. Sindia's cavalry was on the right, a body of the irregular horse, named Pindarries, on the left.

The British infantry were formed in line for the attack, supported by the cavalry in a second line. When the cannonading began, three regiments of native infantry, who had behaved admirably at Assye, took panic, and were flying, but Gen. Wellesley, who was luckily at hand, stopped and rallied them, and then the whole line advanced in good order. The 76th and 78th regiments cut to pieces a body of Persians, to whom they were opposed on the right, and the charge of Sindia's cavalry on the left being repelled with great slaughter, the whole line broke and fled, leaving thirty-eight guns, and all their ammunition. The lateness of the day saved them, for it was the opinion of Gen. Wellesley, that if there had been an hour more of daylight, not a man would have escaped. As it was, their loss was very great; that of the British was only 346 killed and wounded.

The British army now marched to Elichpûr, where they formed a hospital (Dec. 6), and next day they moved for Gawylghur. This stood on a lofty mountain, on a range between the sources of the Taptee and Poona rivers. It consisted of an inner fort on the steep southern extremity, an outer one to the north, and beyond this a strong wall at the village of Labada. To each of these there was a gate opening to the country: but the two first were so difficult of approach, that it was deemed most advisable to make the attack at the wall, though it imposed the hardship of a toilsome march of thirty miles through the mountains. This task was committed to Col. Stevenson, who overcame the enormous difficulty of dragging artillery through these nearly pathless mountains; and on the night of the 12th he erected his batteries. Gen. Wellesley did the same on the south, to occupy the attention of the enemy. On the night of the 14th, the storming party from the north advanced under the command of Col. Kenny, while two attacks from the south were made by part of the troops of Gen. Wellesley. After a short time After a short time the fort was carried, with the loss of 126 men killed and wounded.

The rajah of Berar had been already negotiating for peace, and the fall of Gawylghur made him redouble his efforts, and, on the 17th, a treaty was concluded. By this treaty the rajah resigned to the English and their allies, the province of Cuttack, which had been reduced by a force under Col. Harcourt; he relinquished all claims on the possessions of the Nizâm; he bound himself not to employ any Europeans or Americans without the consent of the Company; and agreed to separate himself from the confederacy formed against them by Sindia and other Maratta chiefs.

Sindia also was now really anxious for peace, and on the 30th, a similar treaty was concluded with him. He surrendered Baroach and Ahmednugur and their territories, and all the country north of those of the rajahs of Jypûr and Jodhpur, and the rana of Gohud; in which however his family, and ministers and officers, were to retain their jagheers under the British government. He gave up all

claims on the British and their allies, and agreed to exclude Frenchmen and others from his service.

The Peishwa having had claims on Bundelcund, the British, as his allies, had entered that country and reduced it. The treaty of Bassein was now modified: the cessions he had made in the Deckan and Guzerat were returned to him, and Bundelcund was taken in exchange.

Early in the following year (1804), Capt. Malcolm was sent to Sindia's camp, and concluded with him (Feb. 27) a treaty of alliance, Sindia agreeing to receive a subsidiary force. Treaties of alliance had also been formed with the rana of Gohud and some of the Rajpoot princes.

CHAPTER V.

War with Holkar-Col. Monson's Retreat-Siege of DelhiBattle of Deeg-Rout of Holkar-Capture of Deeg-Siege of Bhurtpore-Conduct of Sindia-Resignation of the Marquis of Wellesley.

HOLKAR alone now remained to give trouble to the British government. He had been preparing to take share in the late war, and a body of his troops, led by his friend and confederate Ameer Khân, was actually on its march to join Sindia, when tidings of the battle of Assye caused it to halt. He, however, plundered the territories of some of the British allies, and when warned of the consequences of such conduct, and counselled to send vakeels to the British camp, his demands were so unreasonable and so insolent, that orders were sent (Apr. 16.) to Gens. Lake and Wellesley to commence operations against him.

Gen. Wellesley, who had expected, and was therefore prepared for this event, sent orders to Col. Murray, who commanded in Gûzerât, to advance toward Sindia's capital, Ûjein, in order to co-operate with Gen. Lake, who was now moving in quest of Holkar. This chief having been on a real or pretended pilgrimage to Ajmeer, was now plundering the lands of Jyenuger or Jypoor, to protect the capital of which, a detachment was sent forward under the command of Col. Monson. At its approach, Holkar moved southwards, and the British followed, Monson's detachment being in advance. As the only place which Holkar now possessed north of the Chumbul was the fort of Tonk, fifty miles south of Jypoor, a detachment was sent to attack it; and by blowing open the gates in the usual way it was carried (May 15). Holkar being now at too great a distance for pursuit, the general, as the hot winds were prevailing and the cattle even perishing, resolved to lead all the troops but Monson's detachment back into the British territory. There seems to have been no great wisdom in this determination; for the hardships endured and the loss of men caused by the power of the fiery wind, were such, that it would have been just as well to advance as to retreat.

Holkar had been followed by two corps of native cavalry commanded by Col. Gardiner of the rajah of Jypoor's, and Lieut. Lucan of the king's service, and Col. Monson, on being joined by Col. Don from Tonk, moved for Kôtah, (150 miles S. E.