Ralph Abercromby landed with a large force, reduced Cananor, and easily made himself master of every place held by the enemy in Malabar. He met with another auxiliary, who opened for him a passage into the heart of Tippoo's dominions. An account has been given of the injurious treatment suffered by the people of Coorg from the ruler of Mysore. Their youthful rajah, after a long captivity, had lately contrived to effect his return. The greater part of his subjects were groaning in exile; but in the depth of the woody recesses there was still a band of freemen, who rallied round him with enthusiastic ardour. By a series of exploits that might have adorned a tale of romance, the young prince recalled his people from the distant parts to which they had been driven,-organized them into a regu lar military body, drove the oppressors from post after post, and finally became complete master of Coorg, expelling the Mohammedan settlers who had been forcibly introduced. A common interest soon united him in strict alliance with General Abercromby, who thus obtained a route by which he could transport his army, without opposition, into the high plain of Mysore. The conveyance of the heavy cannon, however, was a most laborious task, as it was often necessary to drag them by ropes and pulleys up the tremendous steeps which form on this side the declivity of the Ghauts. At length the general had overcome every difficulty, and was in full march to join Lord Cornwallis, when he received orders to retreat, which, in this case too, could be effected only by the sacrifice of all the heavy artillery.

As his lordship was retiring, in a most shattered condition, upon Bangalore, the strength of the men sinking from want of food, and the sick being with the utmost difficulty dragged along, his troops were alarmed by the appearance on their left of a large body of cavalry, apparently the vanguard of a numerous army; but, as they were preparing for resistance, one of the horsemen rode up and called out that he was a Mahratta. This proved, in fact, to be no other than the first division of those potent allies under the command of Purseram Bhow and Hurry Punt. These chiefs had taken the field in good time, and this unfortunate delay had been occasioned by the siege of Darwar, a very strong place considerably to the northward, which Tippoo had carefully fortified and garrisoned with chosen troops.

JUNCTION WITH THE MAHRATTAS.

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Purseram Bhow, seconded by a small detachment of English, sat down before it in September, 1791; but our officers were almost distracted to see the manner in which this im portant siege was conducted. The Mahrattas, in working a battery, never pointed their cannon so as to make a breach in a particular spot, but aimed at random all round the wall. After loading a gun they sat down, smoked, and conversed for half an hour; then fired, reloaded, and resumed their conversation. Two hours at midday, by mutual consent, were set apart for meals and recreation. The English calculated seven years as the period in which a breach might be effected; and Colonel Frederick, an officer of high spirit, and animated with the most eager anxiety for the success of this important service, was seized with such chagrin that he fell ill and died. However, at the end of six months the garrison, finding their provisions become scarce, and discouraged by the fall of Bangalore, proposed terms of capitulation, which were granted, though ill observed. The great Mahratta army then moved leisurely forward into Mysore, where, in the manner before mentioned, they met with their European allies. Had Cornwallis been aware that this large force was advancing to his aid, he would probably have made every exertion to maintain his ground before Seringapatam; but the activity of Tippoo's light troops completely intercepted the intelli

gence.

As soon as these auxiliaries arrived, the scarcity in the cantonments of the English, which previously amounted almost to famine, ceased, so far as they were willing to pay the enormous prices that were extorted from their necessities. Every article abounded in that predatory host: it exhibited "the spoils of the East, and the industry of the West, from a web of English broad-cloth to a Birmingham penknife; from the shawls of Cashmere to the secondhand garment of the Hindoo; from diamonds of the first water to the silver earring of a poor plundered villagemaiden;" while "the tables of the money-changers, overspread with the coins of every country of the East, gave evidence of an extent of mercantile activity utterly inconceivable in any camp, excepting that of systematic plun derers, by wholesale and retail." These allies, however introduced the commander to a most useful class of men,

the brinjarries or grain-merchants, who, travelling in large armed bodies with their wives and children, made it their business to supply all the militant powers of Hindostan. They distributed their corn with the strictest impartiality to all who could pay for it; and the general, now amply supplied with funds, was no longer exposed to want, and easily obtained a preference over Tippoo, whose pecuniary resources were beginning to fail.

Although the army was thus relieved from the immediate pressure of distress, Lord Cornwallis did not conceive it possible to advance again upon Seringapatam till the arrival of a more favourable season, and till a fresh batteringtrain and other extensive supplies should be forwarded from Madras. In the mean time the troops were employed in the reduction of some of the tremendous droogs, or precipitous rocks, which rise as natural fortresses in this as well as in other of the elevated plains of India. Among these Nundidroog, almost inaccessible by nature, had been fortified with every care to render it impregnable, and was placed under the command of one of Tippoo's ablest officers. Yet Major Gowdie, after some successful experiments upon minor forts, undertook its reduction. The only one of its faces at all capable of approach had been strengthened near the top by a double wall; while the labour of estab lishing works on its steep and craggy sides, and conveying cannon to the batteries, was excessive. In twenty-one days two breaches were effected, and one morning, by clear moonlight, the assault was given by General Medows in person. The defence was vigorous; huge masses of granite were rolled down, with tremendous crash, from steep to steep; yet the assailants vanquished every obstacle, and, forcing the interior gate, effected their entrance. During the whole siege they had only 120 killed and wounded, of which 30 fell in the assault, chiefly by the stones precipitated from the summit.

The droogs being thus viewed as no longer impregnable, Colonel Stuart undertook Savendroog, which bore a still more formidable character, and had been considered by the commander as a place not to be attempted. Yet, after seven days' approaches and five of open batteries, it was carried by storm, without the loss of a single life. Ootradroog, struck with dismay by these successes, fell with little

ADVANCE UPON SERINGAPATAM.

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effort. A coup-de-main had meantime been attempted against Kistnagherry, the capital and bulwark of the Baramahl. This attempt failed; Colonel Maxwell being only able to burn the town, that it might not serve as a cover to predatory inroads. Tippoo, in the interval, had sent an expedition to the south, which succeeded, by a series of manœuvres, in carrying Coimbetoor with its English garrison; and, violating the capitulation, by which they were to be allowed to join in safety their countrymen at Palgaut, he caused them to be marched prisoners to Seringapatam.

After some abortive attempts at negotiation, Lord Cornwallis, having completed his preparations, and brought his army into a state of full equipment, determined no longer to delay his march upon the capital. He was now joined by the army of the nizam under his son Secunder Jah, which had been hitherto detained by the siege of Goorumconda. His followers consisted of a tumultuary host, closely resembling the corps already described, and giving little hope of an effective co-operation. Purseram Bhow, who, with his numerous body of Mahrattas, might have performed with great advantage the services assigned to light troops, had concluded that it would be more profitable to himself to turn aside and plunder the rich country of Bednore; and to this personal interest he hesitated not to sacrifice all the grand objects of the confederacy. Captain Little, who, with a corps of about a thousand men, had been attached to the army of the Bhow, was obliged to second him in all these irregular pursuits; the most arduous services devolving upon himself and his followers. At one time he was urged to attack a large detachment of Tippoo's army, stationed in an almost impenetrable jungle, covered by a deep ravine. With less than 750 bayonets he undertook the service, and, after a severe and even doubtful contest, dislodged the enemy with great loss,-an exploit considered one of the most brilliant by which this war was distinguished.

By these circumstances Lord Cornwallis was reduced to depend on the force under his own immediate command, amounting to 22,000 men, including 42 battering-guns and 44 field-pieces; and on that of General Abercromby, consisting of 8400 men, which he ordered immediately to apVOL. II.-I

proach Seringapatam. He began his march on the 1st February, 1792, and by proceeding in three lines instead of one, with his ordnance and heavy baggage in the centre, his infantry and light troops on the flanks, he avoided much of the annoyance hitherto experienced from the attacks of an active enemy.

On the 5th of the month, the English army, having reached a range of heights, discovered the Mysorean capital, in front of which Tippoo, with his whole force, amounting to between 40 and 50,000 infantry, and 5000 cavalry, appeared strongly intrenched. In Colonel Wilks's opinion, he would have practised with greater advantage his early system of desultory warfare, by throwing into the capital a strong garrison under a faithful commander, while he himself, with his light cavalry, might have endeavoured to intercept the supplies and communications of the enemy. The sultan, however, it is probable, fully trusted to the strength of his present position, and also hoped, by maintaining it, that he might weary out and finally exhaust his antagonist, in the same manner as Hyder, in 1767, had baffled the formidable invasion of the Mahrattas. His encampment was exceedingly strong, covered in front by a thick bamboo-hedge and by a small river and canal, while the actual position of his army was secured in front by a fortified hill and a chain of redoubts, and its rear by the works of the city and island, which, at the same time, afforded a secure retreat. This situation was such, as, in the opinion of many, and particularly of all the native officers, precluded every idea of attack. Lord Cornwallis, however, considered that while his movements were delayed, this intrenchment would be continually strengthened by new works, and that his own situation, amid a hostile country and allies so little to be trusted, would become always more difficult and precarious. He determined, therefore, to make an immediate and general attack; though it appeared necessary, as in the storming of a fortress, to carry on his operations under cover of night, when the batteries by which the camp was defended could not be directed with any degree of precision.

The troops to be employed in this hazardous service were divided into three columns, under General Medows, Colonels Stuart and Maxwell; the commander with the