Cauvery. This was the course taken by This little band defended themselves with Lord Cornwallis and the part of the right an indomitable heroism deserving the column which had joined him; and on the highest praise. The day had been oppresmorning of the 7th of February, the left sively sultry; and after the last attack, column, part of the central and right columns," within the narrow limits which bounded and the reserve, were in the pettah of Seringapatam, part of the right and of the centre being on the Carighant hill. the efforts of the garrison, two officers and nineteen privates lay dead; while three officers and twenty-three privates, miserably And where was Tippoo? It was after- wounded, were passionately imploring water, wards ascertained that he had taken his which their companions had not to bestow, evening meal in a strong redoubt on the being without a single drop even for themriver, called "the Sultan's redoubt," where selves. Thus surrounded within by death he was when the English forced their way and suffering, and exposed without to the into his camp, and he saw some of the as- attacks of a vast army, supported by the sailants making for the river. Alarmed guns of a well-appointed fortress, did this lest his communication with the city should gallant band maintain, not their post alone, be cut off, he, went to the ford himself, but their own honour, and that of the crossed it just in advance of the English, country which they served. Great were and, having had several of his attendants their labours and their difficulties, but brilkilled around him, he entered the same liant and unfading is the glory by which gate which Captain Lindsay assailed, only a they were compensated."* few minutes before the arrival of the latter. His treasurer also secured the money he had with him in camp-the army having to be paid on the following day-by placing it in bags, on camels, which were driven across the ford, intermingled with the British troops. Reaching the other side, the faithful servant collected his beasts of burden, conducted them, by the glacis, to a gate in a different direction to that in which the English were advancing, and succeeded, we are told, in getting into the city without the loss of a single rupee.-The greater part of the army that remained faithful to the sultan was also in Seringapatam; but as he was served from fear, not love, many deserted; and one corps, 10,000 strong, composed of Coorgs, compulsorily embodied, left the camp with their wives and children, and dispersed in the woods.-Many Europeans, forcibly detained in the service of Tippoo, also went over to the English; amongst them was M. Blévette, a Frenchman, under whose superintendence the fortifications of the camp had been constructed. The following day was employed in efforts, by the English, to establish themselves in the camp and on the island, and by Tippoo to dislodge them. Attack after attack was made by the sultan's forces, under cover of discharges from the artillery of the fort but all failed. These attacks were more especially directed to "the Sultan's redoubt," which was occupied by about one hundred Europeans and fifty sepoys, under Captain Sibbald, of the 71st. In the affairs of the night of the 6th and the 7th, the English lost, in killed and wounded, 535 men; the loss of Tippoo, exclusive of the deserters, could not be less than 4,000.-The morning of the 8th found him, with the remainder of his army (except the cavalry, which was on the other side of the Cauvery), shut up within the walls of Seringapatam, which the English were preparing to besiege. Preparatory to their operations, they took possession of the Laul Baugh, on the eastern part of the island, where there was a handsome palace, a beautifully laid-out garden, and the rich mausoleum of Hyder Ali. The buildings were converted into hospitals; and all the magnificent cypresses and other trees were cut down to afford materials for the siege. Whilst the preparations were progressing, General Abercrombie arrived; the Mah rattas, under Purseram Bhow, also joined; the Nizam's contingent encamped on the north of the Cauvery (where the head-quarters of the English still remained); and Lord Cornwallis's force was superior to any army that Tippoo could, at the moment, organise against him. This induced the sultan to liberate Lieutenants Chalmers and Nash (whom he had kept in confinement, in violation of the conditions under which the garrison of Coimbatoor had surrendered), and to send them on a pacific mission to Lord Cornwallis. Simultaneously with their arrival, a select body of Mysorean horse made its way into the camp, being suffered to pass, under the impression Captain Rafter. that they were a party of the Nizam's contingent. They inquired for the tent of the commander-in-chief; but the person they addressed supposed they wanted Colonel Duff, the commandant of artillery, and his tent was pointed out to them. As they approached it, they put their horses into a gallop, drew their sabres, and cut down all before them. A body of sepoys, alarmed by the noise, turned out, and seeing these horsemen ride wildly up to the tent, they fired upon them. This arrested their course, and finding the camp was alarmed, they turned their horses heads, and dashed for the hills.-It is supposed, the object of these men was to assassinate the commander-in-chief. Lord Cornwallis accepted the overtures of Tippoo, who dispatched an officer of distinction, Gholaum Ali, to the English camp, by whom his lordship sent his ultimatum to the sultan; which included the surrender of territory, the payment of a large sum of money towards the expenses of the war, and the deliverance of hostages for his faithful performance of the terms. Tippoo hesitated to accede to these hard conditions. But in the night of the 18th of February, while a small detachment, under Major Dalrymple and Captain Robertson, made a demonstration on the south side of the fort, the trenches were opened on the north-the first parallel being completed without the loss of a man. The approaches were carried nearer on the 21st and 22nd; and by the 23rd, fifty heavy guns were in position, and ready to open upon the walls. Then Tippoo called together his principal officers. They met in a mosque, the Koran before them; and having detailed the terms to which only the English would agree, he said, "You have heard the conditions of peace, and you have now to hear and answer my question-shall it be peace or war?" They pronounced for peace; and, on the 24th, he signed the following articles, which were transmitted to the British camp : 1st. That one-half the dominions which the sultan of Mysore possessed previously to the war, should be ceded to the allies, from the countries adjacent to theirs.-2nd. That the sultan should pay three crores and thirty lacs of rupees [£3,500,000], onehalf immediately, and the remainder by instalments, at intervals not exceeding four months.-3rd. That all prisoners taken by the four powers-the English, the Nizam, the Mahrattas, and the Sultan-from the time of Hyder Ali, should be restored.-4th. That two of the sultan's sons should be delivered up as hostages for the due performance of the treaty. -5th. That when the hostages should have arrived at the camp, with articles under the scal of Tippoo, a counterpart should be sent from the allies, hostilities should cease, and the terms of a treaty of alliance and perpetual friendship should be agreed upon. On the 26th a crore of rupees was paid; and the young princes, Abd-ul-Khalik, about ten, and Mooza-ud-Dien, about eight years of age, were delivered up. When they departed, the walls were crowded with spectators, the sultan being amongst them. They were each mounted on an elephant richly caparisoned, and seated in a silver howdah, their dresses glittering with jewels. The vakeels who had conducted the negotiations attended them, and they were preceded by several messengers mounted on camels, and seven standard-bearers, carrying small green flags, suspended from rockets: 100 pikemen, with spears inlaid with silver, and 200 sepoys, brought up the rear. They departed under a salute from the fort, and were received at the British camp with twenty-one discharges from its park of artillery. The vakeels delivered the royal children to Sir John Kennaway, the governor-general's agent; and when they reached Lord Cornwallis's tent, his lordship received them most kindly, took one in each hand, and placed them at his side. The head vakeel concluded the ceremony by a graceful appeal to the feelings of that nobleman. "These children," said he, "were this morning the sons of the sultan, my master. Their situation is now changed; and they must look up to your lordship as their father." The governor assured them the trust should not be misplaced; and he religiously kept his promise to protect the persons of these youthful scions of royalty, and to promote their happiness. There were great difficulties to encounter with Tippoo before a definite treaty of peace was signed. Sir John Kennaway conducted the negotiations with the sultan's vakeels, who were particularly instructed to resist. the demand that the dominions of the rajah of Coorg should be restored to him. Other objections were made; and Tippoo having employed the interval in restoring his damaged walls, and intimated that he would not comply with the required conditions, Lord Cornwallis issued orders to recommence the cannonade, and sent off the princes to Bangalore. Tippoo feared the result, and signed the treaty; his vakeels announcing to Sir John Kennaway, that all his terms were acceded to. The royal hostages were immediately recalled; and, on the 18th of March, they received the treaty from the hands of their father's received from Europe relative to the differvakeels, and delivered it on the following ences between England and revolutionary day to Lord Cornwallis. By this treaty, France-differences which, it was apprethe rajah of Coorg obtained repossession hended, might end in war. But for that of all his territories. The English gained intelligence, Lord Cornwallis probably would, the dominions of Tippoo on the Malabar as his army wished, have rejected Tippoo's coast; the important town and fort of first overtures, and carried on the war till Dindigul, and the territory surrounding it; Seringapatam had fallen, and the power a tract in the west of the Carnatic; to- of the Mysore chief had been entirely gether with Baramahal, a subdivision of broken up; but his excellency did not wish Southern India, Salem, and the Lower to have the French and the sultan of Mysore Ghauts-giving a strong frontier to Coro- to contend with at the same time. Soon mandel. These cessions increased the re- after the peace with that chief was signed, venues of the company something more the news of war having broken out between than £500,000 per annum.-The Nizam England and France was received by his received the territory between the Kistna lordship at Calcutta; and he again hastened and the Pennar, including the forts of to Madras, to take the command of the Gunjecotah and Cuddapah.-The Mahrattas recovered the dominions that had been taken from them, as far as the river Tumbudra.Bangalore was restored to Tippoo; but he was so disgusted with that place for having been the head-quarters and grand depôt of the English army, that he ordered the fortifications to be levelled with the ground; an order which was not carried into execution. As soon as he got repossession of the Laul Baugh, he commenced purifying that spot by disinterring the Europeans who had been buried there, and throwing the bodies into the river. The mausoleum of Hyder was repaired, fresh trees were planted, and every pains taken to obliterate the traces left by the late occupiers.-They (the mass of the army) were not all pleased with the treaty; they would have infinitely preferred storming Seringapatam. As some set-off to their disappointment, and as a reward for their conduct (which had been excellent throughout the campaign), the commanderin-chief ordered, that six months' batta should be paid to them; his excellency and General Meadows giving up their share to increase the dividend to the remainder. This sum was advanced out of the crore of rupees which Tippoo had paid when the preliminaries of peace were accepted and signed by him.-The batta paid, the troops were marched back to the company's dominions, except such portions of them as were left as garrisons in the principal towns and forts of the ceded territories.* army, with a view of recapturing the French |