I cannot but acknowledge that, from the delays of the natives, they have sometimes reason to complain; but they have none to ill-use any man.'

9.

To Lord Clive.

Camp at Hurryhur, 20th June, 1800.

‘It is difficult to give an opinion regarding the new territory, of which I have but little knowledge; but as your Lordship has desired it, I shall proceed to state what has occurred to me upon the subject.

The question which your Lordship has put to me involves considerations affecting the whole of our military system in this country. When the country proposed to be ceded to the Company is likewise to be defended, its inhabitants to be kept in tranquillity, and its revenue to be realized by means of the troops, it is impossible to expect to be able to effect these objects on the system of weak and dispersed garrisons, on which we have been acting hitherto. This must be changed; neither the new territory nor the old can be kept in awe by troops dispersed in forts, which they cannot quit with safety; and, therefore, the system which I should recommend would be to garrison those posts only which are absolutely necessary to us, and to have at all times in the field, and in motion, 2 or 3 regiments of Europeans, all the cavalry, and as large a body of native infantry as can be got together. This will be a real security, not only to the new territory and to Mysore, but to the Carnatic, Malabar, and Canara, and nothing else ever will. It will appear more clearly that this system is necessary in the new territory, when the nature of its inhabitants, and the governments to which they have been accustomed, are considered.'

To Lieut. Col. Close.

10.

Camp, left of the Toombuddra, 25th June, 1800. 'I am glad to find that there is a prospect that the Court Martial will go on. It does not appear to me that 9 members are necessary.

The Court is one held under a civil authority, and is therefore the civil court, in which the forms usual in military courts are to be observed, and which is composed of military men; but it is not necessary that it should be composed of the number of members required by the articles of war: provided that the forms of a military process are observed as required by Government, it is a matter of indifference what number of judges there may be. If there should be any further difficulty upon the subject, I must proceed by a court of inquiry, and give orders that the criminals shall be executed after the facts shall have been clearly ascertained by an examination of witnesses on each side.'

11.

To Lieut. Col. Close.

Camp at Rannee Bednore, 30th June, 1800. 'What a pity it is that I cannot move on for want of grain! My troops are in high health, order, and spirits; but the unfortunate defect of arrangement in the poor man at Chittledroog, previous to my arrival, has ruined every thing.

I had at one time nearly 4000 loads in camp; if I had been able to reach the river one day sooner I should have been across before it filled. The delay in crossing was one of about 10 days; during that time we were feeding upon the brinjarries, as we did not draw a grain from the country, which reduced the full bags in camp to about 2000, and about as many more they say on the road. Then comes the delay in filling, travelling, passing the river, &c.; and it becomes absolutely impossible to say at what time we shall have a sufficiency to cross the Werdah, although all the brinjarries swear that there are large quantities of rice coming on to us.

All this delay would have been avoided, if, when I wrote on the 10th May, measures had been taken to make them all fill, and to collect them together; but instead of that, until I wrote on the 5th June to know what had been done, no steps were taken, and I was 4 days at Chittledroog before I could even see one of the naigs. How true it is that in military operations time is every thing!'

To Lieut. Col. Close.

12.

Camp right of the Werdah, 6th July, 1800. 'I have received, from Colonel Cuppage, the proceedings of the Court Martial. Sheik Fereed is found guilty of treason, and is sentenced to be imprisoned to the end of the war! Hyder Beg is acquitted. I cannot approve of, although I have confirmed these sentences, and I have desired Colonel Cuppage to keep Hyder Beg in confinement.

In future I must proceed by a court of inquiry, which shall deliver an opinion whether the prisoner is guilty or not, as I find it is impossible to impress officers with an accurate notion of the extent and consequences of the crime of treason, and of the punishment which it deserves and meets in all civilized societies.'

To Lieut. Col. Close.

13.

Camp right of the Werdah, 8th July, 1800. 'I received your packet of the 4th last night. A man came to me some time ago, and made me an offer similar to that which has been made at Hyderabad. These arrangements answer well there; but I think them unbecoming in an officer at the head of a body of troops, and I, therefore, declined to have any thing more to do with the business than to hold out a general encouragement. The proposer said, that there was a sirdar at the head of a body of horse, to whom if I would give a cowle he would come away. I gave the cowle, but I do not expect, either that the sirdar will come off with his troops, or that the proposed deed will be put in execution. Government have authorized me to offer a reward for him, and I propose to avail myself of this authority as soon as he is at all pressed, and I find that his people begin to drop off from him. This will be, in my opinion, the fittest period.

To offer a public reward by proclamation for a man's life, and to make a secret bargain to have it taken away, are very different things; the one is to be done, the other, in my opinion, cannot, by an officer at the head of the troops.

I have made my arrangements for crossing the river, and I hope that I shall have every thing over in a day or two. I have made a bridge which answers perfectly for foot passengers, and will answer equally for horses and cattle, when I shall have given it rather a better footing. I propose to leave this bridge here, and a number of boats which I have besides. For the care of these and of every thing which will come up, I shall establish a post immediately on the river side, and I am now constructing a redoubt for their security.'

14.

To Lieut. Col. Close.

Camp at Sirhitty, 16th July, 1800.

'I hope to be able (with the assistance of Bowser, who will by that time be pretty close on his rear) to run down this fellow completely. At all events, by this expedition, I have gained some objects of importance; I have established my superiority in the opinions of my own people, of his, and of the country. I have cut off one of his garrisons, and have taken from him one place of consequence, and I have raised the siege of another; and if the chiefs of Goklah's force attend to my requisitions, which, as their horses are starving at Hullihall, I hope they will, I shall be joined by that body of cavalry which will at least enable me to move with all my baggage, and will probably enable me to cut the fellow off completely.'

15.

To Major Munro.

Camp at Kittoor, 7th August, 1800.

'I hope now, that, before we shall have done in this country, (if we do not take it for ourselves,) we shall establish in it a strong government— one which can keep the relations of amity and peace. At all events, we have already established a respect for ourselves; we have gained a knowledge of, and have had a friendly intercourse with, the principal people; and it is not probable that they will hereafter be very forward to encourage any disturbance in our country. They see plainly that it is in our power to retaliate; and from what I have seen of their country, and their mode of management, I am of opinion, that at present our robbers would get more than theirs; or, in other words, that they have more to lose than we have. I have had some conversation with them all upon the subject: they promise fairly that nothing of the kind shall happen in future; and I acknowledge that, if we are not to take possession entirely of the country, I rather prefer to trust to what they say, than to the desultory operations of amildars and peons.'

16.

To Major Munro. Camp at Hoobly, 20th August, 1800. 'My ideas of the nature of the Indian governments, of their decline and fall, agree fully with yours; and I acknowledge that I think it probable that we shall not be able to establish a strong government on this frontier. Scindiah's influence at Poonah is too great for us; and I see plainly, that, if Colonel Palmer remains there, we shall not be able to curb him without going to war. There was never such an opportunity for it as the present moment; and probably by bringing forward, and by establishing in their ancient possessions, the Bhow's family under our protection, we should

counterbalance Scindiah, and secure our own tranquillity for a great length of time. But I despair of it; and I am afraid that we shall be reduced to the alternative of allowing Scindiah to be our neighbour upon our old frontier; or of taking this country ourselves.

If we allow Scindiah to be our neighbour; or if the country goes to any other through his influence, we must expect worse than what has passed— thieves of all kinds, new Dhoondiahs, and probably Dhoondiah himself again. If we take the country ourselves, I do not expect much tranquillity.

In my opinion, the extension of our territory and influence has been greater than our means. Besides, we have added to the number and the description of our enemies, by depriving of employment those who heretofore found it in the service of Tippoo, and of the Nizam. Wherever we spread ourselves, particularly if we aggrandize ourselves at the expense of the Marhattas, we increase this evil. We throw out of employment, and of means of subsistence, all who have hitherto managed the revenue, commanded or served in the armies, or have plundered the country. These people become additional enemies: at the same time that, by the extension of our territory, our means of supporting our government, and of defending ourselves, are proportionably decreased.

Upon all questions of increase of territory, these considerations have much weight with me, and I am, in general, inclined to decide that we have enough; as much, at least, if not more than we can defend.

I agree with you that we ought to settle this Marhatta business, and the

Malabar Rajahs, before the French return to India; but I am afraid that to extend ourselves will rather tend to delay, than accelerate the settlements; and that we shall thereby increase, rather than diminish, the number of our enemies.

As for the wishes of the people, particularly in this country, I put them out of the question. They are the only philosophers about their governors that ever I met with,-if indifference constitutes that character.'

To the Adjutant General.

17.

Camp at Yepulpurry, 10th Sept., 1800. 'After I had crossed the Malpoorba at Jellahall, I marched on the 3rd instant, and entered the Nizam's territories at Hunmunsagur on the 5th. As Colonel Stevenson was obliged to cross the Malpoorba in boats, he was not able to advance from that river till the 4th. It appeared to me probable, that when Dhoondiah should be pressed by the whole of our force on the northern side of the Dooab, he would return into Savanore by Kanagherry and Copaul, and would thus impede our communication; or, if favored by the Patans of Kurnool, and the polygars on the right bank of the Toombuddra, he would pass that river, and would enter the territories of the Rajah of Mysore. I therefore determined to bring my detachment to the southward, and to prevent the execution of either of those designs, if he had them; and afterwards to push him to the eastward, and to take such advantage of his movements as I might be able; while Colonel Stevenson should move by Moodgul and Moosky, at the distance of between 12 and 20 miles from the Kistna, and the Marhatta and Mogul cavalry collected in one body between his corps and mine.

I arrived at Kanagherry on the 7th; and on the 8th moved with the cavalry to Buswapoor, and on the 9th, to this place; the infantry being on those days at Hutty and Chinnoor, about 15 miles in my rear. On the 9th, in the morning, Dhoondiah moved from Mudgherry, a place about 25 miles from Raichore, at which he had been encamped for some days, towards the Kistna; but on his road having seen Colonel Stevenson's camp, he returned and encamped about 9 miles in my front, between me and Bunnoo. It was clear that he did not know that I was so near him; and I have reason to know that he believed that I was at Chinnoor.

I moved forward this evening, and met his army at a place called Conahgull, about 6 miles from hence. He was on his march, and to the westward; apparently with the design of passing between the Marhatta and Mogul cavalry and my detachment, which he supposed to be at Chinnoor. He had only a large body of cavalry, apparently 5000, which I immediately attacked with the 19th and 25th dragoons, and 1st and 2nd regts. of cavalry.

The enemy was strongly posted, with his rear and left flank covered by the village and rock of Conahgull, and stood for some time with apparent firmness; but such was the rapidity and determination of the charge made by those 4 regiments, which I was obliged to form in one line, in order at all to equalize in length that of the enemy, that the whole gave way, and were pursued by my cavalry for many miles. Many, among others, Dhoondiah, were killed; and the whole body dispersed, and were scattered in small parties over the face of the country.

Part of the enemy's baggage was still remaining in his camp about 3 miles from Conahgull. I returned thither, and got possession of elephants, camels, and every thing he had.*

The complete defeat and dispersion of the enemy's force, and, above all, the death of Dhoondiah, put an end to this warfare; and I cannot avoid taking this opportunity of expressing my sense of the conduct of the troops. Upon this last occasion, their determined valor and discipline were conspicuous; and their conduct and that of their commanding officers, Colonel Pater, Major Paterson, Major Blaquiere, Captain Doveton, and Captain Price, have deserved my most particular approbation. At the same time I must inform you, that all the troops have undergone, with the greatest patience and perseverance, a series of fatiguing services.

It is also proper that I should inform you how much reason I have to be pleased with the gentlemen charged with the business of procuring supplies for the troops. Notwithstanding the distance of the scene of my operations from the usual sources of supplies, and rapidity of my marches; and the necessity, from the species of warfare carried on, of perpetually altering their direction, I have always been well supplied with every thing which the troops could want.

Among the baggage was found Salabut Khan, a son of Dhoondiah, an infant of about 4 years old. He was taken to Colonel Wellesley's tent, and was afterwards most kindly and liberally taken care of by him. Sir Arthur, on his departure from India, left some hundred pounds for the use of the boy in the hands of Colonel John Hely Symons, the judge and collector at Seringapatam. When Colonel Symons retired from service, the Hon. A. Cole, the Resident at the Court of Mysore, took charge of him, and had him placed in the Rajah's service. He was a fine, handsome, intelligent youth. Salabut Khan died of cholera in 1822.