ed on the fortified city of Patna, into which Daud, distrustful
of meeting the Mughals in the field, had thrown himself. Such was the
situation very shortly after the return of Akbar from Gujarat.
Desirous of directing the campaign himself, Akbar despatched orders
to his lieutenant to suspend operations till he should arrive, then,
making the hurried visit to Ajmere of which I have spoken, he
hastened with a body of troops by water to Allahabad. Not halting
there, he continued his journey, likewise by water, to Benares,
stayed there three days, then, taking to boat again, reached the
point where the Gumti flows into the Ganges. Thence, pending the
receipt of news from his lieutenant, he resolved to ascend the Gumti
to Jaunpur.

On his way thither, however, he received a despatch from his
lieutenant, urging him to advance with all speed. Directing the
boatmen to continue their course with the young princes and the
ladies to Jaunpur, Akbar at once turned back, reached the point where
he had left his troops, and directing that they should march along
the banks in sight of the boats, descended to Chausa, the place
memorable, the reader may recollect, for the defeat of his {119}
father by Sher Khan. Here a despatch reached him to the effect that
the enemy had made a sortie from Patna, which had caused much damage
to the besiegers. Akbar pushed on therefore, still by water, and
reached the besieging army on the seventh day.

The next day he called a council of war. At this he expressed his
opinion that before assaulting the fort it was advisable that the
besiegers should occupy Hajipur, a town at the confluence of the
Gandak and the Ganges, opposite to Patna. This course was adopted,
and the next day Hajipur fell. Daud was so terrified by this success,
and by the evident strength of the besieging army, that he evacuated
Patna the same night, and fled across the Punpun, near its junction
with the Ganges at Fatwa. Akbar entered the city in triumph the next
morning, but, anxious to capture Daud, remained there but four hours;
then, leaving his lieutenant in command of the army, followed with a
well-mounted detachment in pursuit of the enemy. Swimming the Punpun
on horseback he speedily came up with Daud's followers, and captured
elephant after elephant, until on reaching Daryapur, he counted two
hundred and sixty-five of those animals. Halting at Daryapur, he
directed two of his trusted officers to continue the pursuit. These