e they could
return. Three days later, indeed, a report reached Nagpore that
Tippoo had fallen upon the advance guard of the Bombay army, and
had been repulsed; and on the 27th he had attacked General Harris,
and had again been defeated; and that on the 28th the main army had
forded the Cauvery, and had marched to Sosilly.

This news caused great excitement in the town, although
Seringapatam was generally supposed to be impregnable and, as the
English had failed to take it during the last war, it was believed
that, after another futile siege, they would be forced to fall back
again from want of food, as they did upon the previous occasion.

The rajah, like the majority, believed that Seringapatam could defy
any assault; and that, surrounded as the British army would be by
the Mysore cavalry, they would very speedily be forced to retire;
and that, although Tippoo might have yielded to the wishes of his
general, and attempted to check the advance, it could have been
with only a portion of his army.

Including the contingent furnished by the Nizam, the Bombay army
amounted to forty-three thousand men. Tippoo was credited with
having at least twice that force, and his uniform successes against
his neighbours had created a belief that he was invincible. The
rajah, therefore, was well content to let matters rest, until more
decisive news reached him.

It was on the 7th of April that the messengers returned, with a
letter:

"We no longer want active assistance from Berar. The army is within
striking distance of Seringapatam, and a few thousand native horse,
one way or another, will make but little difference. You have done
very well in gaining two months, by referring the matter to me. The
rajah's demands are, of course, ridiculous. He is evidently playing
a double part and, if we were defeated tomorrow, would join Tippoo
and attack the Nizam. You can still, however, offer him five lakhs
of rupees; but do not guarantee him any additional territory.

"The Peishwa is acting in precisely the same way. The army that was
to come to our assistance has not yet moved; and he, like Berar, is
simply awaiting events at Seringapatam."

The rajah came in that evening.

"I hear that your messengers have returned, sir."

"Yes; I am sorry to say that the Governor General considers your
demands are altogether excessive. The treasury is almost empty and,
were he to guarantee you an extension of your dominions, it would
bring on a w