enough at the hands of Mysore, and I do hope to see Tippoo's
capital taken, and his power of mischief put an end to, for good and
all."

"I am glad, indeed, that you are coming, Uncle. You may be sure that,
whenever I can get away from my duties with the general, I shall spend
most of my time in your camp, though I must occasionally drop in on my
own regiment."

The Rajah had already been down to Madras a month before, and with his
sons had been introduced to General Harris, by the latter's chief of
the staff, as having been always, like his father before him, a
faithful ally of the English, and as having accompanied Lord
Cornwallis on the occasion of the last campaign in Mysore. The general
had thanked him, heartily, for his offer to place his two hundred
cavalry at the disposal of the government, and had expressed a hope
that he, as well as his sons, would accompany it in the field.

On the 11th of February, 1799, the army moved from Vellore, but
instead of ascending by the pass of Amboor, as had been expected, it
moved southwest, ascended the pass of Paliode, and on the 9th of March
was established, without opposition, in Tippoo's territory, at a
distance of eighty miles east of his capital. They then marched north,
until they reached a village ten miles south of Bangalore. This route,
although circuitous, was chosen, as the roads were better, the country
more level, and cultivation much more general, affording far greater
facilities for the collection of forage for the baggage animals.

Hitherto, nothing had been seen of the Mysorean army. It had been
confidently expected that Tippoo would fight at least one great
battle, to oppose their advance against his capital, but so far no
signs had been seen of an enemy, and even the Mysore horse, which had
played so conspicuous a part in the last campaign, in no way
interfered with the advance of the army, or even with the foraging
parties.

A despatch that reached them, by a circuitous route, explained why
Tippoo had suffered them to advance so far unmolested. While the
Madras army had advanced from the southeast, a Bombay force, 6,500
strong, was ascending the Western Ghauts. As the advance brigade,
consisting of three native battalions, under Colonel Montresor,
reached Sedaseer; Tippoo, with 12,000 of his best troops, fell upon it
suddenly. His force had moved through the jungle, and attacked the
brigade in front and rear.

Although thus surprised, by an enemy n