beyond anything dreadful. The palace had been torn to pieces,
and under its gigantic pillars protruded legs and arms of men and women.
The sight was truly horrifying, and I will hasten over it as fast as
possible. In the centre of the fort was found the old Armenian governor,
who had, during the siege, been confined in a cell, and almost starved
to death. I never in my life saw such a picture of woe as this poor
creature. He was about sixty years of age; his hair quite white. He was
the son of an Armenian by a native woman, and, consequently, of fair
complexion, which his confinement caused to look cadaverous. You could
almost have laid your finger in the furrows of his careworn cheek, and
his little black eyes were sunk deep into his head. He was permitted to
join his family, which had been sent to a small village during the
siege.

The fort presented one mass of desolation and poverty, the old garrison
having taken care of everything of value before they sold it. I had been
appointed, on this occasion, prize-agent for the staff of the army, and
commenced my search. It was rumoured that Jean Baptiste had in this fort
secreted thirty lacs of rupees, which we were resolved to find, if
possible. We dug up large pigs of lead, bars of iron, sheets of copper,
pits of grain, vats of ghee (a kind of butter), but no money. If
perseverance could discover this hidden treasure, we were resolved to
find it. After digging above twenty feet, and working our way under the
palace, we discovered a dungeon, or cell. Into this we descended, at the
risk of treading on reptiles. From this dungeon we traced several rooms
or cells, no doubt formerly the prisons of some captive beauties, till
they were reconciled to an illicit intercourse with their tyrants.
Searching every hole, and digging in every corner, we came at last to a
kind of wall, newly built up, through the top of which we could see a
door. This wall and door we soon forced to obedience, and we entered a
large room, recently cleaned and whitewashed. In the centre of this room
was a trap-door, with a large lock. Our hearts beat high with
expectation; but what was our surprise, when we found this tomb
contained the body of some poor murdered person, who had been buried
here! Thus ended our search; and the whole captured property sold for
fifteen hundred rupees, which we were obliged to hand over to Scindia
some time afterwards. Our next duty was to commit the dead to the earth.
In