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sent the party to Seringapatam, where it is said Matthews was constrained by starvation to eat poisoned food, of which he died^[1]. It was asserted that Tipú was partly urged to commit this breach of faith owing to a detachment of Matthews' force having cruelly put to death the inhabitants of Anantpur, an outlying town in the Bednúr territory. But Wilks, who had ample means of ascertaining the real facts, declares in his history that the allegation was entirely devoid of truth.

1. Some accounts say that he was despatched with the butt-ends of his guards' matchlocks.