Page:Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.djvu/159

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ADVANCE ON SERINGAPATAM
155

prepared for so immediate and disastrous a result. The first intimation which he received of the success of the enterprise was the arrival in his camp of the disheartened garrison who had evacuated the place. Finding that all was lost, his next thought was to provide for the defence of bis capital. Meanwhile Lord Cornwallis, after making the necessary repairs of the Bangalore fortress, marched in about a week's time to Devanhalli, with the object of effecting a junction with a body of 10,000 cavalry despatched by the Nizám. This he accomplished after long delay, caused by imperfect information, and the British army, accompanied by the undisciplined and heterogeneous host of their ally, marched towards Seringapatam, taking the southern route by Kánkánhalli[1], through a wild but picturesque country. Thence they proceeded to Arikere, about nine miles east of Seringapatam, which they reached on May 13, without meeting any opposition. Tipú, in contravention of the engagements he entered into at Mangalore in 1784, had retained in captivity no fewer than one hundred English, men and boys, most of whom had perished through ill-usage. About nineteen of the youths, who had been trained to dance and sing, still survived, and were now cruelly put to death, lest their detention should be brought to light[2]. The

  1. The fateful rock of Kabáldrúg, so often mentioned, is only a few miles west of this place.
  2. It has never been explained why these unfortunate people were allowed by the Madras Government to languish in captivity after the signing of the treaty of 1784.