and rushed wildly through the camp. He carried with him the chain by which he had been attached; this he seized with his trunk, and hurled furiously against a mass of Hyder's cavalry which he met, throwing them back headlong over a column of infantry that was behind them. These, ignorant of the cause of the shock, retired in dismay; and before order could be restored, the symptoms of motion in the English camp discouraged a renewal of the attack.
The incidents of war were at this time relieved by an attempt at negotiation; but the British authorities demanded more than Hyder would yield, and the only result was an aggravation of hostile feeling.
Mulwagul having fallen again into the hands of Hyder, Colonel Wood made a movement to relieve it; but in his advance found himself unexpectedly in the presence of Hyder's whole army, posted on an' eminence about a mile in front. The British commander saw that he had no course but to retreat with all speed; he accordingly abandoned his two guns, and prepared to force a passage in the direction from which he had just advanced. His object was aided by a battalion detached from the line to support him, and which attacked in flank a body of the enemy through which he had to pass. With some difficulty the retreating force reached a point where they could receive further assistance from the line, and the battle was maintained with vigour; but decidedly to the disadvantage of the English force, which gradually receded before the well-directed guns, and impetuous charges of the enemy. The fortune of the day seemed to be irrecoverably lost to the English, when it was admirably retrieved by a stratagem.
The baggage-guard was commanded by Captain Brooke, and amounted only to four companies and two guns. With this insignificant force he conceived the idea of turning the tide of victory in favour of his country. The sick and wounded being under his protection, as many of them as were able to move were drawn out to add to the
