through Sinde; and the more conveniently to do so, we took possession of certain towns and fortified places in that country. We made the Indus a high road for the transmission of troops and munitions of war from Bombay; and we not only did this, to the great astounding of the Ameers, but, not content with marching our troops through Sinde, we stationed a large military force at Tatta on the Indus, and called upon the Ameers to pay a certain sum for the maintenance of that force, "from the presence of which," said our diplomatists, "they will derive such vast advantages."
From all these premises, the ingenious reader will come to the necessary conclusion, that the Ameers were under our protection; and that, consequently, any attempt on their part to relieve themselves by foreign alliance from this Irish reciprocity system, was nothing short of treason to the majesty of the Honourable Company Bahauder. Now, it was discovered that one of the Ameers had been carrying on a correspondence with Persia, and that others had leagued themselves with the Sikh Chief of Mooltan, and other powerful leaders, for the purpose of gradually forming an extensive combination against us. Lord Ellenborough, therefore, on the termination of the Affghan war, determined to break the strength of the Ameers at once, rather than wait for a future collision, when they might choose their own time, and possibly take us by surprise.
The force under General England, amounting to 3,500 men, was, accordingly, ordered to move from Candahar towards Sinde, and other bodies of troops soon followed them, increasing their number to about 5,000 men. On the 4th of October, 1842, Major-General Sir Charles Napier arrived at Sukkur, and assumed the command of the forces in Sinde. On his way he had left with the Ameers at Hyderabad Lord Ellenborough's ultimatum, and a few days after Major Outram, our Resident at that court, was commissioned to demand an equally definite reply. For above four months after this, negotiations
