Chapter 5: War Declared.
"That gives you a general idea, Dick, of the war with Tippoo. I sawlittle of the events after the battle of Porto Novo, as my father wastaken ill soon after, and died at Madras. Seeing that there was noprobability, whatever, of the English driving Hyder back, until theyhad much larger forces and a much better system of management, Iremained in Madras until peace was made; then I came back here,rebuilt the palace, and have since been occupied in trying to restorethe prosperity of my poor people.
"It is, I feel, a useless task, for it is certain that, ere long, theEnglish will again be engaged with Mysore; and if they are, it iswell-nigh certain that Tippoo's hordes will again sweep down from thehills, and carry ruin and desolation everywhere.
"He would, as Hyder had, have the advantage on his side at thebeginning of the war. He has a score of passes to choose from, and candescend on to the plain by any one he may select. And, even were therea force here capable of giving battle to the whole Mysorean army, itcould not watch all the passes, as to do so the army would have to bebroken up into a dozen commands. Tippoo will therefore again be ableto ravage the plains, for weeks, perhaps, before the English can forcehim to give battle.
"But there is no army, at present, in existence of sufficient strengthto meet him. The Madras force would have to wait until reinforcementsarrived from Calcutta. It was bad before, but it will be worse, now.Hyder, no doubt, slaughtered many, but he was not cruel by nature. Hecarried off enormous quantities of people, with their flocks andherds, but he did this to enrich Mysore with their labour, and did nottreat them with unnecessary cruelty.
"Tippoo, on the other hand, is a human tiger. He delights in torturinghis victims, and slays his prisoners from pure love of bloodshed. Heis proud of the title of 'Tiger.' His footstool is a tiger's head, andthe uniforms of his infantry are a sort of imitation of a tiger'sstripes. He has military talent, and showed great judgment in commandof his division--indeed, most of the successes gained during the lastwar were his work. Since then, he has laboured incessantly to improvehis army. Numbers of regiments have been raised, composed of thecaptives carried off from here and from the west coast. They aredrilled, in European fashion, by the English captives he still holdsin his hands."
"But why, Uncle, instead of giving time to Tippoo to come down here,should we not march up the passes, and compel him to keep his army upthere to defend Seringapatam?"
"Because, Dick, in the first place, there is not an army strong enoughto do so; but even were there a force of fifty thousand men at Madras,they could not take the offensive in time. An English army cannot movewithout a great train to carry ammunition, stores and provisions; andto get such a train together would be the work of months. As I havebeen telling you, during the three years the last war lasted, theMadras authorities were never able to collect such a train, and theconsequence was that their army was unable to go more than two orthree days' march from the city.
"On the other hand, Tippoo could, any day, order that three days'supply of rice or grain should be served out to each soldier, andcould set out on his march the following morning; as, from the momenthe reached the plains, his cavalry would have the whole of theresources of the country at their mercy."
"I see, Uncle. Then, if war broke out, you would at once go to Madrasagain?"
"There would be nothing else to do, Dick. I should send everything ofvalue down there, as soon as I saw that war was inevitable. Thetraders here have already begun to prepare. The shops are half empty,for they have not replaced goods they have sold, and a very few hourswould suffice for everything worth taking to be cleared out of thetown. The country round here is comparatively uninhabited, and but asmall portion of it tilled, so great was the number carried off byHyder. Next time they will take to the hills at once, and I believethat many have already stored up grain in hiding places there. Thistime it may be hoped that a few weeks, or months at most, may seeTippoo driven back, and for that time the peasants can manage to existin the hills. No doubt the richer sort, who have large flocks ofgoats, and many cattle, will, as soon as danger threatens, drive themdown to Madras, where they are sure to fetch good prices for the useof the army.
"I have already told all men who have bullock carts and teams, thatthey can, if forced to leave home, earn a good living by takingservice in the English transport train. I hope, therefore, that theresults will not be so disastrous as before. The town may be burntdown again, but unless they blow up my palace, they can do little harmto it. When I rebuilt it, seeing the possibility of another war, Iwould not have any wood whatever used in its construction. Therefore,when the hangings are taken down, and the furniture from these roomscleared out, there will be nothing to burn, and they are not likely towaste powder in blowing it up.
"As to the town, I warned the people who returned that it might beagain destroyed before long, and therefore there has been no solidbuilding. The houses have all been lightly run up with wood, which isplentiful enough in the hills, and no great harm, therefore, will bedone if it is again burnt down. The pagoda and palace are the onlystone buildings in it. They did some harm to the former, last time, byfiring shot at it for a day or two; and, as you can see for yourself,no attempt has since been made to repair it, and I do not suppose theywill trouble to damage it further.
"So you see, Dick, we are prepared for the worst."
"Will you fight again, as you did last time, Uncle?"
"I do not know, Dick. I show my loyalty to the English rule byrepairing to the capital; but my force is too small to render muchservice. You see, my revenues have greatly diminished, and I cannotafford to keep up so large a force as my father could. Fortunately,his savings had been considerable, and from these I was able to buildthis palace, and to succour my people, and have still enough to keepup my establishment here, without pressing the cultivators of the soilfor taxes. This year is the first that I have drawn any revenue fromthat source; but, at any rate, I am not disposed to keep up a forcewhich, while it would be insufficient to be of any great value in awar like this, would be a heavy tax on my purse."
"Even the force you have must be that, Uncle."
"Not so much as you would think, Dick, with your English notions. Thepay here is very small--so small that it would seem to you impossiblefor a man to live on it; and yet, many of these men have wives andfamilies. All of them have patches of land that they cultivate; onlytwenty, who are changed once a month, being kept on duty. They arenecessary; for I should have but little respect from my people, andless still from other rajahs, did I not have sentries at the gates,and a guard ready to turn out in honour of any visitor who mightarrive; to say nothing of an escort, of half a dozen men, when I ridethrough the country. Of course, all can be called out whenever I wantthem, as, for example, when I rode to Madras to meet you. The menthink themselves well off upon the pay of three rupees a month, asthey are practically only on duty two months each year, and have therest of the time to cultivate their fields. Therefore, with the pay ofthe officers, my troop only costs me about four hundred rupees amonth, which is, you know, equivalent to forty English pounds; so thatyou cannot call it an expensive army, even if it is kept for showrather than use."
"No, indeed, Uncle! It seems ridiculous that a troop of a hundred mencan be kept up, for five hundred pounds a year."
"Of course, the men have some little privileges, Dick. They pay norent or taxes for their lands. This is a great thing for them, andreally costs me nothing, as there is so much land lying uncultivated.Then, when too old for service, they have a pension of two rupees amonth for life, and on that, and what little land they can cultivate,they are comparatively comfortable."
"Well, it does not seem to me, Uncle, that soldiering is a good tradein this country."
"I don't know that it is a good trade, in the money way, anywhere.After all, the pay out here is quite as high, in comparison with theordinary rate of earning of a peasant, as it is in England. It isnever the pay that tempts soldiers. Among young men there are alwa
ysgreat numbers who prefer the life to that of a peasant, workingsteadily from daylight to dark, and I don't know that I altogetherblame them."
"Then you think, Uncle, there is no doubt whatever that there will bewar?"
"Not a shadow of doubt, Dick--indeed, it may be said to have begunalready; and, like the last, it is largely due to the incapacity ofthe government of Madras."
"I have just received a message from Arcot," the Rajah said, twomonths later, "and I must go over and see the Nabob."
"I thought," Mrs. Holland said, "that Tripataly was no longer subjectto him. I understood that our father was made independent of Arcot?"
"No, Margaret, not exactly that. The Nabob had involved himself invery heavy debts, during the great struggle. The Company had donesomething to help him, but were unable to take all his debts on theirshoulders; and indeed, there was no reason why they should have doneso, for although during most of the war he was their ally, he wasfighting on his own behalf, and not on theirs.
"In the war with Hyder it was different. He was then quite underEnglish influence, and, indeed, could scarcely be termed independent.And as he suffered terribly--his lands were wasted, his townsbesieged, and his people driven off into slavery--the Company are atpresent engaged in negotiations for assisting him to pay his debts,which are very heavy.
"It was before you left, when the Nabob was much pressed for money,and had at that time no claim on the Company, that our father boughtof him a perpetual commutation of tribute, taxes, and other monies andsubsidies payable by Tripataly; thus I am no longer tributary toArcot. Nevertheless, this forms a portion of the Nabob's territories,and I cannot act as if I were an independent prince.
"I could not make a treaty with Mysore on my own account, and it isclear that neither Arcot nor the English could allow me to do so, forin that case Mysore could erect fortresses here, and could useTripataly as an advanced post on the plain. Therefore, I am stillsubject to the Nabob, and could be called upon for military service byhim. Indeed, that is one of the reasons why, even if I could affordit, I should not care to keep up a force of any strength. As it is, mytroop is too small to be worth summoning. The Nabob has remonstratedwith me more than once, but since the war with Hyder I have had a goodexcuse, namely, that the population has so decreased that my lands lieuntilled, and it would be impossible for me to raise a larger force. Ihave, however, agreed that, in case of a fresh war, I will raise anadditional hundred cavalry.
"I expect it is in relation to this that he has sent for me to Arcot.We know that the English are bound, by their treaty with Travancore,to declare war. They ought, in honour, to have done it long ago, butthey were unprepared. Now that they are nearly ready, they may do soat any time, and indeed the Nabob may have learned that fighting hasbegun.
"The lookout is bad. The government of Madras is just as weak and asshort sighted as it was during Hyder's war. There is but one comfort,and that is that Lord Cornwallis, at Calcutta, has far greater powerthan his predecessors; and as he is an experienced soldier, and issaid to be an energetic man, he may bring up reinforcements fromCalcutta without loss of time, and also set the troops of Bombay inmotion. I expect that, as before, things will go badly at first; buthope that, this time, we shall end by giving Mysore so heavy a lessonthat she will be powerless for mischief, in future."
"And release all the captives," Mrs. Holland exclaimed, clasping herhands.
"I sincerely trust so, Margaret," her brother said gravely; "but,after what happened last time, we must not be sanguine. Scatteredabout as they may be, in the scores of little hill forts that dot thewhole country, we can, unhappily, never be sure that all aredelivered, when we have only the word of a treacherous tyrant likeTippoo. We know that, last time, he kept back hundreds of prisoners,among whom, as we may hope, was your husband; and it may be that,however completely he may be defeated, he may yet retain some of them,knowing full well it is impossible that all these hill forts and theirdungeons can be searched. However, doubtless if an English armymarches to Seringapatam, many will be recovered, though we have reasonto fear that many will, as before, be murdered before our arrival."
When the Rajah returned from Arcot, on the following day, he broughtback the news that General Meadows had moved to the frontier atCaroor, fifty miles beyond Trichinopoly, and that the war was reallyabout to begin.
"You know," he said, "how matters stand, up to now. Tippoo, aftermaking peace with the Nizam and the Mahrattis, with whom he had beenengaged in hostilities for some time, turned his attention to thewestern coast, where Coorg and Malabar had risen in rebellion. After,as usual, perpetrating horrible atrocities, and after sending a largeproportion of the population as slaves to Mysore, he marched againstTravancore. Now, Travancore was specially mentioned, in the treaty ofMangalore, as one of the allies of the English, with whom Tippoo boundhimself not to make war; and had he not been prepared to fight theEnglish, he would not have attacked their ally. The excuse forattacking Travancore was that some of the fugitives, from Coorg andMalabar, had taken refuge there.
"Seeing that Tippoo was bent upon hostilities, Lord Cornwallis and hiscouncil at Calcutta directed, as I learnt from an official at Madras,the authorities there to begin at once to make preparations for war.Instead of doing so, Mr. Holland, the governor, gave the Rajah theshameful and cowardly advice to withdraw his protection from thefugitives. The Rajah refused to comply with such counsel, and aftersome months spent in negotiations, Tippoo attacked the wall that runsalong the northern frontier of Travancore.
"That was about six months ago. Yes, it was on the 28th ofDecember--so it is just six months. His troops, fourteen thousandstrong, made their way without difficulty through a breach, but theywere suddenly attacked by a small body of Travancore men. A panicseized them. They rushed back to the breach, and in the wild struggleto pass through it, no less than two thousand were either killed orcrushed to death.
"It was nearly three months before Tippoo renewed his attack. Thelines were weak, and his army so strong that resistance wasimpossible. A breach, three-quarters of a mile in length, was made inthe wall, and marching through this, he devastated Travancore from endto end.
"His unaccountable delay, before assaulting the position, has been ofgreat advantage to us. Had he attacked us at once, instead of wastinghis time before Travancore, he would have found the Carnatic asdefenceless and as completely at his mercy as Hyder did. He wouldstill have done so, had it depended upon Madras, but as theauthorities here did nothing, Lord Cornwallis took the matter into hisown hands. He was about to come here himself, when General Meadows,formerly Governor of Bombay, arrived, invested by the Company with theoffices of both governor and of commander-in-chief.
"He landed here late in February, and at once set to work to preparefor war. Lord Cornwallis sent, from Calcutta, a large amount of money,stores, and ammunition, and a battalion of artillerymen. The Sepoysobjected to travel by sea, as their caste rules forbade them to do so,and he therefore sent off six battalions of infantry by land, and theNabob tells me they are expected to arrive in four or five weeks'time. The Nabob of Arcot and the Rajah of Tanjore, both of whom arevery heavily in debt to the government, are ordered, during thecontinuance of the war, to place their revenues at its disposal, aliberal allowance being made to them both for their personal expenses.
"Tippoo is still in Travancore--at least, he was there ten days ago,and has been endeavouring to negotiate. The Nabob tells me he believesthat the object of General Meadows, in advancing from Trichinopoly toCaroor, is to push on to Coimbatoor, where he will, if he arrivesbefore Tippoo, cut him off from his return to his capital; and asMeadows has a force of fifteen thousand men, he ought to be able tocrush the tyrant at a blow.
"I fear, however, there is little chance of this. The Mysore troopsmove with great rapidity, and as soon as Tippoo hears that the Englisharmy is marching towards Caroor, he is sure to take the alarm, and bythis time has probably passed Coimbatoor on his way back. With all hisfaults, Tippoo is a good general, an
d the Nabob's opinion--and I quiteagree with him--is that, as soon as he regains the table land ofMysore, he will take advantage of the English army being far away tothe south, and will pour down through the passes into this part of theCarnatic, which is at present absolutely defenceless. This being thecase, I shall at once get ready to leave for Madras, and shall move assoon as I learn, for certain, that Tippoo has slipped past theEnglish.
"The Nabob has called upon me to join him with my little body ofcavalry, and as soon as the news comes that Tippoo is descending thepasses, I shall either join him or the English army. That will be amatter to decide afterwards."
"You will take me with you, of course, Uncle?" Dick asked eagerly.
"Certainly, Dick. If you are old enough to undertake the reallyperilous adventure of going up in disguise to Mysore, you arecertainly old enough to ride with me. Besides, we may hope that, thistime, the war is not going to be as one-sided as it was the last time,and that we may end by reaching Seringapatam; in which case we mayrescue your father, if he is still alive, very much more easily thanit could be managed in the way you propose."
The news that the English army had marched to Caroor, and that therewas no force left to prevent the Mysoreans from pouring down from thehills, spread quickly; and when Dick went out with the two boys intothe town, groups of people were talking earnestly in the streets. Someof them came up, and asked respectfully if there was any later news.
"Nothing later than you have heard," Dick said.
"The Rajah is not going away yet, Sahib?"
"No; he will not leave unless he hears that Tippoo has returned, withhis army, to Seringapatam. Then he will go at once, for the sultanmight come down through the passes at any moment, and can get here afortnight before the English army can return from Caroor."
"Yes; it will be no use waiting here to be eaten up, Sahib. Do youthink Conjeveram would be safe? Because it is easy to go down there byboat."
"I should think so. Hyder could not take it last time, and the Englisharmy is much stronger than it was then. Besides, there will be sixthousand men arriving from Bengal, in a month's time, so I shouldthink there is no fear of Conjeveram being taken."
"It is little trouble getting there," the trader said, "but it is along journey to Madras. We could go down with our families and goodsin two days, in a boat; but there would not be boats enough for all,and it will be best, therefore, that some should go at once, for ifall wait until there is news that Tippoo is coming, many will not beable to get away in time."
"No, not in boats," Dick agreed; "but in three days a bullock cartwould get you there."
Next day, several of the shops containing the most valuable goods wereshut up; and, day by day, the number remaining open grew smaller.
"It is as I expected," the Rajah said, one morning, as he came intothe room where the family was sitting. "A messenger has just come infrom the Nabob, with the news that sickness broke out among the army,as soon as they arrived at Caroor, and in twenty-four hours a thousandmen were in hospital. This delayed the movement, and when they arrivedat Coimbatoor they were too late. Tippoo and his army had alreadypassed, moving by forced marches back to Mysore.
"Finish your packing, ladies. We will start at daybreak tomorrowmorning. I secured three boats, four days ago, and have been holdingthem in readiness. Rajbullub will go in charge of you. There is notthe least fear of Tippoo being here for another fortnight, at theearliest.
"I shall ride with the troop. Dick and the boys will go with me. Weshall meet you at Conjeveram. I have already arranged with some of ourpeople, who have gone on in their bullock carts, with theirbelongings, and will unload them there, to be in readiness to take ourgoods on to Madras, so there will be no delay in getting forward."
By nightfall, the apartments were completely dismantled. The furniturewas all stowed away, in a vault which the Rajah had had constructedfor the purpose, when the palace was rebuilt. Access was obtained toit through the floor in one of the private apartments. The floor wasof tessellated marble, but some ten squares of it lifted up in a mass,forming together a trapdoor, from which steps led down into the vault.When the block was lowered again, the fit was so accurate that, aftersweeping a little dust over the joint, the opening was quiteimperceptible to any one not aware of the hiding place. The cushionsof the divans were taken down here, as well as the furniture, and allthe less valuable carpets, rugs and hangings, while the costlierarticles were rolled up into bales, for transport.
The silver cups and other valuables were packed in boxes, and were,during the night, carried by coolies down to the boats, over which aguard was placed until morning. Provisions for the journey down theriver were also placed on board. The palace was astir long beforedaybreak. The cushions that had been slept on during the night werecarried down to the boats, the boxes of wearing apparel closed andfastened, and a hasty meal was taken.
The sun was just rising when they started. One boat had been fitted upwith a bower of green boughs, for the use of the two ladies and theirfour attendants. The other two carried the baggage.
After seeing them push off, the Rajah, his sons, and Dick returned tothe palace. Here for a couple of hours he held a sort of audience, andgave his advice to the townspeople and others who came, inconsiderable numbers, to consult with him. When this was done theywent into the courtyard, where all was ready for their departure.
The troop had, during the past week, been raised to two hundred men,many of the young cultivators coming eagerly forward, as soon as theyheard that the Rajah was going to increase his troop, being anxious totake a share in the adventures that might be looked for, and to avengethe sufferings that had been inflicted on their friends by Hyder'smarauders. They were a somewhat motley troop, but this matteredlittle, as uniformity was unknown among the forces of the nativeprinces.
The majority were stout young fellows. All provided their own horsesand arms, and although the former lacked the weight and bone ofEnglish cavalry horses, they were capable of performing long journeys,and of existing on rations on which an English horse would starve.
All were well armed, for any deficiency had been made up from theRajah's store, and from this a large number of guns had, three daysbefore, been distributed among such of the ryots as intended to taketo the hills on the approach of the enemy. Ammunition had also beendistributed among them. Every man in the troop carried a shield andtulwar, and on his back was slung a musket or spear; and there werefew without pistols in their girdles.
They rode halfway to Conjeveram, and stopped for the night at avillage--the men sleeping in the open air, while the Rajah, his sons,and Dick, were entertained by the chief man of the place. The nextafternoon they rode into Conjeveram, where, just at sunset, the boatsalso arrived.
The troop encamped outside the town, while the Rajah and his partyoccupied some rooms that had been secured beforehand for them. In themorning, the ladies proceeded in a native carriage; with the troop, anofficer and ten men following, in charge of the bullock cartscontaining the baggage.
On reaching Madras, they encamped on the Maidan--a large, open spaceused as a drill ground for the troops garrisoned there--and the Rajahand his party established themselves in the house occupied by him onthe occasion of his last visit. The next day, the Rajah went to theGovernment House, and had an interview with the deputy governor.
"I think," the latter said, after some conversation, "that your troopof cavalry will be of little use to the Nabob. If Tippoo comes downfrom the hills, he will not be able to take the field against him, andwill need all his forces to defend Arcot, Vellore, and his smallerforts, and cavalry would be of no real use to him. Your troop would beof much greater utility to the battalions from Bengal, when theyarrive. They will be here in three weeks or so, and as soon as theycome, I will attach you to them. I will write to the Nabob, sayingthat you were about to join him, but that, in the interest of thegeneral defence, I have thought it better, at present, to attach youto the Bengal contingent. You see, they will be entirely new
to thecountry, and it will be a great advantage to them to have a troop likeyours, many of whom are well acquainted with the roads and generalgeography of the country. Your speaking English, too, will add to yourusefulness."
"I have a nephew with me who speaks English perfectly, and alsoHindustani," the Rajah said. "He is a smart young fellow, and I haveno doubt that the officer in command would be able to make him veryuseful. He is eager to be of service. His father, who was anEnglishman, was wrecked some years ago on the west coast, and sent upa prisoner to Mysore. He was not one of those handed over at the timeof the peace, but whether he has been murdered, or is still a prisonerin Tippoo's hands, we do not know. My sister came out with the boy,three or four months ago, to endeavour to obtain some news of him."
"I will make a note of it, Rajah. I have no doubt that he will be ofgreat use to Colonel Cockerell."
In the last week in July, the Rajah moved with his troop toConjeveram, and on the 1st of August the Bengal forces arrived there.They were joined, at once, by three regiments of Europeans, one ofnative cavalry, and a strong force of artillery, raising their numbersto nine thousand, five hundred men.
Colonel Kelly took command of the force, and begged the Rajah toadvance with his horsemen, at once, to the foot of the ghauts, tobreak it up into half troops, and to capture or destroy any smallparties of horse Tippoo might send down, by any of the passes, toreconnoitre the country and ascertain the movements and strength ofthe British forces. He was also to endeavour to obtain as muchinformation as he could of what was going on in Mysore, and toascertain whether Tippoo was still with his army, watching GeneralMeadows in the west; or was moving, as if with the intention of takingadvantage of the main force of the English being away south, todescend into the Carnatic.
The order was a very acceptable one to the Rajah. His troop made agood appearance enough, when in company with those of the Nabob ofArcot, but he could not but feel that they looked a motley body by theside of the trained native and European troops; and he was frequentlyangered by hearing the jeering comments of English soldiers to eachother, when he rode past them with his troop; and had not a littleastonished the speakers, more than once, by turning round on hishorse, and abusing them hotly in their own language.
He was, therefore, glad to be off. For such work, his men were farbetter fitted than were even the native cavalry in the Company'sservice. They were stout, active fellows, accustomed to the hills, andspeaking the dialect used by the shepherds and villagers among theghauts.
Proceeding northward through Vellore, he there divided his force intofour bodies. He himself, with fifty men, took up a position at themouth of the pass of Amboor. Another fifty were sent to the pass ofMoognee, to the west of Chittoor, under the command of Anwar, thecaptain of the troop. The rest were distributed among the minorpasses.
Dick remained with his uncle, who established himself in a village,seven miles up the pass. He was well satisfied with the arrangement,for he was anxious to learn to go about among the hills as a spy, andwas much more likely to get leave from his uncle to do so, than hewould have been from any of the officers of the troop, who would nothave ventured to allow the Rajah's nephew to run into danger.
In the second place, his especial friend among the officers, a youthnamed Surajah, son of Rajbullub, was with the detachment. Surajah hadbeen especially picked out, by the Rajah, as Dick's companion. Hegenerally joined him in his rides, and they had often gone on shootingexcursions among the hills. He was about three years Dick's senior,but in point of height there was but little difference between them.
Every day half the troop, under an officer, rode up the pass untilwithin a mile of the fort near the summit, garrisoned by Mysoreantroops. They were able to obtain but little information, for thevillages towards the upper end of the pass were all deserted and inruins, the inhabitants never having ventured back since Hyder'sinvasion.
The Rajah was vexed at being able to learn nothing of what was passingon the plateau, and was therefore more disposed than he mightotherwise have been to listen to Dick's proposal.
"Don't you think, Uncle," the latter said one evening, "that I mighttry to learn something by going up with Surajah alone? We could strikeoff into the hills, as if on a shooting expedition, just as we used todo from Tripataly, except that I should stain my face and hands. Thepeople in the villages on the top of the ghauts are, every one says,simple and quiet. They have no love for Tippoo or Mysore, but arecontent to pay their taxes, and to work quietly in their fields. Therewill be little fear of our being interfered with by them."
"You might find a party of Tippoo's troops in one of the villages,Dick, and get into trouble."
"I don't see why we should, Uncle. Of course, we should not go updressed as we are, but as shikarees, and when we went into a village,should begin by asking whether the people are troubled with any tigersin the neighbourhood. You see, I specially came out here to go intoMysore in disguise, and I should be getting a little practice in thisway, besides obtaining news for you."
"I am certainly anxious to get news, Dick. So far, I have had nothingto send down, except that the reports, from all the passes, agree insaying that they have learned nothing of any movement on the part ofTippoo, and that no spies have come down the passes, or any armedparty whatever. This is good, so far as it goes, but it only showsthat the other passes are, like this, entirely deserted. Therefore, wereally know nothing whatever. Even at this moment, Tippoo may havefifty thousand men gathered on the crest of the hills, ready to pourdown tomorrow through one of the passes; and therefore, as I do notthink you would be running any great danger, I consent to your goingwith Surajah on a scouting expedition, on foot, among the hills. Asyou say, you must, of course, disguise yourselves as peasants. You hadbetter, in addition to your guns, each take a brace of pistols, and soarmed, even if any of the villagers were inclined to be hostile, theywould not care about interfering with you."
"Thank you, Uncle. When would you expect us back, if we start tomorrowmorning?"
"That must be entirely in your hands, Dick. You would hardly climb theghauts and light upon a village in one day, and it might be necessaryto go farther, before you could obtain any news. It is a brokencountry, with much jungle for some distance beyond the hills, and thevillages lying off the roads will have but little communication witheach other, and might know nothing, whatever, of what was happening inthe cultivated plains beyond. At any rate, you must not go into anyvillages on the roads leading to the heads of the passes; for thereare forts everywhere, and you would be certain to find parties oftroops stationed in them.
"Even before war broke out, I know that this was the case, as theywere stationed there to prevent any captives, native or European,escaping from Mysore. You must, therefore, strictly avoid all the mainroads, even though it may be necessary to proceed much farther beforeyou can get news. I should think, if we say three days going and asmany returning, it will be as little as we can count upon; and I shallnot begin to feel at all uneasy, if you do not reappear for a week. Itis of no use your returning without some information as to what isgoing on in Mysore; and it would be folly to throw away your work andtrouble, when, in another day or two, you might get the news you want.I shall, therefore, leave it entirely to your discretion."
Greatly pleased at having succeeded beyond his expectations, Dick atonce sought out Surajah. The latter was very gratified, when he heardthat he was to accompany the young Sahib on such an expedition, and atonce set about the necessary preparations. There was no difficulty inobtaining, in the village, the clothes required for their disguises;and one of the sheep intended for the following day's rations waskilled, and a leg boiled.
"If we take, in addition to this, ten pounds of flour, a gourd ofghee, and a little pan for frying the cakes in, we shall be able toget on, without having to buy food, for four or five days; and ofcourse, when we are once among the villages, we shall have nodifficulty in getting more. You had better cut the meat off the bone,and divide it in two portions; and d
ivide the flour, too; then we caneach carry our share."
"I will willingly carry it all, Sahib."
"Not at all, Surajah. We will each take our fair share. You see, weshall have a gun, pistols, ammunition, and a tulwar; and that, withseven or eight pounds of food each, and our water bottles, will bequite enough to carry up the ghauts. The only thing we want now issome stain."
"I will get something that will do, and bring it with me in themorning, Sahib. It won't take you a minute to put on. I will come foryou at the first gleam of daylight."
Dick returned to the cottage he occupied with his uncle, and told himwhat preparations they had made for their journey; and they sattalking over the details for another hour. The Rajah's last words, asthey lay down for the night, were:
"Don't forget to take a blanket, each. You will want it for sleepingin the open, which you will probably have to do several times,although you may occasionally be able to find shelter in a village."
By the time the sun rose, the next morning, they were well upon theirway. They had a good deal of toilsome climbing, but by nightfall hadsurmounted the most difficult portions of the ascent, and encamped,when it became dark, in a small wood. Here they lighted a fire, cookedsome cakes of flour, and, with these and the cold meat, made a heartymeal. They had, during the day, halted twice; and had breakfasted andlunched off some bread, of which they had brought sufficient for theday's journey.
"I suppose there is no occasion to watch, Surajah?"
"I don't know, Sahib. I do not think it will be safe for us both tosleep. There are, as you know, many tigers among these hills; andthough they would not approach us, as long as the fire is burningbrightly, they might steal up and carry one of us off, when the firegets low. I will, therefore, watch."
"I certainly should not let you do that, without taking my turn," Dicksaid; "and I feel so tired with the day's work, that I do not think Icould keep awake for ten minutes. It would be better to sleep in atree than that."
"You would not get much sleep in a tree, Sahib. I have done it once ortwice, when I have been hunting in a tiger-infested neighbourhood; butI got scarcely any sleep, and was so stiff, in the morning, that Icould hardly walk. I would rather sit up all night, and keep up a goodfire, than do that."
Dick thought for a minute or two, and then got up and walked aboutunder the trees, keeping his eyes fixed upon the branches overhead.
"This will do," he said at last. "Come here, Surajah. There! Do yousee those two branches, coming out in the same direction? At onepoint, they are but five or six feet apart. We might fasten ourblankets side by side, with the help of the straps of our waterbottles and the slings of the guns; so as to make what are called, onboard a ship, hammocks, and lie there perfectly safe and comfortable."
Surajah nodded.
"I have a coil of leather thong, Sahib. I thought that it might beuseful, if we wanted to bind a prisoner, or for any other purpose, soI stuffed it into my waist sash."
"That is good. Let us lose no time, for I am quite ready for sleep. Iwill climb up first."
In ten minutes, the blankets were securely fastened side by side,between the branches. Surajah descended, threw another armful of woodon to the fire, placed their meat in the crutch of a bough, six feetabove the ground, and then climbed the tree again. Thus, they weresoon lying, side by side, in their blankets. These bagged ratherinconveniently under their weight, but they were too tired to mindtrifles, and were very soon fast asleep.
Dick did not wake until Surajah called him. It was already broaddaylight. His companion had slipped down quietly, stirred up theembers of the fire, thrown on more wood, and cooked some chupattiesbefore waking him.
"It is too bad, Surajah," Dick said, as he looked down; "you ought tohave woke me. I will unfasten these blankets before I get down. Itwill save time after breakfast."
Half an hour later, they were again on their way, and shortly cameupon a boy herding some goats. He looked doubtfully at them, but,seeing that they were not Mysorean soldiers, he did not attempt tofly.
"How far is it to the next village, lad?" Surajah asked; "and which isthe way? We are shikarees. Are there any tigers about?"
"Plenty of them," the boy said. "I drive the goats to a strong, highstockade every evening; and would not come out, before the sun rose,for all the money they say the sultan has.
"Make for that tree, and close to it you will see a spring. Followthat down. It will take you to the village."
After walking for six hours, they came to the village. It was a placeof some little size, but there were few people about. Women came tothe doors to look at Surajah and Dick as they came along.
"Where are you from?" an old man asked, as he came out from hiscottage.
"From down the mountain side. Tigers are getting scarce there, and wethought we would come over and see what we could do, here."
"Here there are many tigers," the old man said. "For the last twentyyears, the wars have taken most of our young men away. Some are forcedto go against their will; for when the order comes, to the head man ofthe village, that the sultan requires so many soldiers, he is forcedto pick out those best fitted for service. Others go of their own freewill, thinking soldiering easier work than tilling the fields, besidesthe chance of getting rich booty. So there are but few shikarees, andthe tigers multiply and are a curse to us.
"We are but poor people, but if you choose to stay here for a time, wewill pay something for every tiger you kill; and we will send round tothe other villages, within ten miles, and doubtless every one of themwill contribute, so that you might get enough to pay you for yourexertions."
"We will think of it," Surajah replied. "We did not intend to stop inone village, but proposed to travel about in the jungle-covereddistrict; and wherever we hear complaints of a tiger committingdepredations, we will stop and do our best to kill the evil beast. Wemean, first, to find out where they are most troublesome, and then weshall work back again. We hear that the sultan gives good prices, forthose taken alive."
"I have heard so," the old man said, "but none have been caught alivehere, or by anyone in the villages round. The sultan generally getsthem from the royal forests, where none are allowed to shoot, savewith his permission. Sometimes, when there is a lack of them there,his hunters come into these districts, and catch them in pitfalls, andhave nets and ropes with which the tigers are bound and taken away."
A little crowd had, by this time, collected round them; and the women,when they heard that the strangers were shikarees, who had come upwith the intention of killing tigers, brought them bowls of milk,cakes and other presents.
"I suppose, now that the sultan is away at war," Dick said, "hishunters do not come here for tigers?"
"We know nothing of his wars," a woman said. "They take our sons fromus, and we do not see them again. We did hear a report that he hadgone, with an army, to conquer Travancore. But why he should want todo it, none of us can make out. His dominions are as wide as the heartof man can require. It is strange that he cannot rest contented, but,like his father, should be always taking our sons away to fight.However, these things are beyond the understanding of poor people likeus; but we can't help thinking that it would be better if he were tosend his armies to destroy all the tigers. If he would do that, weshould not grudge the sums we have to pay, when the tax gatherers comeround."
After pausing for an hour in the village, they continued on their way.Two or three other small collections of huts were passed, but it wasnot until the evening of the next day that they issued from thejungle-covered country, onto the cultivated plain. At none of theplaces they had passed was there anything known, as to Tippoo or hisarmy, but they were told that there were parties of troops, in all thevillages along the edge of the plain, as well as in the passes.
"We must be careful now, Surajah," Dick said, as, after a long day'smarch, they sat down to rest, at a distance of half a mile from alarge village. "Our tale, that we are shikarees, will not do here. Hadthat really been our object, we sh
ould have stopped at the first placewe came to, and, at any rate, we should not have come beyond thejungle. We might still say that we are shikarees, but that tigers hadbecome scarce on the other side of the hills, and, hearing a talk thatTippoo and the English are going to war with each other, we made upour minds to go to Seringapatam, and enlist in his army."
"That would do very well," Surajah agreed. "They would have no reasonfor doubting us, and even if the officer here were to suggest that weshould enlist under him, we could do so, as there would be nodifficulty in slipping away, and making off into the jungle again."
They waited until the sun set, and then walked on into the village.They had scarcely entered, when two armed men stopped them, andquestioned them whence they came.
Surajah repeated the story they had agreed upon, and the men appearedquite satisfied.
"You will be just in time," one said. "We have news that the sultanhas just moved, with his army, to Seringapatam. Officers came here,only yesterday, to buy up cattle and grain. These are to be retainedhere, until orders are received where they are to be sent, so I shouldsay that he is coming this way, and will be going down the passes, asHyder did.
"We shall be very glad, for I suppose we shall join, as he passesalong. It has been dull work here, and we are looking forward togaining our share of the loot. It would be just as well for you tojoin us here now, as to go on to Seringapatam."
"It would save us a long tramp," Surajah agreed. "We will think itover, and maybe we will have a talk with your officer, tomorrowmorning."
They sauntered along with the men, talking as they went, and soescaped being questioned by other soldiers. Presently, they made theexcuse that they wanted, to buy some flour and ghee before the shopswere closed; and, with a friendly nod to the two soldiers, stoppedbefore the stall of a peasant who had, on a little stand in front ofhim, a large jar of ghee. Having purchased some, they went a littlefarther, and laid in a fresh supply of flour.
"Things are very dear," Surajah remarked.
"There is very little left in the village," the man said. "All theflour was bought up yesterday, for the sultan's army, which, they say,is coming in this direction; and I have only got what you see here. Ithas been pounded, by my wife and some other women, since morning."
"That is good enough," Dick said, as they walked away. "Our work isdone, Surajah, and it is not likely that we should learn anythingmore, if we were to stop here for a week. Let us turn down betweenthese houses, and make our way round behind. We might be questionedagain, by a fresh party of soldiers, if we were to go along thestreet."
They kept along on the outskirts of the village, regained the road bywhich they had come, and walked on until they reached the edge of thejungle. Going a short distance among the trees, they collected somesticks, lit a fire, and sat down to cook their meal.
At the last village or two, they had heard but little of tigers, andnow agreed that they could safely lie down, and that it would not benecessary for them to rig up their blankets as hammocks, as they haddone on the first two nights.