WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. 117 



" are thought only accidents of courfe *." Notvvithftanding this 

 fage reflection of our hero, it is faid that the Kilidar, or gover- 

 nor, and twelve hundred men were taken prifonerst ; thefe pro- 

 bably had retired till the bofoms of our foldiers had exhaufted 

 their heroic ardour. Fortunately for the fouthern army, it had 

 not made its jiincflion with the general, and fo efcaped the dif- 

 grace of the mallacre. Which probably the generous commanders, 

 had they arrived, might have diverted him from. 



Thus ftrengthened, he began his toilfome afcent up the Ascent of the 



Cj h auts 



Huffein Ghnrry Ghaut., with all windings, not lefs than three 

 miles in extent, and ftrongly fortified at every turning. " Luck- 

 " ily it happened," fays Wx, Sheen., " that the commander knew 

 " nothing of this defile, otherwife it would have been madnefs 

 " for him to have attempted it ; for if the enemy had made 

 '* any tolerable defence, it would have been impregnable : but 

 " it was defended only by the wild undifciplined troops of the 

 " native Polygars. 



" However, the General's want of information was the caufe 

 " of our fuccefs ; for in the evening, part of the eleventh batta- 

 " lion, which I belong to, the light company of the Bombay Euro- 

 ^^ peans, and part of the fifteenth battalion of Sepoys, began the 

 " attack, and took the firft barrier with very little oppolition. 



" When we came to the fecond, we were alarmed at the 

 " prodigious number and ilrong pofition of the enemy ; but 

 *' finding it no lefs dangerous to retreat than to advance, we 

 " charged home in all quarters, when the motley crew gave way 

 *' and fled, leaving about five hundred killed and wounded. 



* Lieut. Hubbard's Letrer. f Annual Regifter, 1783, p. 88. 



Vol. I. O q <« Our 



