WESTERN H I N D O O S T A N. I2i 



At Bedf20?'e he found (to a patriotic commander) a more im- V'ast Maca- 

 portant acqiiifition than any treafures. All Ryder's principal ma- dry^^&c.°"^' 

 gazines, a very fine foundry for brafs cannon, a powder manu- 

 fadtory, and immenfe ftores of every kind*. Matthews did not 

 make a true eftimate of this fpecies of treafure ; his avarice made 

 him negledl his fecurity, yet he weakened his army by making 

 detachments to every place where the profpeil of plunder could 

 allure him. He negledled the ftrong palTes into the My/ore, 

 which, fecured, he might have reded fafely againft all the 

 efforts of the returning Tippoo. Among other places he fent a 

 detachment to Annampour, a firong fort, adjacent to Bednore, Annamhour. 

 which Ayder had made the dep6t of the reft of his treafure. 

 The place was taken by florm. Let Lieutenant Sheen relate the 

 difgraceful event. — " When a pradlicable breach was efFe(5led, 

 ' orders were ifTued for a florm, and no quarters ; which was 

 ' immediately put in execution, and every man put to the Horrid Cruel- 

 ' fword, except one horfemnn, who made his efcape, after 

 ' being wounded in three different places. A dreadful light 



* then prefented itfelf ; above four hundred beautiful women, 

 ' either killed or wounded with the bayonet, expiring in one 

 ' another's arms, while the private Ibldiers v/ere committing 



* every kind of outrage, and plundering them of their jewels, 

 ' the officers not being able to reftrain them t." 



" The troops were, however, afterwards, feverely rcpri- 

 *' manded iox it. I had almofl forgot to mention, that fome of 

 " the women, rather than be torn from their relations, threw 



* Hon. Charles Grevile's Britifli India, iii. p. 844. f Slieen's Narrative, p. 77. 



Vol. L R " themfelves 



