hyder's triumph — his danger. 45 



curred with them in assuming the position of dherna. 

 Nunjeraj, thus pressed, at length agreed to retire with a 

 liberal allowance of treasure and troops, and leave the field 

 open for his rival. The rajah having assumed the govern- 

 ment, intrusting the whole administration, civil and military, 

 to Hyder and Kunde Row. It was not likely that the de- 

 posed viceroy should remain long satisfied with his altered 

 condition. Retiring to the city of Mysore, only nine miles 

 distant from the capital, he recruited his forces with the ut- 

 most diligence. A demand was hereupon made, that he 

 should discharge his troops, remove to a greater distance, 

 and be content with a fixed allowance for his private ex- 

 penses. He indignantly wrote in answer to Hyder :— " I 

 have made you what you are, and now you refuse me a place 

 in which to hide my head. Do what you please, or what 

 you can. I move not from Mysore." The new minister 

 immediately proceeded to besiege that city, which, after an 

 obstinate resistance, surrendered ; and Nunjeraj was obliged 

 to accept the hard conditions imposed by the victor. 



Hyder seemed now at the height of power ; yet he was 

 soon after involved in the most serious peril he had ever 

 encountered. The rajah and the dowager were not long m 

 discovering what indeed they could scarcely fail to foresee, 

 that by this change of affairs they had merely substituted 

 one sovereign minister for another, and were as destitute as 

 ever of any real power. They gained over Kunde Row, 

 who then watched in conjunction with them the opportu- 

 nity of striking a blow against the man of whom he had 

 been so long the devoted adherent. It occurred sooner than 

 miffht have been expected with one so vigilant and so ver- 

 sant in all the intricacies of treason. Hyder, suspecting 

 nothing had dispersed his forces in different directions, and 

 lay encamped with a handful of troops under the walls of 

 Serintrapatam. Suddenly, with amazement and consterna- 

 tion, he saw his batteries begin to play upon him ; he 

 called for Kunde Row, his resource in every difficulty, but 

 that person was seen on the ramparts directing the opera- 

 tions of the artillery. Hyder, perceiving the snare into 

 which he had fallen, summoned all his presence of mind in 

 this desperate extremity. Having placed his men under the 

 best shelter that could be obtained, he transmitted the most 

 bumble overtures and supplications to his former servant, 



