182 PINDAREE WAR. 



pline, they might perhaps, in favourable circumstances,, 

 have founded an empire equal to that of Aurengzebe. They 

 had, however, to encounter, not the fallen fragments of Mo- 

 gul greatness, nor the loose squadrons of Mahratta horse, 

 but the disciplined strength of that new power which had be- 

 come paramount in Hindostan. The British, by the nu- 

 merous victories gained in the last war, had extended their 

 boundaries along nearly the whole line of this mountain 

 domain. The Gorkhas, on seeing their career thus checked, 

 hesitated for some time whether they should commit them- 

 selves against so formidable an adversary. Meanwhile, 

 they appropriated certain small portions of territory, on 

 which, by the vague tenures prevalent in that country, they 

 might found some ancient claim. Repeated complaints be- 

 ing made, they at length agreed that deputies from either 

 side should meet in order to examine and decide the preten- 

 sions to the land in dispute. The commissioners assembled ; 

 but those of Nepaul, it is alleged, showed a singular insen- 

 sibility to the clearest proof of the total absence of all right 

 on their part to the favoured spots of which they had taken 

 possession ; and even where they were obliged to yield, the 

 supreme authority evaded or retracted its sanction. At 

 length, the governor-general, considering the claim to a 

 particular district most clearly established, sent a detach- 

 ment, which provisionally occupied it, till these endless dis- 

 cussions should terminate. The Nepaulese did not at first 

 oppose this movement ; but as soon as the troops had re- 

 tired during the unhealthy season, leaving only a small post 

 to guard the frontier, they advanced in force and drove out 

 the party, of whom several were killed and wounded. After 

 this there was no longer room to hesitate as to the immediate' 

 necessity of warlike operations. 



Ameer Sing, the able and enterprising commander of the 

 Nepaulese, on grounds which it seems impossible fully to 

 understand or justify, had taken post on the western ex- 

 tremity of their conquests. Lord Hastings, who in 1814 

 sent into the field a force of 30,000 men, availing himself 

 of the position assumed by the enemy, formed the plan of 

 enclosing his army, and cutting it off from the rentral terri- 

 tories. Generals Ochterlony and Gillespie, at the head of 

 their respective divisions, marched, the one to attack Ameej* 

 in front, the other to occupy the passes bv which he might 



