﻿THE KINGDOM OF NEPAL. 317 



then kept in close confinement for a long time. At 

 last, after making certain promises, and interesting 

 all the principal men, of the country in their behalf, 

 Gairiprejas set them at liberty. 



The king of GorSha, despairing of his ability to 

 get possession of the plain of Nepal by strength, hoped 

 to effect his purpose by causing a famine, and with 

 this design, stationed troops at all the passes of the 

 mountains to prevent any intercourse with Nepal; and 

 his orders were most rigorously obeyed, for every per- 

 son who was found in the road, with only a little salt 

 or cotton about him, was hung upon a tree; and he 

 caused all the inhabitants of a neighbouring village 

 to be put to death in a most cruel manner (even the 

 women and children did not escape) for having sup- 

 plied a little cotton to the inhabitants of Nepal ; and, 

 when I arrived in that country at the beginning of 

 1760, it was a most horrid spectacle to behold so 

 many people hanging on the trees in the road. How- 

 ever the king of Gore ha being also disappointed in 

 his expectations of gaining his end by this project, 

 fomented dissentions among the nobles of the three 

 kingdoms of Nepal, and attached to his party many 

 of the principal ones, by holding forth to them liberal 

 and enticing promises ; for which purpose he had about 

 2000 Brahmens in his service. When he thought he 

 had acquired a party sufficiently strong, he advanced 

 a second time with his army to Cirtipur, and laid seige 

 to it on the north-west quarter, that he might avoid 

 exposing his army between the two cities.oiCafhmahM 

 and Lelit Pattan. After a siege of several months, 

 the king of Gorc'ha demanded the regency of the 

 town of Cirtipur^ when the commandant of the town, 

 seconded by the approbation of the inhabitants, dis-' 

 patched to him by an arrow a very impertinent and ex- 

 asperating answer. The king of Gord'ha was so much 

 enraged at this mode of proceeding, that he gave im- 



