16 



miles nearer, in hopes of preventing a junction with the English. 

 The enemy amounted to forty thousand cavalry, and twelve thou- 

 sand infantry; bazar-men, foragers, women, and various camp fol- 

 lowers, swelled the number to an hundred thousand. 



Thus circumstanced, the English detachment landed the next day 

 and marched to the plains of Narranseer, on the north side of Cam- 

 bay, or Cambaut, an ancient city terminating the gulf of that name 

 in 22° 16' north latitude and 72° 32' east longitude: it is now only 

 three miles in circumference, surrounded by a brick wall perfo- 

 rated for musquetry, flanked with fifty-two irregular towers, with- 

 out fosse or esplanade: the works are out of repair, and the cannon 

 in the towers of little consequence. It is built on uneven ground, 

 which on the whole may be termed an eminence; the houses, 

 mosques, and tombs reach to the walls, and were formerly a part 

 of the city founded near twelve hundred years ago, on the site of 

 Camanes, mentioned by Ptolemy. 



Cambay, or Cambaut, once famous in oriental history, is now 

 entirely changed, and its grandeur mingled with poverty and deso- 

 lation; uninhabited streets, falling mosques, and mouldering 

 palaces, indicate its ancient magnificence and the instability of 

 human structures: formerly every street was fortified, and defended 

 by gates; a few in the principal streets still remain, but the greater 

 part have shared the common fate of the city. 



The durbar, or nabob's palace, is almost the only large edifice 

 in good repair, its exterior appearance is far from elegant; within 

 it abounds with small rooms and porticos, surrounding open 

 squares, embellished with gardens and fountains, in the Mogul 

 taste. 



