32 



and one of Ragobah's principal allies, arrived soon afterwards 

 with a body of eight thousand cavalry, but very few infantry in 

 proportion; this being all the reinforcement expected, it was 

 resolved to march without delay and attack the enemy, then en- 

 camped on the banks of the Sabermally. 



On completing this junction with the Mahratta army, the allied 

 forces might altogether amount to twenty-five thousand men in 

 arms. The English detachment, under the command of colonel 

 Keating, consisted of eighty European artillery, and one hun- 

 dred and sixty artillery lascars, natives employed in that line; 

 five hundred European infantry, and fourteen hundred sepoys, 

 with a proportionate number of officers. Our field train of artil- 

 lery contained two eighteen pounders, four twelve, and four six 

 pounders; two eight-inch mortars, and howitzers of smaller cali- 

 ber, with stores and ammunition in great abundance. 



The encampment at Darah, on an arid plain, bare of trees, and 

 exposed to the blasts of the hot winds, was intolerable: Ave looked 

 back with regret to the lovely lake and shady groves of Narran- 

 seer. There was indeed a large tank at Darah, which accom- 

 modated us tolerably well before the arrival of Ragobah's forces : 

 from that period the concourse of elephants, camels, horses, and 

 bullocks, with thousands of men, women, and children, rushing 

 into the water, soon destroyed its fluidity, by mingling it with the 

 mud, from which with difficulty we strained off a most unpleasant 

 beverage. 



When our allies had sufficiently recovered from the fatigue of 

 their forced march, we joyfully left our unpleasant encampment at 

 Darah, and marched towards the enemy's ground on the banks 



