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and spies, no doubt, thought to please him by a little exaggeration; 

 half that amount was probably nearer the truth: their artillery 

 was not so well served as formerly, but their cavalry made some 

 desperate charges on the allies, who received them with intrepidity, 

 and in general behaved well; several were killed, and many 

 wounded: among the latter was Saccaram-Hurra, paymaster- 

 general of Ragobah's forces and one of his prime ministers; the 

 English detachment did not lose a man. One of the peshwa's 

 elephant-drivers being wounded, the elephant escaped, and was 

 taken by the enemy. I mention the loss of this animal because the 

 Asiatics consider them a valuable and honourable spoil; as much 

 so as Europeans estimate cannon and standards. 



Before the engagement a spy was detected in the camp of the 

 allies, and carried into Ragobah's presence, who ordered his tongue 

 to be cut out previous to his being returned to the enemy. As 

 the poor wretch could neither write nor read, this might be in- 

 tended as a figurative oriental language, and the measure, how- 

 ever cruel to the individual, was perhaps necessaiy. The miseries of 

 war are manifold; but from a wish to condense the events of the 

 campaign, I suppress reflections which naturally occur to every 

 feeling mind. It was sometimes deemed necessary to hang 

 a person suspected as a spy, and to finish the execution; at 

 others, when neither threats nor half-hanging could extort a con- 

 fession, it was thought proper to lower the struggling wretch, 

 slacken the cord, and restore suspended animation to a harmless 

 villager who had unfortunately strayed loo near the line. 



Necessity alone compels Britons to adopt these stern decrees: a 



