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newed their depredations, plundered the villages, and committed 

 murder. 



You have thought proper, among many other metaphorical 

 expressions, to write to me, that "a moschclo can torment an ele- 

 phant:" in one sense I admit its truth; but remember, that although 

 that noble animal bears much, when once roused to revenge no- 

 thing can withstand his fury; the beasts of the forest tremble 

 at his presence, and flee before him. The British lion, when ex- 

 asperated, is still more formidable; he is noble, generous, and for- 

 bearing, but there is a season, when the time of forbearance is past, 

 and the hour of revenge is arrived! My whole conduct must 

 have convinced you of the lenity of the British nation, and of 

 my desire to live in amity with the different governments around 

 me; but the Gracias are continually infringing on the good order 

 of society, and the peace which ought to subsist between civilized 

 states. Too long did I suffer your cruel depredations, from a re- 

 luctance to draw the sword of revenge. But the Mandwa Gracias 

 having lately exceeded their former atrocities, by darting a spear 

 into the side of a brahmin, and treacherously murdering some of 

 the Company's subjects, 1 was compelled to send an army against 

 their chief, and take a capital which had for so many centuries 

 been deemed impregnable. You are not ignorant of that capture, 

 nor that the aged chieftain was with difficulty conveyed for safety 

 to one of the distant hill-forts, while his wife and daughter, with 

 several females from the zenana, were sent prisoners to Dhuboy, 

 where they must remain as hostages until a general peace is con- 

 cluded with the Gracias. They have a separate apartment in the 



