SOUTHERN AFRICA. 
201 
Macartney, were detected and connniunicatcd to the Gover- 
nor-general of Bengal. " I received," the Marquis of Wel- 
lesley observes in his dispatch to the Court of Directors, " on 
" the 18th of June 1798, a regular authentication of the pro- 
" clamation (of the Governor of the Isle of France) in a 
" letter from his Excellency the Earl of Macartney, dated the 
" 28th of March." And he acted, on tliis intelligence, with 
that prudence, promptitude, and spirit, for which the charac- 
ter of the noble Marquis is so eminently distinguished. The 
object of Tippoo was to gain time in order that he might 
strengthen his position and augment his forces. But the 
rapid movement of our troops towards his capital, as soon as 
his hostile views were confirmed, frustrated his plans, and ef- 
fected the total subversion of his country. Both the moment 
of attack and the reinforcement from the Cape were acknow- 
ledged to be important ; in either of which a failure might 
have proved fatal to the campaign, and would, at all events, 
have postponed the day of victorj^ 
The almost incredible celerity, with which twelve hundred 
effective men joined the Egyptian army in high health and 
spirits from the Cape of Good Hope, is another instance that 
must force conviction of its vast impoi tance as a military sta- 
tion. The advantages indeed that are afforded by its geoo-ra- 
phical position of acquiring and conveying intelligence with 
respect to the aiiairs of neighbouring nations, or of transport- 
ing troops, are by no means precarious or depending on 
chance ; there being scarcel}'' a week in the year in which 
English whalers or merchantmen, or ships of neutral powers, 
do not touch at the Cape, especially on their outward bound 
VOL. II. D D 
