48 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
ed the rebels; but they fought with such desperate 
bravery, that he was obliged to retreat with consider- 
able loss. Mortified at this disgraceful issue, and 
urged by the lamentations of the widows and orphans 
of those who had fallen in the late conflict, he sent a 
challenge to the five Rajahs, offering to engage them 
all in single combat, to prevent the further effusion 
of blood. The proposal being accepted, the agree- 
ment, which was that the territories of the vanquished 
should devolve upon the vanquisher, was engraved 
upon a plate of brass, fixed upon a pole, and placed in 
the centre of the field. The stoutest of the rebels, 
completely armed and mounted, spurred his horse to- 
wards the King, and made a furious stroke at him, 
which was parried, and the contest continued for 
some time without a wound having been either given 
or received. At length, Viswanat’ha, bidding his 
adversary be upon his guard, raised himself in his 
stirrups, lifted his ponderous sabre, and, with a force 
which no armour could repel, struck him on the crest, 
and completely severed him in two. His companions 
in arms seeing the fate of their most resolute cham- 
pion, submitted to the mercy of the conqueror. 
The account of this extraordinary contest is re- 
lated by the Hindoo historian with all the wild ex- 
aggerations of fable. The gods are said to have assem- 
bled in the air to behold the conflict, and to have 
showered the most fragrant flowers upon the con- 
queror. From that period the reign of this excellent 
Prince was uninterrupted either by domestic or fo- 
reign wars. The rest of his life was devoted to the 
improvement of his kingdom. He died about the 
