too glad to
accept the prisoners he chose to hand over, without troubling
themselves in the slightest about the rest, whom they basely deserted
and left to their fate."

Chapter 5: War Declared.

"That gives you a general idea, Dick, of the war with Tippoo. I saw
little of the events after the battle of Porto Novo, as my father was
taken ill soon after, and died at Madras. Seeing that there was no
probability, whatever, of the English driving Hyder back, until they
had much larger forces and a much better system of management, I
remained in Madras until peace was made; then I came back here,
rebuilt the palace, and have since been occupied in trying to restore
the prosperity of my poor people.

"It is, I feel, a useless task, for it is certain that, ere long, the
English will again be engaged with Mysore; and if they are, it is
well-nigh certain that Tippoo's hordes will again sweep down from the
hills, and carry ruin and desolation everywhere.

"He would, as Hyder had, have the advantage on his side at the
beginning of the war. He has a score of passes to choose from, and can
descend on to the plain by any one he may select. And, even were there
a force here capable of giving battle to the whole Mysorean army, it
could not watch all the passes, as to do so the army would have to be
broken up into a dozen commands. Tippoo will therefore again be able
to ravage the plains, for weeks, perhaps, before the English can force
him to give battle.

"But there is no army, at present, in existence of sufficient strength
to meet him. The Madras force would have to wait until reinforcements
arrived from Calcutta. It was bad before, but it will be worse, now.
Hyder, no doubt, slaughtered many, but he was not cruel by nature. He
carried off enormous quantities of people, with their flocks and
herds, but he did this to enrich Mysore with their labour, and did not
treat them with unnecessary cruelty.

"Tippoo, on the other hand, is a human tiger. He delights in torturing
his victims, and slays his prisoners from pure love of bloodshed. He
is proud of the title of 'Tiger.' His footstool is a tiger's head, and
the uniforms of his infantry are a sort of imitation of a tiger's
stripes. He has military talent, and showed great judgment in command
of his division--indeed, most of the successes gained during the last
war were his work. Since then, he has laboured incessantly to improve
his army. Numbers of regiments have been r