e of eighty-four miles in forty-eight hours. Never
shall I forget the cheering of the handful of men on the ramparts of
this little asylum. His lordship, to whom I was close, dropped the tear
of sympathy when waving his hat to them. I had that morning preceded the
army for the purpose of taking up the encampment; and, on the approach
of our advance-guard, some of the straggling enemy were seen loitering
behind the main body, who had marched early that morning. We had two
six-pounders with us, five troops of his majesty's 8th Light Dragoons,
five troops of his majesty's 24th Dragoons, with a regiment of native
cavalry; and we succeeded in killing a few of these marauders, who were
plundering and laying waste the whole country. We could always trace
their line of march by the dreadful destruction they had committed. Some
few sepoys were killed from the tops of the houses of Shamlee, many of
which were higher than the little fort. For this breach of good faith
his lordship gave up the town to plunder. The scene that followed would
take an abler pen than mine to describe:--breaking open houses and
boxes; tearing open bales of shawls, silks, and satins; and fighting
hand to hand: the tumult is inconceivable to any one who has not
witnessed such a scene. We marched the following morning, treading upon
the heels of the enemy: but, as they had a day's start of us, and their
horses will go from fifty to sixty miles a day, it was impossible for us
to come up with them.

On our road we passed several villages that had been burned to the
ground; poor, naked, and plundered creatures, men, women, and children;
burning corn-fields; dead elephants, camels, horses, and bullocks; and
the road was strewed with moah-berry, on which they feed their horses
for the purpose of making them drunk, in which state it is incredible
the astonishing distance they will go, though you can count their ribs a
mile off. The rear-guard of the enemy generally kept their eye on our
advance-guard, detaching parties on each of our flanks, and, by way of
amusement, giving us occasionally a shot. I recollect, on one of these
day's marches, a most impudent fellow, mounted on a beautiful horse, and
finely bedizened, came within two hundred yards of our column, passing
upon us some unpleasant epithets, and once or twice firing his
matchlock. He at last wounded a man of the native cavalry. This so
annoyed me that I asked his lordship if he would permit me to attack