Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan, Volume 1.djvu/354

346 the Nabob's elder brother. This man, taken prisoner when his father was killed at the battle of Ambour, was carried by Chundasaheb to Pondicherry, where he remained until Nazir-jing came into the province, when Mr. Dupleix, at the request of this prince, released him. On Nazir-jing's death he seemed inclinable to follow the fortunes of Murzafa-jing, with whom he went out of the Carnatic; but after his death retired to Cudapah, where he had remained until he took it into his head to come back to the Carnatic with 2000 horse, and as many Peons, to serve, as he said, the Nabob his brother. He nevertheless on his arrival at Arcot declared he could proceed no farther without receiving a sum of money to satisfy his troops: this his brother Abdul-wahab promised to supply, upon which it was expected that he would march immediately to Tritchinopoly. The experience of the late disaster convinced major Lawrence, that the party at Devi Cottah was not strong enough to march to the camp, and dreading to leave the city exposed to another assault, by moving to join them, he ordered them to wait at Devi Cottah, until Maphuze Khan came up, and determined in the mean time to maintain his ground on the plain, notwithstanding he had only 400 Europeans in the field. The smallness of this number rendered it impossible to bring provisions from such a distance as the Tanjore country, and indeed the king, not doubting but that the late defeat of the escort would oblige the English to retire from Tritchinopoly, discouraged his merchants from supplying them any longer. Tondiman's country therefore remained the only resource, a party of 300 Sepoys were detached, with orders to collect them in Killanore, a village in the woods, about twelve miles from the city. The detachments of Europeans employed to escort them were not permitted to move farther than five miles from the camp, at which distance they halted, and sent forward a detachment of Sepoys, who met the provisions, escorted by the party of Sepoys from Killanore, at the skirts of the wood, and returned with them from thence to the post where the Europeans were halting. In this service they were much assisted by the activity and vigilance of Mahomed Issoof, an excellent partizan, whose merit had raised him from a captain of a company, to be commander in chief of all the Sepoys in the English service, into which he first inlisted under captain