Page:Final French Struggles in India and on the Indian Seas.djvu/243

Rh Perrou was at Aligarh, but he was as a general without an army. The main body of the troops were with Daolát Ráo; others were not at the moment amenable to his orders. He had with him at the time but 2000 infantry and 8000 cavalry.

But there were other evils threatening him which Perron dreaded far more than a deficiency of troops. His conduct in the early part of the year, which I have detailed at length, had roused all the suspicions of Daolát Ráo. His disgrace, again imminent, was hastened by the present of fifteen lakhs of rupees made by Ambají Inglia to Daolát Ráo as the price of the Subadárship of Hindostan. Ambají was one of the great chiefs whom Perron had insulted, and from whom he could expect no mercy. His rival would have drained his purse if not his life's blood.

Perron could not even trust the commanders of his brigades. Dudrenec, on his way back from Ujjén to Aligarh, was far more attached to Ambají than to him; Bourquin, who at the moment had the second and third brigades under his orders, threw off his allegiance. But one chance remained, and that was to make the best possible terms with the British.

To this course Perron resigned himself. When, on the 29th August, 1803, General Lake marched on the the village of Aligarh, a splendid opportunity offered to Perron to charge it with the 8000 horse he had under his command. He did not seize it. He gave no orders. His men were paralysed by his indecision, and a few