Page:Haidar Ali and Tipu Sultan.djvu/224

220 cavalry, of whom six had been taken prisoners at Kadapa: –

'Let the prisoners be strangled, and the horses, after being valued, be taken into Government service.'

But enough has been said to show the character of a ruler, who urged on by religious bigotry, innate cruelty, and despotism, thought little of sacrificing thousands of lives to his ardent zeal and revengeful feelings. These darker shades in his disposition are not relieved by any evidence of princely generosity, such as Haidar Alí occasionally showed. Tipú would grumble at the expense of clothing his troops, or even at the number of wax-candles needed for ship-stores. He once rebuked an officer who complained of being supplied with old and black rice, by telling him not to engage in improper altercation.

Whatever indignation may be excited by the Sultán's vindictive character, it is enhanced by the miserable state of the prisoners who fell into his hands. Haidar indeed put his captives in irons, fed them sparingly, and treated them badly, but he rarely took their lives deliberately. Tipú, on the other hand, had no compunction in cutting their throats, or strangling and poisoning them; while, as has been stated, numbers of them were sent to die of malaria and starvation on the fatal mountain of Kabáldrúg. The English prisoners were specially selected as victims of his vengeance, not omitting officers of rank such as General Matthews; while, in