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402 this dreadful measure was happily unnecessary. The defence of the place having been left to a few hundred Arabs, they were induced to retire, either by the threats or persuasions of the inhabitants, who opened the gates, and our troops took quiet possession of the city. On the 19th, General Smith, having been joined by a regiment of the Madras cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel Colebrooke, started in pursuit of the Peishwa; but the latter moved too rapidly to be caught; and throwing himself into the wild and elevated country where the Kistna takes its rise, he eluded pursuit until the following year.