Page:Sir Thomas Munro and the British Settlement of the Madras Presidency.djvu/68

 6o SIR THOMAS MUNRO

lost the whole had not Colonel Floyd been sent with a small detachment to bring him safely past the ferocious Tipii. The Colonel found him as much dismayed as if he had been surrounded by the whole Austrian army, and busy in placing an ambuscade to catch about six looties ^ He must have been a simple looty that he caught ! Lord Cornwallis said one day, on hearing that the looties had carried aw^ay nine elephants near Savandrug, " that they were the best troops in the world, for that they were always doing something to harass their enemies ; " and I am confident that Tipu has not lost a looty in his army who is not a better soldier than any of these three Generals. Had his Lordship not arrived, Tipu would have been too much for them all, and their confederates at their back. These characters have led me out of my way. or I should have said a great deal more about the armies of the Native Powers, the old subject of Tipu as a barrier against the Marathas, and some oversights which his Lordship had nearly committed when he intended sending Med*ows with a part of the army to Assore to wait for him.'

^ LooUj^ a plunderer ; see Yule's Hobson-Johson.