"The prompt and conciliatory measures, taken by the Bengal government,
appeased the resentment felt by the Nizam, and induced him to withdraw
from the Confederacy. Hyder, however, was bent upon war, and the
imbecile government here took no steps, whatever, to meet the storm.
The commissariat was entirely neglected, they had no transport train
whatever, and the most important posts were left without a garrison.
"It was towards the end of June that we received the news that Hyder
had left his capital at the head of an army of ninety thousand men, of
whom twenty-eight thousand were cavalry. He attempted no disguise as
to his object, and moved, confident in his power, to conquer the
Carnatic and drive the English into the sea.
"My father had already made his preparations. Everything was in
readiness, and as soon as the news reached him, he started for Madras,
under the guard of his escort, with my mother and myself, most of the
traders of the town, and the landowners, who had gathered here in fear
and trembling.
"It was a painful scene, as you may imagine, and I shall never forget
the terrified crowds in the streets, and the wailing of the women.
Many families who then left reached Madras in safety, but of those who
remained in the town, all are dead, or prisoners beyond the hills.
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