It was evident that their intention was
to cut down the general.
The Rajah, who was riding as usual with the staff, dashed forward with
four or five other officers, and encountered the horsemen before they
could reach him. The Rajah cut down one of them, another was killed by
one of the staff, and the third knocked off his horse and captured.
It was learned that the enterprise was not a planned one, but was the
result of a quarrel between the men, themselves. One had charged the
others with cowardice, and in return they had challenged him to follow
them where they dared go. All had prepared themselves for the
enterprise by half intoxicating themselves with bhang, and thus made
but a poor fight, when they found their object thwarted by the
officers who threw themselves between them and their intended victim.
Bangalore was a fine town, situated on a plain so elevated that the
climate was temperate, the soil fertile, and vegetation abundant. The
town was of considerable extent, that portion lying within the
fortifications being a mile and a quarter long, by half a mile broad.
It was surrounded by a strong rampart, a thick hedge, and a deep, dry
ditch. The wall, however, did not extend across the side facing the
fort, whose guns were supposed to render it ample protection.
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