The draught and carriage cattle were dying
daily, by hundreds. The few remaining, intended for food, were in so
emaciated a state that the flesh was scarcely eatable. And, worst of
all, the supply of ammunition was almost exhausted.
The news of the fall of the fortress, considered by the natives to be
almost impregnable, under the very eyes of the sultan himself and his
great army, produced a widespread effect; greatly depressing the
spirit of Tippoo's adherents, while it proportionately raised those of
the British troops, and excited the hopes of the peoples conquered by
Tippoo and his father. One result was that the polagars, or chiefs, of
a tribe that had but recently fallen under the yoke of Mysore, were at
once emboldened to bring in provisions to the town. As great stores
were found in the magazines in the fort, the starving animals regained
some of their condition during the ten days that the troops were
occupied in repairing the breaches, burying the dead, and placing the
fort in a condition to stand a siege, should Tippoo return during the
absence of the army.
When this was done, and the stores of ammunition replenished from the
magazines, the army started on its march north to Deonhully, where
they were to effect a junction with the cavalry that the Nizam had
agreed to furnish.
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