No one
doubts that we shall, ere long, be again at war with England, and
although the sultan relies much upon large reinforcements that have
been promised by France, with whom he has entered into an alliance,
they have not yet arrived, and he may have to bear the brunt of the
attack of the English by himself."
"I have heard of this," the governor said, "and regret that we shall
again have the Feringhees upon us. As for the Mahrattis or the Nizam,
I heed them not--they are dust, whom the sultan could sweep from his
path; but these English are terrible soldiers. I have fought against
them under Hyder, and in the last war they again showed their valour;
and the strangest thing is that they make the natives under them fight
as bravely as they do themselves.
"As to forts, nothing is safe from them. Were all the troops of the
Nizam and the Mahrattis combined to besiege us, I should feel
perfectly safe; while were there but five hundred Englishmen, I should
tremble for the safety of the fortress. You have come up the hill, and
have seen for yourselves how strong it is; and yet they took the place
without the loss of a single man. I was not here, for I was in command
of Kistnagherry at that time, and succeeded in holding it against
their assaults.
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