not to be overcome even by Mahratta dissimulation. Mr. Jenkins distinctly perceived the tendency which events were taking, and if the British connexion could have been preserved by judgment, firmness and caution, combined with suavity, that connexion would not have been severed, nor the Rajah divested of his power. But the period was approaching when the Rajah would throw off the mask of friendship, and, in anticipation of it, Mr. Jenkins apprized the military authorities of the prospect of their being speedily called into action, and urged the march of troops towards Nagpore, to uphold the British interests. The Rajah had dismissed the Peishwa's vakeel, but he still retained at his Court the brother of that functionary, and through him, as well as other channels, the intercourse with Poona continued to be carried on. The assemblage of troops at Poona was accompanied by a simultaneous collection of force at Nagpore. The completion of the contingent was delayed, and when troops were assigned for the purpose, they consisted mostly of new levies, evidencing that the Rajah had no mind to part with his good troops. In addition to their being raw and undisciplined, the fidelity of these recruits to the British cause was more than suspected. The levies extended beyond Nagpore, and were conducted with great secrecy. The infatuated Prince had entered into negociations with the Pindarrees, who were invited to bring down a force to attack the British. The Pindarrees were also made useful in another way, by assigning the fact of their ravages as an excuse for keeping up an extraordinary number of troops.

In the midst of these warning circumstances, a khelaut arrived from the Peishwa, and the Rajah sent to inform the Resident of his intention to receive it with all the usual ceremonies indicative of his being invested with the character of commander-in-chief of the Mahratta armies. The principal ceremony consisted in going out to his camp, and remaining three days. at the head of his troops. The communication was accompanied by a request that the Resident, or some gentlemen of the service, would attend the ceremony, and that a salute might be ordered. As the British Govern

ment was then in a state of actual warfare with the Peishwa, it was quite obvious that such a request could not be complied with, and this public acknowledgment by Appa Sahib of a community of interest with the declared enemy of his protectors, would seem to amount almost to insanity. Mr. Jenkins, of course, refused any participation in the ceremony. On the following day, all communication between the Residency and the city was interdicted. The palaces were stripped of every thing of value, and the families of the Rajah and principal ministers left the city. These movements were followed by an order for the contingent to remove to the city, the old cry of the Pindarrees being set up as a pretext. Upon this, Mr. Jenkins lost no time in sending for the troops from their cantonments.

An attempt was now made, on the part of the Rajah, to open a negociation; but the hostile manifestations which were contemporaneous shewed it to be altogether delusive. The 26th of November placed the matter beyond question, by a repetition of the treacheries of Poona. An inter

view between the British Resident and two of the Rajah's ministers was interrupted by the commencement of firing. The strife of words was now to give way to the combat of more deadly weapons. The conference was dissolved abruptly, and Mr. Jenkins repaired to the scene of action.

Reinforcements had been sent for, but they had not arrived. The duty of repelling the attack consequently devolved upon a very small body of troops, under Lieut. Col. Scott, who had to resist a force of about eight thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, supported by thirty-five guns.

When these troops had, at the request of the Resident, marched from their cantonments, they took post on the hill of Seetabuldy, overlooking the residency and the city; at the same time taking possession of another hill, about three hundred yards distant, the occupation of which was necessary to their retention of the former. In the course of the day, large bodies of Arabs, with five guns, were observed to enter a village at the foot of the hill, where a strong body of the Rajah's infantry had previously been posted; and at six o'clock in the evening, while Col. Scott was engaged with Capt. Bayley in posting sentries on the face of the hill, the Arabs in the village opened a fire. This was entirely unexpected, as no overt act of hostility had yet taken place on either side, and the Rajah's troops were aware that the posting of the sentries by the British was only a customary act of military precaution, and that no intention existed of attacking them. The small party of British troops, who found themselves thus suddenly engaged in action, returned a volley upon their assailants, and then retreated to the top of the hill, under the fire of all the troops in the village.

The action now became general, and continued without intermission for eighteen hours. A part of the troops being entirely exhausted, it was found necessary to confine the defence of the inferior hill to its summit. At eight o'clock on the morning of the 27th, a body of Arabs by charging up the face of the hill, with an overwhelming force, succeeded in gaining possession of the British post. The vast disproportion between the numbers of the contending bodies now appeared to give a fearful preponderance to the Rajah's party, when the current of fortune was turned by one of those acts of romantic valour, which have so often changed the face of the battle-field, struck panic into the hearts of a powerful enemy, and secured the victory to the weaker side. At the moment when there seemed most cause for despondency, Capt. Fitzgerald, commanding a detachment of Bengal cavalry, reinforced by a native officer and about twenty-five troopers of the Madras body-guard, charged an immense body of the enemy's best horse, and having taken their guns and turned them against their late possessors, stood master of the plain, which was covered in every direction by the flying foe. Accident aided the advantage which daring courage had secured. While preparations were making for an attack upon the Arabs, who had obtained possession of the smaller hill, an explosion was observed to take place in the midst of them. No sooner was this perceived, than the British troops made a rush towards the spot, and it was with great difficulty that Col. Scott could prevent the hill which he occupied from being

deserted, or even prevail upon the infantry to wait the arrival of the cavalry who were to support them. Their impatience for action would doubtless have been justified by their bearing through its dangers; but the opportunity was not afforded. On their approach, the enemy abandoned the guns and fled. Shortly after, the Arabs beginning to collect in considerable numbers in front of the hill, a troop of cavalry, led by Cornet Smith, charged round its base, and numbers of the enemy were cut to pieces. All hope now seemed to be extinct with the defeated party; the attack slackened in every quarter, and by noon it had entirely ceased.

Courage and military conduct, like other meritorious qualities, are not always appreciated according to their deserts. The magnitude of the stake contended for, the proximity or distance of the scene of action, the numbers engaged, and various other accidents, influence the judgment of mankind with regard to them. Little is recollected of the heroic band who, on this occasion, illustrated the triumphant supremacy of living burning courage over the dead force of mere numbers. Yet the prodigies of valour, which they performed, have rarely been equalled either in ancient or modern times. If glory were to be proportioned to difficulty and danger, the memory of such men would be imperishable. The noble spirit, by which they were animated, extended even to the Civil servants of the Company. The Resident, Mr. Jenkins, was present throughout the action, and on the testimony of Col. Scott, it is established, that his animated conduct tended in a very considerable degree to excite the troops to their duty. His first assistant, Mr. Sotheby, exhibited the same contempt of danger, and the same generous ardour, not merely to satisfy the claims of duty, but to surpass them. The latter gentleman met an honourable death on the field which he contributed to win; the former still lives, to enjoy the approbation of his conscience and his country. Such are the men, which the Company's service has from its commencement never ceased to produce, and their best eulogium is to be found in the magnificent empire acquired by their

exertions.

Dismayed by the result of the first attempt in hostility, Appa Sahib sought refuge in negociation, and the Resident consented to a suspension of arms, on condition of the Rajah's troops being withdrawn from the positions which they then held to those which they had formerly occupied. Any final arrangements he professed himself unable to make, until he received further instructions from his Government. Appa Sahib, in the mean time, remained still, but continued to increase his army and render his artillery more efficient; and as no instructions arrived for the guidance of the Resident, he determined, on the 14th of December, to offer terms for the Rajah's acceptance. One of the conditions was, that the Rajah should repair to the British camp or Residency, and remain there until everything should be settled. With this he complied, though not without hesitation. The surrender of the guns, and the evacuation of the city by the Rajah's troops, formed other conditions, and with these was greater difficulty. On the British troops proceeding to take charge of the guns, they were fired upon from an enclosed gar

den and from several batteries; General Doveton, however, speedily put the assailants to flight, and carried the batteries in admirable style. The two succeeding days were fixed for the evacuation of the city by the Arab troops; but they did not depart, and it became necessary to make an attack on that part of the city which they occupied. In this the British troops were repulsed; but though unsuccessful, the attempt was sufficient to deter the Rajah's troops from a protracted resistance, and they soon signified their willingness to surrender on conditions. These conditions were few and simple. The Arabs asked only personal safety, and a British officer and a small escort to give them and their families safe-conduct to Muleapore. Immediate possession being greatly desired, and if possible without injury to the city, the request was granted, and on the morning of the 30th the Arabs marched out.

The evacuation of the city was followed by certain conditional arrangements with Appa Sahib, by virtue of which he returned to his palace; but both that and the city were garrisoned by British troops. Some difference existed between the views of the Resident and the Governor-general, but the Rajah would probably have been ultimately restored to a tempered authority, had not his renewed perfidy prevented it.

Some fortresses, the surrender of which to the British Government had been stipulated for, were withheld, and it was ascertained that this was in consequence of secret orders from the Rajah, contravening his public instructions. The intercourse with the Peishwa's camp was continued, and that prince's sinister policy of countenancing insurrection, in order to afford a pretext for raising troops to allay them, was believed to be practised. Rumours of the Rajah's intention to escape were very general, and every thing conspired to show that Appa Sahib was irretrievably leagued with the enemies of British power. New and incontestable proofs of the Rajah's treachery occurring and being multiplied, the Resident, acting with his usual vigour, finally arrested him and his confidential minister. This bold step was accelerated by the discovery of facts, which impressed Mr. Jenkins with a conviction that Appa Sahib had been the murderer of his kinsman and sovereign, Baba Sahib, formerly Rajah of Nagpore. At the time of Baba Sahib's decease, Mr. Jenkins had been led to suspect this; but circumstances having induced him in some degree to discard his suspicions, and the difficulty of obtaining proof of the fact being apparently insurmountable, he had not acted upon them. Such additional information was now acquired, as led to the establishment of the fact. As soon as a sufficient escort could be raised, Appa Sahib was sent off to the British provinces, and preparations were made at Allahabad for his reception and custody. He contrived, however, on the road, to effect his escape, and was accompanied in his flight by six Sepoys in the British service.

The next step was to declare Appa Sahib dethroned. This was followed by the elevation to the musnud of the descendant of a former Rajah, by the female line. Various portions of territory were severed from Nagpore; the remainder continued to be administered under British protection.

BACTRIAN ANTIQUITIES.

DISCOVERIES OF M. HONIGBERGER.*

MARTIN HONIGBERGER was born in 1795, at Kronstadt in Transylvania. After studying pharmacy, he quitted his native country, in 1815, to gratify a desire he had long cherished of visiting the East. He proceeded to Constantinople, where he remained but a short time; traversed Anatolia into Syria, and on his arrival at Cairo, entered the service of Mohamed Ali. The ravages made by the plague at Cairo induced him to remove from thence, and soon after to quit Egypt, and he prepared to fulfil his original intention, of travelling in the East. His sojourn in Egypt had enabled him to perfect himself in the study of medicine, and to acquire a knowledge of Eastern manners and customs. He perambulated Syria in the popular character of hakim, and at length departed from Damascus, with a small caravan, for Bagdad, whence he successively proceeded to Bussora, Bushire, Shiraz, and Ispahan. Western and independent India, and the almost unknown countries which intervene betwixt Persia and that part of India, were the objects of his active curiosity; he formed the project of traversing the Eastern provinces of Persia, to penetrate by Herat to Kabool and Cashmeer, or the Punjab. The war with Russia having prevented his access to the Persian provinces in the East, he returned by Kirmanshah to Bagdad and Bussora, where he embarked for Muscat, and thence for Bender-karachi, the most frequented port of Sinde. M. Honigberger then followed the banks of the Indus, and visited successively Hyderabad, Khairpoor, Moultan, and Lahore, where Runjeet Singh entertained him as his physician, an office which included matters belonging to the physical sciences: he had to superintend both the details of pharmacy and the manufacture of gun-powder. The kindness of the prince, and the friendship of the European officers by whom he was surrounded, did not extinguish in M. Honigberger the wish to revisit his native country; but the prince's permission, though not rudely denied, was long civilly withheld, and would not have been so easily conceded at last, had not M. Honigberger left in attendance upon Runjeet a young man, belonging to one of the noblest Mussulman families, whom he had taught the principles of European medicine.

The design of the traveller was to descend the Indus to Bombay, embark there for Bassora, and proceed to Egypt, in order to get from thence a passage into Europe. But when he arrived at Moultan, he was induced to alter his plan, and to proceed to the north, intending to traverse Central Asia, and follow the commercial tracks to the frontiers of Russia. He first visited Afghanistan, and was hospitably entertained by Jabar Khan, brother of Dost Mohammed Khan, then sirdar, now ruler of the country, which afforded him facilities for scientific researches. He at length commenced the exploration of the topes, which produced the archæological discoveries, of which an account will presently be given, of articles as valuable for their novelty as for their curious historical connexions.

After a stay of some months, M. Honigberger consigned the cases containing his antiquities to the care of M. Allard, at Lahore, and departed from Kabool, with a caravan, for Balkh and Bokhara, where he resided nearly four months. Taking advantage of a caravan, he travelled over the steppes of Kizilkoom, Karakoom, and the Kirgheez, and from Orenburg proceeded to St. Petersburgh, whence he departed for Kronstadt. He visited France to * Abridged from a paper by M. Jacquet, read before the Asiatic Society of Paris, and printed in the Journal Asiatique for September.

Asiat.Journ.N.S.VOL.22.No.85.

H