Fortune would have it so, that before this army had moved, it should be joined by an unexpected reinforcement. Mir-djaafer-qhan, on stopping at the Kerem-nassa, and giving over his pursuit, had promised the troops a sum of money, by way of gratuity, as a reward for so laborious a campaign; but as the money was not paid, Moshur Medec, a Frenchman, who served in the English army, had come to some altercations with the English Commander on that failure; and the matter went so far, that the Frenchman at the head of above a hundred soldiers of his nation, quitted the camp with arms and baggage, and I believe also, with a field-piece, and marched into Radja Balvand-sing’s country. A party of English pursued him for some time; but on recollecting the impropriety of lighting up the flames of dissension for so small a subject, and affording a matter of discontent to the Vezir, they returned back; and the French took service with Shudjah-ed-döulah.

Whilst these three mighty personages, to wit, the Vezir, the Emperor, and Mir-cassem, were encamped at Banaress, they used to pay their respects together to the venerable Sheh-mahmed-aaly-hezin (whom God may place amongst the highest of his elect!) and they were admitted to the honour of waiting upon His Holiness.* And it was several times observed in what fell from the lips of His Venerable Majesty, that he objected to their marching against the English, as they were so very inferior to those strangers in the arts of war, in discipline, in knowledge, and especially in union and concert amongst them­selves. He also strongly dissuaded me from following the com­bined army. These people, said he, are not likely to be successful against those strangers; and, I believe, that after having only measured the road for some stages forwards, they will in a short time measure it backwards again. But this discourse did not make upon me all the impression it deserved; and the desire of rejoining my family, and of revisiting those places and friends to which I had been accustomed from my youth, did not suffer me to avail myself of so salutary a warning, and to enjoy the honour of waiting much longer on His Holiness. The Vezir, a few days after that visit, threw a bridge of boats over the Ganga; and that army, as numerous as the billows of the sea, crossed over, and a little after, was put in motion. It was through the Radja Balvand-sing’s country. This Prince, who was exceed­ingly shrewd, and withal so wealthy, that his riches were reckoned by corors, bore a great character amongst the Gentoos for prowess; but was so very wary and shy, that no art, and no persuasion, had ever been able to bring him to pay a visit to Ab8l-mans8r-qhan, or to his son, Shudjah-ed-döulah. At this time, however, he was persuaded by Beni-bahadyr, and all the Commanders of that Minister’s troops, who pledged them­selves for his safety; and he listened to the insinuations of N8r-el-hassen-qhan, the Belgramite, a man of consequence, who although sent to enforce by his presence the balances due by that Zemindar, had gained much credit on his mind. Induced by the persuasions of so many persons of character, who pledged themselves for his safety, he now for the first time made his appearance in the camp of a Viceroy; but it was in the middle of two or three thousand picked horse, and several thousand men of infantry, all attached to his person; and it was with such a cortége he paid his respects to the Vezir. This addition, great as it was, was hardly perceived in an army, which proved so very numerous, that as far as the eye could extend, it covered the country and plains, like an inundation, and moved like the billows of a sea. But there was so little order and discipline amongst these troops, and so little were the men accustomed to Shudja-ed-döulah attacks the English with an army utterly ungovernable. command, that in the very middle of the camp, they fought against each other, killed and murdered each other, plundered each other, and went out a-plundering and a-marauding without the least scruple, or the least controul. No one would inquire into those matters; and those ungovernable men scrupled not to plunder to the right and left with impunity, and even to stripe and kill people of their own army, if they chanced to lag behind their main, or to be found in some lonely spot. They behaved exactly like a troop of highway-men. It was not an army, but a whole city in motion; and you could have found in it what­ever could be had in former times in Shah-djehan-abad itself, whilst that city was the capital and the eye of all Hindostan. But if that moving city swarmed with so many senseless men, it had likewise some men of sense; and these never ceased to represent directly, as well as indirectly, “That to wage war with the English, according to the method customary in India, would not answer any good purpose. That whenever those strangers should be left at liberty to range themselves in battle array, according to their own rules, with their field-pieces properly stationed, and their Talingas upon the wings, so few as a thousand of them would always prove an overmatch for an army of fifty thousand Hindostanies. That since then the Vezir’s mode of warfare was by skirmishes, and his soldiers were inured to that custom, it would be more advantageous to leave the heavy baggage, with the greater part of the troops, in the camp where they were; and with a choice body of picked men, horse and foot, to advance on the enemy, amongst whom divisions had already crept so far, that they thought only of a retreat. That now was the time to fall at once unexpectedly upon them, before they had prepared for their march. If we succeed in breaking their ranks,” said they, “and in disturbing their battle array, victory is ours, and success has crowned our design. If we are repulsed, we shall have killed some of them at least; and by hanging endlessly on their rear, destroying their carriages, rendering their cannon useless, cutting off their laggers, burning their baggage, ravag­ing their country, and rendering their subsistence difficult, we shall keep them in perpetual alarms every day without fail; but so however as to encamp every night out of the reach of a surprise; and this mode of war must be kept on, without quitting them for a moment, until they are gone within the walls of Azim-abad. If, before they reach that place, we succeed in destroying them by retail, we have carried our point; else, if we have not, we shall retire towards Sahar­seram, and pass the rainy season there; and meanwhile, officers of understanding and abilities, with several bodies of troops, may be sent over to the other side of the Ganga, into the district of Sarun, whose business shall be to take possession of a country undefended, but where, without offering the least injury to the meanest husbandman, the revenue and land-tax must be settled upon so low a footing, as that the contribution may be raised with the greatest ease, and may still, by its lenity, contribute to gain the hearts of the Zemindars, and of the inhabitants. By such a method, contributions might be established in many districts of Bahar and Bengal, not too far from the army; as whilst those troops would be employed on the other side of the Ganga, others might be as usefully employed on this side, up to the environs of Azim-abad. That meanwhile, parties ought to be kept running up and down the river, and scouring every part of it, whose business would be to seize or sink every boat going to Azim-abad, and even to put every boatman to the sword; a practice that would soon put a stop to all importation of grain for the enemy’s account. The English indeed will resist; but being straitened for victuals and for every thing else, they will of themselves evacuate Azim-abad and return to Bengal. After which retreat, it will be time enough to examine again what line of conduct we are to pursue.”

This advice upon the mode of prosecuting the war was a wise one, and the best undoubtedly that could be given; but it made no impression on the mind of the Vezir, a man predes­tinated to a reverse of fortune. He was so full of himself, and so proud to have fought by the side of the Abdali-king, whom he had taken for his model, that whenever any one made bold to propose any advice upon the mode of carrying on the war, he used to cut him short with a do not trouble yourself about that; you shall fight as I shall bid you. The English, meanwhile, being much diminished in number, and much fatigued by so severe a campaign in the very height of the rainy season, had commenced flagging. Intimidated by Shudja-ed-döulah’s char­acter for prowess, and impressed with an opinion of the bravery and number of his troops, they did not think themselves a match for them in the field. With this notion they repassed the Sohon, and resolved to retire within the walls of Azim-abad. The camp at Bacsar was therefore raised, and they retreated with pre­cipitation. Shudjah-ed-döulah, with the Emperor and Mir-cassem in his company, marched on proudly and triumphantly; and, having advanced by continual marches, he entered the province of Azim-abad, where his troops burning and plundering to the distance of five or six cosses in every direction, did not leave a trace of population throughout all that tract of ground. The poor inhabitants, whose hearts had been expanded on hearing of the arrival of an Emperor and a Vezir, no sooner found themselves exposed to every kind of insult and oppression, than they returned their heartiest thanks to the English, and prayed to God for their prosperity and return; for this nation, so far from plundering and sacking, had never offered the least injury to any one individual, throughout all their campaigns in Bengal.