It must be observed that on his arrival at M8rsh8d-abad, the Viceroy had wrote to his nephew, the Governor of Azim-abad, and also to the poor man’s grand-uncle, Abdol-aaly-qhan, who was a cousin-german of Aaly-verdy-qhan’s, to represent the state of things, and the necessity of their coming to his assistance with whatever forces and artillery they could muster, adding: that the safety of them all depended on his being enabled to repell the invaders. In the margin of the letter directed to Abdol-aaly-qhan, he wrote with his own hand these words: If you take any concern in your old uncle’s welfare, this is the time to shew it. The young Governor was confounded and displeased at the com­mand of repairing to Bengal, as he had spent a deal of time and all his money in his expedition against the Bodjp8r country, had compassed his end, driven the Zemindars away, taken possession of their home; and he was going to reap by proper arrangements all the benefits of so much toil and labour. Just at this time came the order from Bengal. He was now obliged to leave all that work, unfinished, and to return to his capital, not a little embarrssed how to satisfy his troops for the arrears, and how to provide necessaries for the intended campaign. After a few days’ repose, he quitted the city in his expedition to Bengal, and encamped in the eastern suburb at Djaafer-qhan’s garden. There he sent for the poor man’s father, Hedaïet-aaly-qhan the valiant, and for some other friends; and he held consultations with them about the means of getting rid of the army’s arrears, and of pro­viding for his future expedition. But nothing could be concluded on that subject for want of money. Such a state of things having put the Governor upon looking out for expedients, he once took Hedaïet-aaly-qhan into a closet, and there he represented to him that it was incumbent upon him (the Governor) “to repair by all means to the assistance of an uncle who was the author of the fortune of his family; that his character depended on his making haste to Bengal; but that he was at a loss how to satisfy the army for their arrears, and uneasy at his being obliged to leave behind a country lately conquered, and after all unsettled; he was also embarrassed on the dispositions necessary after his departure, and was at a loss on whom to entrust the important task of governing the country in his absence, of collecting the revenues, and of keeping the inhabitants quiet.” He added: “I reckon upon your wisdom and abilities. Should you be able to open some expedient, and to extricate me out of my difficulties, you would lay me under the greatest obligations; as unless I satisfy the troops, they will neither follow me on my expedition, nor let me depart the cit; and on the other hand, you know that my honour, as a soldier, and my character, as a dutiful nephew, depend, in the eyes of the world, and in the eyes of my relations and kinsmen, on my repairing in all haste and with a proper number of troops and necessaries, to the assistance of a man, who is at once my master, my superior in command, and moreover the founder and author of the welfare of our whole family and race. Hedáiet-aaly-qhan answered: That he reckoned himself to be one of the men most attached to his family and person; and that he would be ready to execute to the best of his abilities, such commands as he would lay upon him, as he felt the importance of the occasion, and would pride himself in his being able to lighten in that crisis, such part of his burthen, as would be allotted to him.” The Governor pleased with this glimpse of hope answered: “That at present there were but two articles that galled him exceedingly. The first was the discharging such arrears as were due to the troops; a piece of justice, without which they would not suffer him to depart, and without which nothing could go forward. The second was the propriety of his leaving the Government in such able, trusty hands, as would put it in his power to appear before the Viceroy, his uncle, with such a number of troops and such a quantity of artillery, as would prove adequate to his station and rank; in one word, with such a force as might ensure the exertions expected from him, as a soldier, a General, and a worthy nephew of such an uncle.” Such an unexpected proposal being liable to many difficulties, Hedáiet-aaly-qhan answered: “That he (the Governor) could not be ignorant how circumscribed were his means, and how unadequate were his finances to the business of discharg­ing the arrears due to the troops. That nevertheless, being zealously attached to his person, he was ready to go all lengths to serve him; but that however the utmost could do, would be to refer one part of those arrears to the principal receivers of the finances, and to borrow the other upon his own private credit from bankers and money-lenders; taking upon his own account the balance that would still remain due, and undertaking to come to an agreement on that subject with the army agents, to whom he would pay it at such times as might be agreed between them.” He added, “That as to the tranquillity of the country, and the peaceable behaviour of the inhabitants, he would take that article totally upon himself, and would answer for anyone’s presuming to excite troubles, or turning refractory.” Such a speech could not but please the Governor. It tranquillised his mind, and he answered by returning his acknowledgments, and by assuring him that “this was what had always been upper­most in his thoughts: to satisfy the soldier, and to keep the country quiet; and that now, that such a point was secured, he felt himself perfectly at ease, and as he was thoroughly con­vinced that none but himself could discharge that important trust with honour, so he would not cast his eyes upon any other for bestowing it, being sensible that no one but himself could render an important service in a delicate conjuncture.” Hedáiet-aali-qhan having answered according to the propriety of the case, and the dignity of the two speakers, went home; and sending for his younger brother, Mehdi-nessar-qhan, Paymaster-General of the forces, and for the several Commanders with all the army-agents, he took upon himself the payment of their arrears; but obtained their promises that they would stand by their Governor in these times of difficulty, and would follow him in his expedition to Bengal. After this, he engaged them to leave their agents with him, that they might receive their respective balances, and furnish their respective receipts. This difficult business having been brought to an end, and the Governor being now easy in his mind, he made choice of a fortunate day, and set out for Bengal with five thousand cavalry, and about six or seven thousand infantry; carrying with him all his friends and favorites, and leav­ing the government of the province to Hedáiet-aaly-qhan, to whom he gave the investiture of that office in a rich Qhylaat. He took with him my paternal uncle, Mehdi-nessar-qhan, and also my maternal grand-uncle, Abdol-aaly-qhan, who having stretched every nerve to satisfy out of his private fortune all the men in his brigade, had engaged them by that effort to follow him to Bengal. It will not prove disagreeable to the reader to be told that a little before his departure, this nobleman had received another letter from Aaly-verdy-qhan, his kinsman, which contained the same invitation as the former, but where that Viceroy had wrote with his own hand in the margin this verse of the poet:

“We expected from our friends some proofs of their attachment;”

And here he had stopped short, without adding the second verse which would have closed the distich; but when the two noblemen arrived at M8rsh8d-abad with such numerous troops, and they went to pay their respects to their uncle, the latter on embracing Abdol-aaly-qhan, closed the distich, and added:

“But what we had been suspecting, proves to be an error.”

Notwithstanding such a reinforcement, the Viceroy thought it prudent to assemble more forces; and he made additions to the several corps commanded by his Generals, taking care, however, to proportion the new levies to their respective merits. Mustapha-qhan’s brigade, which was of five thousand men, was carried to eight thousand; his military degree was raised to five thousand horse, and his name received the epithet or title of the Tiger in battle;* and to that distinction was added a fringed Paleki and a kettle-drum. The title of Bahadyr or valiant was also conferred on Fakyr-ollah-beg-qhan and on N8rollah-beg-qhan, as well as on Mir-djaafer-qhan, who was allied to the Viceroy, and on Háider-aaly-qhan, who was brother to Husséin-c8ly-qhan; and to this distinction, was added the more substantial one of an aug­mentation on the numbers of their respective brigades. This latter favour, together with a higher pay, and several marks of honour and distinction, was likewise bestowed on Bahadyr-aaly-qhan, who commanded the artillery; and on Omer-qhan, Shim­shir-qhan, and Serdar-qhan, who were Afghan officers. To these precautions was added that of repairing thoroughly the artillery both light and heavy, and of making some augmentations in it; and at the same time, some war-elephants were trained to march close to the Viceroy’s elephant and on his front. In short, no preparative that could be thought of having been omitted, Aaly-verdy-qhan waited with impatience the end of the rainy season.