At the Point of the Bayonet

At the Point of the Bayonet, by G. A. Henty,

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Title: At the Point of the Bayonet A Tale of the Mahratta War
Author: G. A. Henty

Release Date: March 3, 2007 [eBook #20729]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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AT THE POINT OF THE BAYONET:
A Tale of the Mahratta War
by
G. A. HENTY.
Illustrated by Wal Paget.
1901

Contents
Preface.
Chapter 1
: A Faithful Nurse.
Chapter 2
: A Strange Bringing Up.
Chapter 3
: A Change In Affairs.
Chapter 4
: A British Resident.
Chapter 5
: Down To Bombay.
Chapter 6
: In The Company's Service.
Chapter 7
: An Act Of Treachery.
Chapter 8
: Nana's Release.
Chapter 9
: A Popular Tumult.
Chapter 10
: A Mission By Sea.
Chapter 11
: A Prisoner.
Chapter 12
: The Defence Of Johore.
Chapter 13
: The Break Up Of The Monsoon.
Chapter 14
: The Great Andaman.
Chapter 15
: Assaye.
Chapter 16
: A Disastrous Retreat.
Chapter 17
: An Escape.
Chapter 18
: An Awkward Position.
Chapter 19
: Bhurtpoor.
Chapter 20
: Home.

Illustrations
For a year he worked with the shikaree. Harry went up to him and salaamed. Harry . . . saw a party of soldiers coming along the road. There was a little haggling over the terms. Harry ran up to the proclamation and tore it down. As he rode through the streets he saw . . . how fierce a feeling of resentment had been excited by the news. 'Well, sir, I will now return to shore,' the governor said. Without a cry the rajah fell back, shot through the head. The rattle of musketry broke out again. Plan of the Battle of Assaye. Plan of the Battle of Laswaree. Harry succeeded in crossing the river. Abdool at once slipped down. Harry drew out his handkerchief, and waved it. View of the Rajah's Palace, Bhurtpoor.

Preface.
The story of the war in which the power of the great Mahratta confederacy was broken is one of the most stirring pages of the campaigns which, begun by Clive, ended in the firm establishment of our great empire in the Indian Peninsula. When the struggle began, the Mahrattas were masters of no small portion of India; their territory comprising the whole country between Bombay and Delhi, and stretching down from Rajputana to Allahabad; while in the south they were lords of the district of Cuttack, thereby separating Madras from Calcutta. The jealousies of the great Mahratta leaders, Holkar and Scindia, who were constantly at war with each other, or with the Peishwa at Poona, greatly facilitated our operations; and enabled us, although at the cost of much blood, to free a large portion of India from a race that was a scourge--faithless, intriguing and crafty; cruel, and reckless of life. The Mahrattas, conquering race as they were, yet failed in the one virtue of courage. They could sweep the land with hordes of wild horsemen, could harry peaceful districts and tyrannize over the towns they conquered; but they were unable to make an effective stand against British bayonets and British sabres. They were a race of freebooters; and even the most sentimental humanitarian can feel no regret at the overthrow of a power that possessed no single claim to our admiration, and weighed like an incubus upon the peoples it oppressed. The history of the Mahrattas, as written by Grant Duff, whose account I have, throughout, followed, is one long record of perfidy, murder, and crime of all sorts.
Chapter 1
: A Faithful Nurse.
On a swell of ground, in the wild country extending from Bombay to the foot of the Ghauts, stood a small camp. In the centre was a large pavilion; the residence, for the time, of Major Lindsay, an officer whose charge was to keep the peace in the district. It was no easy matter. The inhabitants, wild and lawless, lived in small villages scattered about the rough country, for the most part covered with forest, and subject to depredations by the robber bands who had their strongholds among the hills. Major Lindsay had with him a party of twenty troopers, not for defence--there was little fear of attack by the natives of the Concan--but to add to his authority, to aid in the collection of the small tax paid by each community, and to deter the mountain robbers from descending on to the plain. He generally spent the cool season in going his rounds while, during the hot weather, his headquarters were at Bombay.
He had with