At the Point of the Bayonet | Page 9

sum of forty-one thousand rupees as presents
to his servants.
For their share in this miserable business Mr. Carnac, Colonel Egerton,
and Colonel Cockburn were dismissed from the Company's service;
and Captain Hartley was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
The Governor of Bombay refused to ratify the treaty, on the ground that
the officials with the expedition had no power whatever to enter into
any arrangement, without the matter being previously submitted to, and
approved by, the Government. Fortunately, at this moment a force that
had been despatched from Bengal, under Colonel Goddard, to support
Rugoba was nearing the scene of action; and that officer, learning the
danger to which Bombay was exposed, took the responsibility and,
marching from Hoosingabad, avoided a body of twenty-two thousand
horse, which had been despatched from Poona to cut him off, and
reached Surat without encountering any opposition.
This welcome reinforcement materially altered the situation, and
Bombay lay no longer at the mercy of the Mahrattas. There was now
Goddard's force, and the army that had fallen back from Poona and,
what was still more important, Scindia had by his secret convention
deserted the confederacy; and it was morally certain that neither the
Peishwa nor Holkar would send his forces against Bombay, leaving to
Scindia the power of grasping the supreme authority in the Deccan
during their absence.
In 1779 General Goddard, who was now in command at Bombay,
entered into negotiations with Nana Furnuwees. These were carried on
for some months; but were brought to a conclusion by Nana declaring
that the surrender of Salsette, and the person of Rugoba, who was again
a fugitive in Bombay, were preliminaries to any treaty. Bombay
received a reinforcement of a European regiment, a battalion of Sepoys,
and a hundred artillerymen, from Madras; but before they arrived
Goddard's force had captured Dubhoy, and a treaty had been effected.

The town of Ahmedabad was to be handed over to our ally, Futteh Sing;
but it declined to surrender, and was taken by assault, the storming
party being commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hartley.
Scindia had as usual changed sides, and was now operating in
conjunction with Nana; and he and Holkar, with twenty thousand horse,
marched to Baroda. Goddard advanced to give battle; but Scindia, to
gain time, opened negotiations.
Goddard, however, was not to be duped. The negotiations were broken
off, and he advanced against the Mahrattas. Their horse, as usual,
charged; but were driven back by the artillery fire, and routed by a
regiment of Bengal cavalry. Scindia, however, encamped a short
distance off but, when Goddard again advanced to the attack, retired.
Goddard, however, was not to be drawn into pursuit. He captured some
small forts, and sent Colonel Hartley to relieve Kallan, which was
being besieged by the Mahrattas. Hartley surprised their camp, pursued
them for some miles, and killed a great number; while Lieutenant
Welsh, who had been sent forward to relieve Surat--which was
threatened by a large Mahratta force--defeated these, killed upwards of
a hundred, and captured their guns; while one of Scindia's detachments,
on the banks of the Nerbuddah, was routed by a detachment of Bengal
Sepoys under Major Forbes.
On the other side of India, great successes had been gained by a Bengal
force under the command of Captain Popham; who attacked and routed
a body of plundering Mahrattas, captured by assault the strong fort of
Lahar, and not only carried by surprise the fortress of Gwalior,
regarded by the natives as impregnable, but took it without the loss of a
single man.
In December, General Goddard laid siege to Bassein. He and Hartley,
whose force was covering the siege, were attacked on the 11th of that
month by twenty thousand cavalry and infantry. These, however, were
defeated after making several desperate charges; and on the following
day another battle took place, in which the Mahrattas were totally
routed, and their general killed, after which Bassein surrendered.

Chapter 2
: A Strange Bringing Up.
The war went on during the following year, but in 1782 peace was
concluded. In 1784, the Mahrattas joined the Nizam and the British in
an alliance, having for its object the overthrow of Mysore; which state,
first under Hyder Ali, and afterwards under his son Tippoo, was a
source of danger to all the allies.
In the meantime Harry Lindsay, who was now called Puntojee, had
been living quietly on the farm of Ramdass; and no suspicion whatever
had been excited in the minds of the neighbours, or of any of the people
of Jooneer, that he was aught but what he seemed--the son of Soyera.
Once a week he was re-stained; and even his playmates, the two sons of
Ramdass, believed that he was, like themselves, a young Mahratta.
They knew that, sometimes, their