have not yet been opened, it is impossible to form any idea of the amount; nor in this instance can we be guided by information; for the Sultaun, it is said, was of late so suspicious that he trusted nobody, and locked up and sealed those apartments with his own hands." "There is also an immense quantity of grain and military stores of every kind."

"I have said nothing of the operations of the siege of which your Lordship shall have a minute detail in my journal: I will only observe that it affords me the highest satisfaction to find that the forlorn hope was only six minutes crossing the rocky bed of the river, the ditch, and ascending to the top of the breach, which was to me a sufficient proof that I was not mistaken in the judgment I had formed of the river and the ditch after reconnoitering them, and which I had the honour of communicating to your Lordship in my letter of the 18 ultimo.

"As I have nothing now to detain me here, it is my intention with General Harris's permission, to proceed to the Carnatic as soon as the communication is open, in order to have the honour of attending your Lordship, and receiving your commands in whatever way you may be pleased to employ me.

Thus in the short space of two months was this war brought to a close, and the power of this formidable enemy broken a kingdom yielding an annual revenue of more than a million sterling was transferred in full sovereignty to the East India Company and their allies, without injury to the inhabitants or devastation to the country.

CHAPTER XV.

Anecdote of the Uma, or Bird of Prosperous Empire.-Builds its Nest in the Avenue of Banyan Trees in the Garden of Lord Mornington's Residence at Madras.-Superstitious Inference of the Natives.-Description of the Uma.—Figure of the Uma of Gold and Pearl, taken from Tippoo Sultaun's Throne, at Windsor Castle.-Other Trophies there. -General Baird superseded in Seringapatam by Colonel Wellesley.— Lord Wellesley accused of having, on this occasion, unfairly pushed forward his Brother.-Observations of Alison and Hook.—The Question examined. Letters of General Harris, Lord Wellesley, General Baird, and Lord Clive.

WHILE the Governor-General was at Madras, superintending the operations of the army of Mysore, a bird, called by the natives the Uma, and which bore the appearance of a small eagle or vulture, built its nest in an avenue of banyan or pipal trees, in the garden of Mr. Petrie, in whose house his Excellency resided. It was Lord Mornington's habit to dictate all his papers, either to the secretary of the department, or to some of the young writers. Under the shade of these trees he walked before the sun's power was intense, and generally at that hour discharged the business of the day. The natives, when the news of Tippoo Sultaun's downfall reached Madras, superstitiously ascribed much of the success of the war to the influence of the Uma, and universally believed that its presence was an augury of victory.*

The following interesting note on the Uma, or Indian Eagle, was

The day after the storming of Seringapatam Colonel Wellesley was appointed to the command of the fortress, and subsequently was invested with the civil government of Mysore. General Baird conceived that he was slighted by Colonel Wellesley's appointment, and is said to have given expression to his feelings in these words-"Before the sweat was dry on my brow, I was superseded by an inferior officer!" The biographer of Sir David Baird has dwelt with much emphasis upon the circumstance, insisting that the Governor-General had unfairly pushed forward his brother to the disadvantage of the hero of Seringa

written by the Marquess Wellesley in 1840: "The Bird of Prosperous Empire. The ancient Persians, as well as the Romans, presaged by the flight of birds. Of these some were of good omen, while others foreboded evil. Amongst the former, the most auspicious was the Uma, which is believed to be a species of eagle. It belonged to kings; and its appearance and flights, under various circumstances, were the augury for the settlement of the crown, or the affairs of royalty. Some of the characteristics of this bird have given rise to many strange mixtures of fable and facts, in some of which the leading features of the latter may still be plainly traced. It is a carniverous bird; and its high soaring habit is the origin of the belief that it never rests upon the ground. The account of this bird in the standard Persian Lexicon (among other significations of the word under different accusations) gives the following: A standard, or flag, on the top of which the bird is placed; or on which the representation of it is depicted.' The throne of the Sultan of Mysore was of an octangular form, the canopy being in the form of an umbrella; it was surmounted by a representation of the Uma, which is now deposited in Windsor Castle; the figure of the bird is composed of pure plates of gold, closely inlaid with precious stones, with a collar of pearl and pearl at the eyes, and suspended from the beak, and the tail spread and ornamented with pearl and precious stones; the edges of the canopy were fringed with the richest pearl; it was supported by eight pillars, the capitals of which were in the form of the head of a royal tiger, enriched with precious stones; the whole was covered with plates of pure gold; the octangular pavilion rested on the back of a royal tiger couchant; this figure also was covered with plates of pure gold; and the eyes, tusks, VOL. I. X

patam; and Alison,* a writer of the highest authority, records it as "one of the few blots on Lord Wellesley's administration"-a "blot," it deserves to be noted, which escaped the microscopic criticism of Mill.

Justice to the living and the dead demands a fair inquiry into these important transactions, which have been somewhat misrepresented.

Upon the junction of the Nizam's contingent with the army of Madras at Carimungalum, on the 18th of February, 1799, the 33rd European regiment was added to the Nizam's force. The son of his Highness the Soubahdar, Meer Allum, was invested with the nominal command of this army, and Colonel the Hon. Arthur Wellesley, brother to the Governor-General, was appointed second in command. When the peculiar circumstances of this army are considered-the recent disbanding of the Nizam's French force, the wavering friendship of the sovereign of the Deccan, and claws were of rock crystal; the head and paws of this figure are in Windsor Castle: the head is covered with inscriptions in the Persian character. These splendid trophies of Oriental royalty were sent, in 1799, by the Marquess Wellesley to the Court of Directors, to be presented to his Majesty George the Third; the Uma was presented accordingly, but the tiger's head remained in the Museum at the India House, until, at the suggestion of Lord Wellesley (then Lord-Steward of his Majesty's Household), it was presented to his late Majesty William the Fourth; on which occasion his Majesty was pleased to give, at St. James's, a great entertainment to the East India authorities, and the principal ministers of state, and others of the nobility, when these trophies were displayed. In the year 1840, after the fruits of the fall of Seringapatam had been enjoyed by Britain for forty years, his Grace the Earl Marshal granted the Uma as an additional crest to the arms granted to the Marquess Wellesley, in 1799, by George the Third, with this motto (taken from Virgil, Eneid vi. 794-5)—

Super Indos protulit Imperium.'"

Vide History of Europe, vol. vii. p. 132.

the fact that many of the men serving in the ranks of this army had served under M. Piron, who had been in confidential communication with the enemy against whom they were about to be marched-it is evident that it was of the highest importance to place next the king's son in command an officer of the soundest discretion, greatest caution, experience, and activity. Meer Allum applied to General Harris for the appointment of Colonel Wellesley as his colleague, -desirous, no doubt, of obtaining the friendship of one who so completely possessed the confidence of Lord Mornington. General Harris complied with the request, because he knew that Colonel Wellesley was preeminently fitted for the arduous duties of the post. From some of the observations which have been made on the alleged partiality of Lord Mornington towards his brother Arthur in this matter, it would almost seem as if the Colonel's talents were unknown before the battle of Mallavelly. But Colonel Wellesley's conduct in Flanders had not escaped notice: in consequence of the ability which he displayed in the hazardous retreat from Flanders, in 1794, he was promoted to the command of a brigade of three regiments in the movement from the Leck to the Issel. On going out to India in 1796, he carried with him a letter of introduction to Sir John Shore from the late GovernorGeneral of India, Marquess Cornwallis.* His merits were soon appreciated, as the following anecdote, related in the Life of Lord Teignmouth, will show :

"On his first interview with Colonel Wellesley at his levee, Sir John Shore evinced his characteristic

* Vide p. 15.