is now, like most of the ancient cities of Hindoostan, fallen into decay; but is still the residence of a principal rajah. The routes in the central parts of Malwa, are from Col. Muir's map: Hindia, is from Tavernier, supposing Andi to be meant for it. It is astonishing how he could so far mistake the course of the Nerbuddah at that city, as to suppose it ran into the Ganges. It seems to be the Inde of Ptolemy.

A Hindoo map of Bundela, or Bundelcund, including generally the tract between the Betwah and Soane rivers, and from the Ganges to the Nerbuddah; was obligingly communicated by Sir Charles Boughton Rouse, who also translated the names in it, from the Persian. This map points out several places that I had not heard of before; and assists in fixing many others, of which I had been only partially informed.

The country between Mirzapour and the heads of the Soane and Nerbuddah, was explored by the late Major William Bruce, who so eminently distinguished himself at the escalade of Gwalior, in 1780.*

The circumstances attending this capture are so very curious, that I cannot help inserting them here, though confefsedly out of place. They are extracted from the printed account of GWALIOR, which accompanies a beautiful engraved view of that fortrefs, published in 1784.

"The fortrefs of Gwalior stands on a vast rock, of about four miles in length, but narrow, and of unequal breadth; and nearly flat at the top. The sides are so steep, as to appear almost perpendicular in every part; for where it was not naturally so, it has been scarped away: and the height from the plain below, is from 200 to 300 feet. The rampart conforms to the edge of the precipice all round; and the only entrance to it, is by steps running up the side of the rock, which are defended, on the side next the country, by a wall and bastions; and further guarded by seven stone gateways, at certain distances from each other. The area within, is full of noble buildings, reservoirs of water, wells, and cultivated land; so that it is really a little district in itself. At the NW foot of the mountain is the town, pretty large, and well built; the houses all of stone. To have besieged this place, would have been vain; for nothing but a surprise, or blockade, could have carried it.

"A tribe of banditti, from the district of Gohud, had been accustomed to rob about this town; and once, in the dead of night, had climbed up the rock, and got into the fort. This intelligence they had communicated to the Rana, who often thought of availing himself of it, but was fearful of undertaking an enterprize of such moment, with his own troops.

"At length, he informed Col. Popham of it; who sent a party of the robbers to conduct some of his own spies to the spot. They accordingly climbed up in the night, and found that the guards generally went to sleep, after their rounds. Popham now ordered ladders to be made, but with so much secresy, that, until the night of the surprise, a few officers only knew it. On the 3d of August, 1780, in the evening, a party was ordered to be in readiness to march, under the command of Major Bruce; and Popham put himself at the head of two battalions, which were immediately to follow the storming party. To prevent as much as pofsible, any noise in approaching or ascending the rock, a kind of shoes, of

During his expedition, he verified a fact which had been long doubted, though strenuously insisted on by the natives; (viz.) that the Soane and Nerbuddah rivers had their common source from a pond, or lake, on the southern confines of the Allahabad province. These rivers do literally flow from the same lake; making, conjointly with the Ganges, an island of the southern part of Hindoostan: and flowing in opposite directions 1500 miles. The course of the Nerbuddah river is ascertained, only in certain points where it happens to be crossed by any of the great roads here described: excepting only in the neighbourhood of Baroach. All the intermediate parts are drawn from report. It is represented to be as wide at Hussingabad Gaut, as the Jumnah is at Calpy: but fordable in most places, during the dry season.

We learn from Mr. Ewart, that the Soane is named Soane-buddah, by the people who live near the upper part of its course; as its sister river is named Ner-buddah. The upper part of the course of

woollen cloth, were made for the sepoys, and stuffed with cotton. At eleven o'clock, the whole detachment marched from the camp at Reypour, eight miles from Gwalior, through unfrequented paths; and reached it a little before day break. Just as Bruce arrived at the foot of the rock, he saw the lights which accompanied the rounds moving along the rampart; and heard the centinels cough (the mode of signifying that All is well, in an Indian camp, or garrison); which might have damped the spirit of many men, but served only to inspire him with more confidence; as the moment for action, that is, the interval between the passing of the rounds, was now ascertained. Accordingly, when the lights were gone, the wooden ladders were placed against the rock, and one of the robbers first mounted, and returned with an account that the guard was retired to sleep. Lieut. Cameron, the engineer, next mounted, and tied a rope-ladder to the battlements of the wall; this kind of ladder, being the only one adapted to the purpose of scaling the wall in a body (the wooden ones only serving to ascend from crag to crag of the rock, and to assist in fixing the rope-ladder). When all was ready, Major Bruce, with twenty sepoy grenadiers, ascended without being discovered, and squatted down under the parapet; but before a reinforcement arrived, three of the party had so little recollection, as to fire on some of the garrison who happened to be lying asleep near them. This had nearly ruined the whole plan: the garrison were, of course, alarmed, and ran in great numbers towards the place; but ignorant of the strength of the afsailants (as the men fired on, had been killed outright), they suffered themselves to be stopped, by the warm fire kept up by the small party of grenadiers; until Colonel Popham himself, with a considerable reinforcement, came to their aid. The garrison then retreated to the inner buildings, and discharged a few rockets, but soon afterwards retreated precipitately through the gate; while the principal officers, thus deserted, afsembled together in one house, and hung out a white flag. Popham sent an officer to give them afsurances of quarter and protection; and thus, in the space of two hours, this important and astonishing fortress was completely in our pofsefsion. We had only 20 men wounded, and none killed. On the side of the enemy, Bapogee, the Mahratta governor, was killed, and most of the principal officers were wounded."

the Soane, is drawn in the same manner as the Nerbuddah is described to be; and the fortress of Bandoo-gur, near it, is from the information of Mr. Ewart.

The data for the positions of Nagpour and Ruttunpour, are already given in pages 216 and 218, in the discussion of the primary stations. Many roads lead from each of these places; but two only were measured: one from Chittra in Bahar, through Ruttunpour, to Nagpour; the other from Nagpour, through Gurrah, to Rewah, and Mirzapour, on the Ganges. The first, by determining several points, such as Surgoojah, Dongong, Kyragur, &c. enabled me to correct some of Col. Camac's estimated routes; and the latter, besides giving the position of Gurrah, the capital of Gurry-Mundella; assisted in settling Mundella, and Deogur. The estimated routes from Nagpour, were to Ellichpour, Burhanpour, Narnalla, Gawille (or Gyalgur), Aurungabad, Jaffierabad, Mahur, Notchengong, Neermull, Chanda, and Manickdurg; all collected by Mr. Ewart. All these proved very satisfactory, as they corresponded with the distances of the several intervals: and Nagpour being determined with the precision requisite for a general map, there is little doubt but that all the places between Bengal and Bombay, are placed within a few miles of their respective positions: that is, admitting the longitude of Bombay to be right, in respect of Cal

cutta.

Besides the routes collected by Mr. Ewart, Mr. Watherstone obligingly communicated his route from Hussingabad Gaut, on the Nerbuddah, to Nagpour. He was sent thither on business of the highest political importance, by General Goddard; whose army was then encamped on the banks of the Nerbuddah, in the course of its celebrated march across the continent.* His journey pointed

* In justice to General Goddard's memory, I think it incumbent on me to observe, that the author of the History of Hyder Ally (published in 1784), though seemingly inclined to compliment him, has depreciated the merits of the undertaking, by over-rating the numbers and quality, of General Goddard's troops. M. D. L. T. states the strength of the army at 8000; of which, says he, 1200 were EUROPEANS. The truth is, that the detach

out, among other particulars, the source of the Tapty (or Surat river), whose spring is more remote than we had an idea of. It rises at Maltoy, a town situated 42 cofses to the NW of Nagpour: so that its course is full two-thirds of the length of that of the Nerbuddah. The distance between Hufsingabad and Nagpour, is 100 cofses.

Ellichpour is a fine city, and was anciently the chief city of Berar proper; by which I mean to distinguish the province known in the Ayin Acbaree, by that name: for our modern acceptation of Berar, includes the whole country between Dowlatabad and Orissa; the eastern part of which, was neither reduced by Acbar, nor even known, in particulars, to the author of the Ayin Acbaree. At present, Ellichpour is the capital of a large province or district, subject to the Nizam; but paying a chout, or nominal fourth part of its revenues, to Nagpour.

Deogur, or Deogire, * was anciently a capital city, and the residence of the Rajah of Goondwaneh; or, as he is called in the Ayin Acbaree, the Goond Rajah; the Nerbuddah being then the southern limit of Hindoostan. This province appears to be one of the most elevated in Hindoostan, seeing that the rivers Tapty, Bain, and Nerbuddah, descend from it. Malwa, is unequivocally the highest ; for there, the rivers descend in every direction.

Golam Mohamed's routes, being added to those collected by Mr. Ewart, contribute much towards the improvement of the map, in the interval between the measured lines by Mr. Ewart: and before we were favoured with that gentleman's most valuable materials (which entirely supersede the former as far as they go), Golam Mohamed's contributed largely towards the geography of the

ment consisted of 103 European commifsioned officers, and 6624 native troops of all denominations; and without a single corps of Europeans. In the return from whence this was copied, the servants and followers of this little army, amount to no lefs a number than 19,779 besides the bazar, or market people, not included in the return: and these are estimated at 12,000 more: in all, more than four followers to each fighting man.

* This must not be confounded with a city of the same name, which stood near the site of Dowlatabad.

country round Nagpour. These we owed to the late Col. Camac, who, to his praise, employed a part of his leisure time, during his command on the western frontier of Bahar, in inquiries concerning the state of politics, government, geography, and nature of the countries included in the abovementioned tract: the geography of which had, till then, been very little known to us.

Sumbulpour, or Semilpour, is determined by its reputed distance from Ruttunpour, and from four different points in the Bengal survey; from routes collected by Col. Camac. Unluckily, I had placed Sumbulpour in the map, as it now stands, before I had seen Mr. Ewart's papers; by which it appears to be ten or eleven miles to the south-west of its true position; being in 21° 25′ lat. and 83° 40' lon.; when it ought to be in 21° 34' 30", and 83° 46′ 30′′. Had this new position been established on the same principle as Nagpour and Ruttunpour; that is, mathematically; I should not have scrupled to eraze a large portion of the map, to gain so desirable an advantage: but as it yet rests on computed distances, I am content to point out the error in this manner.

The distance of Sumbulpour from Ruttunpour, which is hardly affected by the new matter, is by one account 53 cofses; and by another 56: the mean, 541⁄2 cosses, or 78 G. miles, is the distance adopted.

All these places being nearly in one line of direction from Sumbulpour, admit of a mean being struck between them: and this

The number of estimated cofses between Burwah and Nagpour, was 196, and from thence to Aurungabad, 163; total 359. And the distance on the map is 517 G. miles; which is nearly equal to the above number of cofses.

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