better adapted to desultory warfare than the territory of this chief, the whole being a continued tract of mountains, ravines, and jungles, the military operations against the Bhoosla state were brought to a conclusion in less than a month from the Rajah's defection. After some hesitation between the two expedients of deposing Appa Saheb, or of concluding a treaty with him, purchased by a sacrifice of territory, yielding a net revenue of 2,247,200 rupees, the latter policy was adopted. It has been already intimated, that it formed a part of lord Hastings' plan to conclude with the Holkar durbar a treaty of concert, similar to that effected with Sindia. A letter had accordingly been sent to the regency, explaining the terms of the connexion which it was the governor general's desire to form with that state. For a long time no notice was taken of this communication, till at length, on the 15th of November, an overture was made by Toolsee Bae, the regent, who offered to place himself and the young Mulhar Row under British protection. Before any effectual steps could be taken to profit by this overture, which was either a feint, or made without the concurrence of her military chiefs, the news of the Peishwa's defection changed the aspect of affairs, stirred up into fresh commotion the elements of political intrigue, which flourished in great perfection at this unprincipled court, and at length the war faction determined upon engaging the British troops, which had arrived in the vicinity of the capital in prosecution of the measures against the Pindar ries. Sir John Malcolm, whose division was pursuing the flying chieftain, Cheettoo, finding that the latter was in communication with the Holkar camp, and learning what was passing at the court of Indore, joined Sir Thomas Hislop's division at Oujein, and the two divisions advanced towards the Mahratta camp on the 14th December, with the ostensible view of giving effect to the negotiations then pending between the durbar and the British Government. While the two armies lay within fourteen miles of each other, the regent, Toolsee Bae, was carried down to the banks of the Sepra and put to death, to prevent any intrigues against the desperate course about to be pursued. war. A few days after (21st December) was fought the decisive battle of Meheidpore, which was the most splendid achievement of the Mahratta The enemy was drawn up on the banks of the Seepra in two lines, of which the infantry and heavy batteries formed the first, and the cavalry, in masses, the second. An advance of cavalry, horse artillery, and light infantry, cleared the plain, by forcing the scattered parties of the enemy across the river to their main body. The passage of the Seepra was effected without any opposition besides a powerful cannonade, by the light brigade, the cavalry and horse artillery following. The banks of the river, like those of most others in Malwa, are at least twenty-five feet high. As soon as the first brigade had crossed, Sir Thomas Hislop gave orders for the attack of the enemy along their whole front. When the enemy were within about seven hundred yards, a smooth glacis separating the two armies, Sir John Malcolm's division commenced the attack on their left, which was latterly brought forward to enfilade this expected operation. This desperate service was resolutely performed; the enemy's infantry were driven from their position, and their batteries were carried at the point of the bayonet, in face of a destructive fire of grape. A simultaneous charge against the enemy's right was made by the British and Mysore cavalry, whose rapid movements brought them into the rear of the opposed 度 batteries. Both flanks being turned, the enemy fled (though the Golandauze, or native gunners, served their guns to the last), followed by the British cavalry and the second brigade, which acted as a reserve. As Sir Thomas Hislop ascended the high ground, in rear of the enemy's position, he observed their camp still standing in the hollow. Sir John Malcolm was ordered to move upon it, and the cavalry getting sight of it, abandoned the pursuit of the fugitives to the Mysore horse, and upon reaching the camp found it deserted. A fire being unexpectedly opened upon them by the enemy, who made a stand in a position defended by ravines, the cavalry waited Sir John's arrival, whose advance, and the measures taken by Sir Thomas Hislop, drove the enemy across the river by which their left flank had been covered. It appears that this premeditated stand had been made with a view of covering the retreat of the enemy, whose pursuit was now actively recommenced. The loss of the enemy was estimated at 3,000 men. Young Holkar, who was in the action, fled with the principal bodies of horse (which suffered little, having kept aloof), to Alloat. Sixty-three guns, with many tumbrils of ammunition, were abandoned by the enemy; and an immense booty, laden on elephants, camels, and huckeries, fell into the possession of the Mysore horse. The British loss in killed and wounded was 778. The power of Holkar was so completely broken by this defeat, that finding his retreat cut off by the British divisions on every side, and no means of resistance or evasion left him, he determined to accept the best terms he could. A treaty was accordingly signed and executed on the 6th January, 1818, and its immediate effect was visible in the altered conduct of Sindea's durbar, which thenceforward perfectly acquiesced in every arrangement suggested by the governor-general. Little now remained to be done but the reduction of the peishwa, who, though a fugitive, was at the head of a respectable force, commanded by several mutinous sirdars. Whilst this chief was chased by several British divisions and detachments, marquis Hastings determined to expel Bajeerow from the Deccan, to exclude his family from influence or dominion, and to aunihilate the peishwa's name and authority for ever. This strong measure he considered to be warranted by the uniform conduct of this insidious ally for years past, and the impossibility of binding him, by any ties whatever, to just and honourable engagements. His station, as head of the Mahratta empire, was, besides, the cause of weakness in the British relations with the other chiefs of that race. Accordingly, upon the capture of Sattara, Mr Elphinstone announced (11th February, 1818), in a manifesto to the Mahratta nation, the intention of the British government to restore the Sattara family to an independent sovereignty, and to punish the longcontinued treachery of Bajeerow, by depriving him effectually of all public authority, and placing his territories under the Company's control. Before the ultimate fate of this chieftain was decided in the field, the measure just mentioned acquired fresh recommendation by the conduct of the Bhoosla. It will hardly be credited, that after the events which had so recently demonstrated his impotence, and after sacrificing his army and political independence, Appa Saheb should again enter into plots against the power which had restored him. Masking his designs with the most disinterested behaviour, and proffers of more than was demanded from him, he secretly made preparations for joining the cause of Bajeerow, and solicited succour from that chief, who despatched a body of troops to Nagpore. The route of the peishwa's force at the battle of Ashte, where his sirdar, Bapoo Gokla, fell, and the prompt measures of the British Resident, destroyed whatever vain hopes might have been cherished by Appa Saheb. The British forces drawing round the peishwa a net, from which it seemed impossible for him to escape, he commenced a base species of negotiation, which was terminated by the surrender of Bajeerow to Sir John Malcolm, on the 3d June, 1818; and a residence was assigned to the deposed prince at Bithoor, a place of Hindoo pilgrimage near Cawnpore, with an annual allowance of £100,000 The military results of the whole Mahratta campaign may be summed up in a few words. Between November, 1817, and June, 1818, 28 actions were fought in the field, and 120 forts, many scarcely accessible, some deemed impregnable, fell by surrender, siege, or storm. The distance between the most northern and the most southern of these forts, is not less than 700 miles. The forces on each side cannot well be compared, for want of accurate knowledge of the numbers belonging to the hostile powers. Colonel Blacker has estimated the aggregate amount of their armies at 217,000. The British force in the field, including the auxiliary and irregular troops, amounted to 116,000, of which only 13,000 were Europeans. The war being thus successfully terminated, Lord Hastings did not hesitate to proclaim the supremacy which now indisputably belonged to the British government: and here we may close the sketch of that extraordinary series of events, which has placed in the hands of the British the sovereignty and the destinies of India. After centuries of war and anarchy, "a handful of distant islanders" has restored, in a comparatively short space of time, and at a comparatively small effusion of blood, the blessings of external peace and internal repose to Hindostan; and whether we consider the number of the conquerors or the means by which it has been achieved, so mighty and rapid a change in the condition of an eighth part of the human race has no parallel in history. Compared to the Mussulman despotism, or to the conflicting dominations of petty princes, the British ascendancy in India, notwithstanding the crimes committed in its first steps to eminence, is one of moderation and beneficence; and it is evident, that with the continuance of this character will be intimately connected the duration of its existence. CHAP. II.-PHYSICAL FEATURES-MOUNTAINS-RIVERS. General Remarks.] Two sides of the irregular four-sided figure which this country forms are washed by the sea, and the other two are bounded by land. The bay of Bengal, which washes the south-eastern shore, is not so broad as the Arabian sea, which laves the S.W. side; but the countries on the latter sea, especially towards the N., are more arid and sterile than those which lie along the former. The land-boundary on the N.W., toward the sea, is flat and desert; as it recedes inland, the elevation increases and the scenery improves. The remaining, or N.E. side of this country, from the termination of the low and swampy grounds near the bay of Bengal, is formed by mountains of prodigious elevation. From this vast chain the two great rivers of India have their sources, and flow to opposite points of the continent. The countries on the Indus,—the central desert, 'An account of the Burmese war will be found in the description of the Burman empire. as it is called, and the valley of the Ganges,-comprise the whole of India N. of a line drawn from the gulf of Cutch eastward of the mouth of the Indus, to the mouth of the Ganges. All the features of this continental portion of India are on the most magnificent scale; those of the southern or peninsular part are less bold, and partake more of the nature of an island. From the mouth of the Ganges to that of the Krishna, in lat. about 16°, the E. coast lies nearly in a straight line N. E. and S. W., and the general outline of the country is that of a great oval basin, of which the southern portion approaches near to the Arabian sea, but is divided from it by a high land. From the mouth of the Krishna, a very irregular mountain-barrier, called the Eastern Ghauts, extends southward at a varying distance from the coast, which is here for the most part sandy and barren. The elevated country within this mountain-barrier gets the name of Balaghaut, or the country 'above the gates,' in opposition to the Payeenghaut, or country below the gates.' The name of Balaghaut is given to the whole upland country from Cape Comorin to the Ganges. From Cape Comorin another mountain-barrier runs parallel to the western shore for an extent of about 900 miles. It is nearer to the coast, loftier, and less interrupted than the other, and is called the Western Ghauts. The termination towards the N. is near the gulf of Cambay; and here, for a short distance, the general slope of the country is towards the W., where the valley of the Nerbuddah is formed. Under the 13th parallel, the Eastern and Western Ghauts are connected by a cross ridge, and the country does not immediately slope down to the N. and S. of this transverse ridge, but forms a table-land of considerable extent. N. of the gulf of Cambay, the peninsula of Guzerat, beautifully diversified with hill and dale, extends towards the gulf of Cutch. To the N. of the latter gulf, and extending northwards to the great central desert, there is a very dreary marsh called the Runn, measuring about 250 by 70 miles. We shall now proceed to describe, in detail, the great physical features of India: and we shall begin with the mountains. The Himalaya Mountains.] Of the mountainous ranges of this country, the Himalaya is pre-eminently the chief. This chain separates it, on the N., throughout its whole extent, from Chinese Tartary. Commencing at the snowy chain of the Langtang, which runs off from the main range in 97° 25' E.long. and 28° N. lat., it runs W.N.W. till it meets the Cashmerian range, in N. lat. 34", and E. long. 76°. Thence it turns north, to 36° N. lat., whence taking a western direction it runs to the N.W. frontier of Caubul, in 35° N. lat., and 67" E. long., where it joins the Gaurian mountains, or Paropamisan range, N.W. of Baumeean. Between these extreme points, comprehending 30° of long. and 8° of lat., this immense range cannot be less than 2000 English miles in extent. It is the celebrated Mons Imaus of the ancients,—that appellation being the Sanscrit noun hima signifying' snow,' made Greek. From the Sanscrit hima, arise the various appellations given to this chain, of Himadree, Himachull, Himalichull, Himavat, Himavatee, Himalleh, and Himalaya, which last is the general name, signifying 'the abode of snow.' To the W. of Cashmere, the Persian appellative, Hindoo-Khoosh, or 'the Indian mountain,' is substituted for that of Himalaya. The appearance of this chain, as far as it borders Hindostan, especially between the sources of the Gogra and Gunduck, or from long. 81° to 83°, is so imposingly grand as to induce the belief of ocular deception in those who have witnessed its glories. Hardwicke, Elphinstone, Raper, Webb, Fraser, Hodgson and others, who have visited or explored this mighty IV. 3 M range, seem to have been utterly lost in astonishment, when it was first disclosed to their view. The stupendous elevation of these heights,—the magnificence and variety of their lofty summits,-their sharp and pointed peaks soaring sublime froin broad but lofty bases,—the dazzling brightness of their snowy mantle, when illumined by the rays of an almost tropical sun, and the awful and undisturbed repose which reigns amidst their eternal solitudes, fill the mind with admiration and astonishment, which no language can express. The unparalleled scene is best observed in the clear soft light which prevails between dawn and sun-rise, misty exhalations hiding it during the heat of the day; the sun gilds the pinnacles of the snowy mountains, long before it is visible to the inhabitants of the plain; and lights them up again at the close of the day while darkness pervades all the lower regions. This stupendous barrier of mountains, did not the light of science teach us otherwise, might easily be supposed to be the bound of our earthly abode,-the steps, as bishop Heber beautifully expresses it, of God's everlasting temple. Though Imaus and Emodus were well known to the ancients, as ranges clothed in perpetual snow, yet they had not the most distant idea of their real height. The Hindoos were equally ignorant of their elevation; and as to the moderns, though the combined testimony of several travellers, as Andrada, Grueber, Dorville, Bernier, Freyre, Desideri, and Cassiano, had established the fact of their great elevation,-though Rennel had stated that they rose considerably above the horizon, when viewed from the plains, at the distance of 150 miles,-though the illustrious Jones had declared that the mountain Chumulari was distinctly visible at a distance of 244 miles, and finally, though Bogle and Turner, in crossing the Himalaya from Bengal to Lassa and Tishooloomboo, had borne witness to the fact, by their own experience, yet all these testimonies passed unheeded. Philosophers and their followers, reposing in perfect secu rity on the theories of Bouguer, Kirwan, and Leslie-which, built on a few partial facts, pretended to fix with mathematical, and therefore, as they inferred, infallible accuracy, limits of congelation for every latitude of the globe-believed that no mountains could equal, much less excel, the Andes; and Mont Blanc, in Savoy, was unceasingly proclaimed as the loftiest summit in the old continent, though inferior to Chimborazo by nearly 6000 feet. The height of the Himalaya had not indeed been hitherto ascertained by actual measureinent; and therefore it was believed, that though it might perhaps equal the Alps, it most probably did not surpass them. Colonel Crawford sounded the first alarm, by the actual measurement of several peaks in the vicinity of Nepaul. The second and third alarms were given by Colebrook and Webb. The matter now became serious; the theory was in danger, and it was felt a matter of incumbent duty to defend it against such audacious statements. The task was therefore undertaken by one theorist in the Quarterly review, whilst Leslie boldly declared his utter disbelief in the measurements of colonel Webb, and affirmed that the peaks of the Himalaya might perhaps rise to an elevation of 17,000 feet, but could not exceed it. The chief objections were founded on the want of barometrical measurements, -the too great distances of the measuring stations,-the uncertainty of terrestrial refraction,-and above all, the inconsistency of such altitudes with the received doctrine of isothermal lines, and the believed limits of inferior congelation, which latter were stated as curves gradually diminishing in height from the equator to the poles all over the globe. All these |