Goss, havildar, were the only two who remained out of the nine
hundred who followed Lieutenant Gahagan. Honour to them! Honour
and tears for the brave men who perished on that awful day!"


* * *

I have copied this, word for word, from the Bengal Hurkaru of
September 24, 1803: and anybody who has the slightest doubt as to
the statement, may refer to the paper itself.

And here I must pause to give thanks to Fortune, which so
marvellously preserved me, Sergeant-Major Higgory, and Runty Goss.
Were I to say that any valour of ours had carried us unhurt through
this tremendous combat, the reader would laugh me to scorn. No:
though my narrative is extraordinary, it is nevertheless authentic:
and never never would I sacrifice truth for the mere sake of
effect. The fact is this:- the citadel of Allyghur is situated
upon a rock, about a thousand feet above the level of the sea, and
is surrounded by fourteen walls, as his Excellency was good enough
to remark in his despatch. A man who would mount these without
scaling-ladders, is an ass; he who would SAY he mounted them
without such assistance, is a liar and a knave. We HAD scaling-
ladders at the commencement of the assault, although it was quite
impossible to carry them beyond the first line of batteries.
Mounted on them, however, as our troops were falling thick about
me, I saw that we must ignominiously retreat, unless some other
help could be found for our brave fellows to escalade the next
wall. It was about seventy feet high. I instantly turned the guns
of wall A on wall B, and peppered the latter so as to make, not a