It was at the mud fort already mentioned that
the travellers received the first accounts of the
progress of the Begum and her party, by a Peon
(or foot-soldier) who had been in their company,
but was now on his return to the coast. They had
travelled, he said, with great speed, until they ascended
the Ghauts, where they were joined by a
party of the Begum's own forces; and he and
others, who had been brought from Madras as a
temporary escort, were paid and dismissed to their
homes. After this, he understood it was the purpose
of the Begum Mootee Mahul, to proceed by
slow marches and frequent halts, to Bangalore,
the vicinity of which place she did not desire to
reach until Prince Tippoo, with whom she desired
an interview, should have returned from an expedition
towards Vandicotta, in which he had lately
been engaged.
From the result of his anxious enquiries, Hartley
had reason to hope, that though Seringapatam
was seventy-five miles more to the eastward than
Bangalore, yet by using diligence, he might have
time to throw himself at the feet of Hyder, and
beseech his interposition, before the meeting betwixt
Tippoo and the Begum should decide the
fate of Menie Gray.
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