west by the river Sarda-called "Káli" on its upper courseand looking south upon the plains of Gorakhpore and Audh. Originally occupied by Mongolian tribes, who adopted the creed of Sakyá Muni (Buddhism), it was entered, probably from the Gangetic valley, by a set of Hindu immigrants-claiming to be Brahmans and Rajputs—in the 12th century A.D. It has been sometimes thought that the invaders came from the west, through the Kamaun hills; but the better opinion seems that which traces them to Gorakhpore, and thus accounts for the eye of desire which they continued to cast in that direction. The name, in both cases, is connected with Gorakh-Nath (the "Lord of Cowherds") a title of the God Shiva. These people intermarried with the Mongolian women; and as they made their first capital at a place called Gurkhaon the western side of the country-they got to be known as Gurkháli, or Gurkha, by which name they are still called. A mixed race, they exhibit some of the Tartar characteristics grafted on an Aryan base. Good-humoured and easily amused, they are of great pugnacity, with a love of punctilio not found incompatible with reckless falsehood. They usually obey the commands of their rulers; but instances have occurred where a Nepalese ministerial crisis has been solved by such crude expedients as pitching the members of the Cabinet out of the Palace windows. To understand such a national character one has to invest statesmen and warriors with some of the attributes of ill-brought-up boys; and for this, neither Moira, nor his Council were at first prepared. The Gurkhas had expanded east and west; they had conquered Kamaun, overrun the Doons of Dehra and Sirmur, and even built forts on the Upper Sutlej. Unable to spread farther westward, owing to the strong opposition of Ranjit, the Rája of Lahore, and repressed on the northward by the Chinese, to whose empire. they were feudatory, they resolved to claim the Ganges as their southern boundary. They commenced proceedings by

laying claim to two small districts beyond the forests at the foot of their hills above Gorakhpore. The British-who had obtained these tracts as grants from the Nawab of Audh-opposed this, and an enquiry was agreed to before a mixed commission. The enquiry resulted in the claims of the Gurkhas being found baseless; and it was to this result that the anxious Governor-General-his wish being father to his thought-gave the above-noted welcome. But the Gurkhas had no intention of abiding by the award; and, in the course of the summer of 1814, their troops came down into British territory and massacred the parties of police put to watch the frontier.

Hastily calling upon the Nepalese Government for an apology-which was no less promptly refused-Moira prepared for a strong punitive advance as soon as the periodical rains should cease. Small as was the power of the enemy, ruling a mixed population of not much more than two millions, the extent of the frontier was considerable. From Káthmándu to Malaun is rather over than under seven hundred miles; and on that whole line the Governor-who was also Commander

in-Chief-resolved to operate. Four divisions of the army, supplied with guns, mortars, and all the resources of European military science, were sent against this petty Hill-State; it being Moira's abiding principle to apply the whole of his strength at once to any given point and compensate for initial outlay by making war as short as possible. The largest division-comprising the 24th Foot, six battalions of Native Infantry, and a proportion of gunners and pioneers, making altogether a force of 8,000 strong-was to march on Káthmándu, the Gurkha capital, under Major-General Marley; but three other divisions, under Generals Wood, Gillespie, and Ochterlony were to move up along the frontier in the order here mentioned-Ochterlony being on the extreme left, or western extremity. To confront this attack, the auda

cious Gurkhas were only able to oppose a force of 12,000 regular troops; but they were men seasoned in conquest, of hardy and active habits, and commanded by an able and prudent general, Amar Sinh, of the Thapa, or agricultural, order, to which most of the military leaders belonged. Officers and men were inspired by the patriotism of mountaineers, and thoroughly at home in their wild and difficult country.

The British advance was commenced by Ochterlony and Gillespie, officers who had little in common but a consummate valour. The former was a wise and cautious Scot, distinguished by his heroic defence of Delhi against Jaswant Ráo Holkar, in 1804: the latter a typical Irish light horseman, who had fought for his King and country in various regions, from S. Domingo to Java, everywhere evincing the most ardent and dashing chivalry. The plan of their part of the campaign was that Ochterlony should proceed against the right of the Gurkha defence, where Amar Sinh commanded in person, having his headquarters at Malaun; while Gillespie should occupy the Dehra Doon, and then sweep to the westward and support his colleague. The Doon was only held by a force of Gurkhas, tantamount to a weak battalion, under Colonel Balbhadar Sinh. This officer had taken post in a small fort on a hill above the village of Kalinga-not much less than 1000 feet above the surrounding land-about four miles north-east of the town of Dehra. Gillespie thought that the reduction of this fort was requisite before he could proceed to support Ochterlony; and he estimated that it might be reduced by the same sort of rush by which he had succeeded so brilliantly in Java and elsewhere. Had all his men been actuated by the fire that burned in their Commander, and had all his officers accurately carried out his combinations, his plans might have prospered, and the war have been concluded in a few weeks. As it was, a grave disaster-amounting to disgrace-befel the British arms; many valuable lives were lost, including Gillespie's own; and

VOL. II,

C

the war went on for a year and a half. Balbhadar Sinh defended Kalinga against three attacks, during which his men killed the General, and a number of British officers and men far exceeding their own. When at last a complete batteringtrain was brought up against them and their water-supply was cut off, the gallant mountaineers-as many as survived, about seventy in number-evacuated the no longer tenable position, in November, and effected their escape into the hills of Garhwál.*

This misfortune not only delayed the operations of the western column, it also demoralised the officers and men of the divisions to the eastward. The army under Marley, which was to have marched on the Gurkha capital-a distance of only a hundred miles-was handled with the utmost imbecility. Instead of advancing as he was ordered, Marley hung back, waiting--as he declared-for more artillery. He left his outposts unsupported, so that several of them were cut off with the loss of many men and British officers, in January, 1815. The reinforcements which Marley now received raised his army to 13,000; but with odds of nearly ten to one in his favour he still held back; and at last he was so completely prostrated that, on the 10th February, he mounted his horse by night and fled, alone, to Dánapore, his headquarters. Colonel Dick, who succeeded for the time, by virtue of seniority, gained a momentary success, and opened the road to Káthmándu; but General G. Wood, who eventually arrived, proved little more energetic than Marley; and this division went into summer quarters without having produced any effect upon the war. The other eastern division, under General J.

* It is impossible to describe this place: the description given by Prinsep does not tally with the plan in Gillespie's "Memoirs," or with the account given to the present writer by the late General Hoggan-who was present. The writer himself has examined the spot, but no vestiges of the fort are left―etiam periere ruinæ. Two obelisks in a neighbouring field mark the burial-place of the dead. Gillespie was interred at Meerut,

where his command was