Chapter IV: Part 4

Here were a number of half-starved Europeans, all deserters, who were taken in the pittah or suburbs, when our troops followed Tippoo’s over the Cavery.[33] These were all in irons, and what his lordship did with them I know not; but suppose, as mercy was a leading feature in his character, that he did not put them to death. We were now ordered to Madras, having an escort of Sepoys for our safety; and his lordship understanding our wishes were to go to England, very humanely gratified them. With our escort, we quitted the camp at Seringapatam for Madras, which place we reached in twenty-one days.

On the morning when we heard the surf, our joy was inexpressible, not having seen the sea for ten years. A few days after our arrival, we embarked as passengers on board of the Honourable Company’s ship Dutton, East Indiaman; and after encountering some tremendous gales off the Cape of Good Hope, which few ships escape in those latitudes, we, through divine Providence, safely reached the Downs in 1793.

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CHAP. VII.

_State of Seringapatam prior to the Siege—Fortifications—
Natural Advantages—Military Force—Besieged and Captured
by the British—Death of Tippoo—General Carnage—Riches
found in the City—Many of Tippoo’s Jewels yet concealed—
Progressive State of the Arts in his Dominions._

The British troops entered the territories of Tippoo, from Yacotta, on the 5th of March, and encamped before Seringapatam on the 5th of April; and it may be considered as a fortunate circumstance, that the sultan neither employed his whole force against us, nor thought of turning his attention to the Bombay army. The numerous attendants of the Nizam’s forces, as well as those of the European corps; the immense quantity of public stores and provisions; the long train of ordnance; with about 40,000 Bengarries, formed altogether such a host, as not to admit being covered by our army; so that if Tippoo had employed his powers with the military skill which he was supposed to possess, he might, without hazarding an engagement by desultory skirmishes, distant cannonades, and other hostile movements, have so harassed our infantry, and weakened our cavalry, that a great part of the baggage, stores, and ammunition, would probably have fallen into his hands, and the army have been greatly impeded in its march to the place of its destination. And, moreover, as the rainy season was approaching, there is reason to believe, that had the sultan employed his power with equal judgment and activity, the immediate object of the campaign might have been defeated. It had, indeed, been for some time reported, that Tippoo was become subject to fits of mental derangement; and the whole of his conduct seems to justify that opinion. He had dismissed from his councils all his faithful friends, who had served him long, and had served him well, and had called into his service, men of little experience or capacity, who won his favour by flattering his caprices, and practising an unresisting submission to his will. The former had always discouraged their master’s disposition to connect himself with France, as pregnant with the mischief it has since produced; while the latter promoted it, for no other reason, but because it flattered his hopes of gratifying his resentment against the British power in India. His treasures were immense, and his army was not only numerous, but in a high state of discipline and equipment. However, by not employing the one, and misemploying the other, his fall was precipitated, and his country conquered in a manner, and with a rapidity of good fortune, which greatly exceeded the most sanguine expectations.

This powerful empire, which had been shaken and diminished by the military skill and political sagacity of the Marquis Cornwallis, is now razed, as it were, to its foundations, and the house of Hyder Ali degraded from the usurped power which it had maintained during a period of forty years. The importance of this event, to the power and commerce of Great Britain in the East, is not within the reach of ordinary calculation.

From every appearance of the improving state of Seringapatam, the cultivation of the country, the number of its inhabitants, and the advancing progress of its military establishment, that capital would, in a short time, have been impregnable; and the power of Tippoo Saib would have been at least equal to the combined strength of the European settlements in India. The sultan certainly was not inactive; but his activity was misguided, and became inadequate to its object. He destroyed the villages, and laid waste the country in front of the army; but not sufficiently spreading the tracks of devastation, his purpose for distressing our army was defeated, as General Harris, by a slight deviation from the common road, reached his destination at the time he wished, and without any material interruption.

From the late plentiful rains, and the peculiar construction of the tanks, which could not be entirely drained, there was no deficiency of water; and though the usual attempts had been made to poison it, by steeping in it the bruised branches of the milkhedge tree, no very noxious effect was produced; for though no prohibition, or bodies of guards, could prevent the men or cattle from slaking their thirst at these tanks, very little inconvenience was felt; very few of the people suffered any disorder whatever from the poisonous impregnation. The sickness that at any time appeared among the troops, arose from the heat of the sun, extreme fatigue, or irregular refreshment; and especially among the common men, from an intemperate use of every species of vegetable they could find, and particularly that of the sugarcane.

The action which Tippoo risked on the 27th of March, at Malwilly, with the right wing of our army, was as ill conceived, as it was ill conducted; because, having the choice of his ground, he ought either to have received us with his whole force, or to have avoided every kind of regular engagement. By turning to the left the second day after this action, instead of crossing the river, as Tippoo appeared to have expected, we gained a flourishing and highly cultivated country, which, most fortunately, his destroying hand had not touched. After a march of about fourteen miles, we reached the Cavery, without the least molestation, and took possession of the large fort Soocilly, which was full of cattle, grain, and forage; and commanded an excellent ford, which the army, with all its equipment, passed in one day, without any loss or interruption, even to the vicinity of his capital.

General Harris had the choice of his route, so that he was enabled to sit down before it with all his resources for the siege undiminished. The evil most to be dreaded on this service, and a tremendous evil it is, was famine; and this the sultan had means of producing, if he had been wise enough in employing them. The whole of our draft and carriage bullocks, public and private, died, and rice had risen three rupees the pound, the day the city was stormed. It was not till nine days after that event, that the detachments, commanded by Read and Brown, could arrive with supplies, notwithstanding all the cavalry, and a brigade of native infantry, had been detached, under the command of General Floyd, to favour their junction; so that if we had not succeeded in our attempt, the consequence would have been fatal to the army; and that we were not repulsed, was owing to the incomparable conduct and intrepidity of the troops, as well as the judicious means employed to support and protect their extraordinary efforts.

It is not necessary to enter into the detailed progress of the siege. It may, however, be proper to remark, that notwithstanding the errors committed by the sultan, in defence of the place, nothing less than the vast combined army in our service, could have carried the enterprise into effect. The extent of post we were obliged to occupy on both sides of the river, required the whole force of the coast and Bombay armies; besides the troops necessary to dislodge the numerous swarms of the enemy. As the service was entrusted chiefly to European officers, who were appointed to the various branches of it, not by selection, but in regular succession, opportunities were given, as they were universally employed, to display the skill and military superiority of the British character.

The act of storming was a most animating and unrivalled picture of valour. The columns of grenadiers dashed across the river at noon-day, despising the difficulties of the passage, to mount the breach, which could be practicable alone to their irresistible force and bravery. The impetuous spirit which led them on in the face of a very heavy and continued fire of cannon and musketry, the rapidity with which they ascended the ladders, and the daring courage which drove the affrighted enemy from their walls, soon combined to place the British colours on them. The enfilading batteries of the Bombay advanced post were of signal service, as they deterred numbers from disputing the breach, who might otherwise have kept up a galling fire upon it. The hour of attack was also fortunate, it being one at noon, when numbers of the besieged had retired to take refreshment, though enough still remained to have repelled less daring assailants. The sultan, who had hitherto commanded his troops, was also engaged in another quarter; but on hearing the alarm, he hastened back, when finding our grenadiers had entered the breach, and seeing his people falling all around him, he made for a sally-port, where, amidst a crowd of fugitives, he was overtaken and slain.

Since our arrival in England, we have ofttimes heard him extolled for a brave prince; but those who have thus stated, we presume, know little of him. That he was a coward, we could easily demonstrate, and that he was a tyrant, equal, if not superior, to a Domitian, a Caligula, a Nero, or even Nabis the tyrant of Sparta, is a fact of which we had ocular demonstration. For vigorously defending his country against any power on earth, I give him credit, and for using every exertion in expelling all its invaders; but this should have been done without those unheard-of cruelties, which were interwoven in his very nature;—but he is gone, and I proceed.

It is not yet known by whose hand the tyrant of the East was laid low; and it is supposed, that the jewels which he always wore about his person, and which became the property of some fortunate soldier, whoever he might be, that was his conqueror, are too precious to be hastily acknowledged.

The following particulars were related by Bejeb Saib, one of the sidars who came with the hostage princes to Lord Cornwallis. “He constantly wore a ruby ring, which was esteemed by him as the most valuable in his treasury; his turban also was always adorned with a diamond of great value; and a pearl rosary was continually ornamental of his person. The pearls of which it consisted were of uncommon size and beauty; they had been the collection of many years, and were the pride of his dress. Whenever he could purchase a pearl of extraordinary size, he never omitted the opportunity, making it supply, on his rosary, the place of another inferior in form and beauty.” Neither of these precious articles has appeared since the sultan’s death. His body was found late in the evening, beneath a heap of others, mingled together in one promiscuous slaughter; it had been shot in the temples, and was otherwise wounded, as appeared, by a bayonet. After it had been properly identified, it was delivered to the survivors of his family, and interred in the sepulchre of his father, Hyder Ali, with the solemnities and ceremonials belonging to his exalted rank and station.

It is not among the customs of European nations to war with the dead, otherwise the remains of such a tyrant, whose peculiar aversion towards, and inveterate cruelty exercised on, the English, whenever they were so unfortunate as to become subject to his tyranny, might have been treated with indignity. The rooted and barbarous antipathy which he manifested against his prisoners in a former war, seems to have accompanied him to the last.

About twenty unhappy stragglers from our army had fallen into his hands in the course of our march, among whom was a little drummer-boy of the Scotch brigade; all these he ordered to be put to death. Even his small motley band of French auxiliaries, execrate his memory as a most cruel tyrant, and represent, with bitter imprecations, the ignominy and hardships to which he subjected them.

The carnage, on this occasion, is very much to be lamented, though it was much less than might have been expected in a large city entered by storm, and filled with people, whose opposition was continued from the streets and from their houses. Here was a spot where no incentive was wanting to gratify lust, rapine, and revenge! but it should be for ever remembered, to the honour of the general officer who conducted the assault, and to others who seconded his humane efforts, that the effusion of blood was very soon restrained, and under circumstances of provocation, which sufficiently proved, if proof were wanting, the humanity of the British character; nor in the course of that plunder, which the laws of war allow in certain cases, to the conquerors, was any defenceless inhabitant killed, or any woman treated with wanton brutality.

That the French republicans obtained the quarter which they so ill deserved, must be imputed to accident, rather than any disposition in their favour. This party had shut themselves up with the defenders of the palace, till the first burst of violence had passed, and mixing with them, partook of the mercy by which they were preserved. Their appearance, in every respect, was extremely mean, though their commander, for there was an elderly man among them who bore some sort of commission, displayed somewhat of the military veteran in his aspect.

The two sons of Tippoo, who had been hostages at Madras, comported themselves well, submitting with resignation to their fate. They were ignorant of their father’s death until the body was found, it being believed by them, as it was suspected by us, that he had made his escape. Tippoo was so infatuated, as not to entertain an idea of the catastrophe which befell him. He considered himself in a state of perfect security in his capital, where he retained all his family and treasures, instead of sending them off to remote strong-holds, where they might at least have been safe from a victorious enemy. His principal people, and all the inhabitants, possessed the same confidence, so that no preparations had been made either for concealment or flight. The plunder of the city was consequently very great; and many of the soldiers, both native and European, possessed themselves of very precious effects in gold and jewels. Considerable fortunes are also supposed to have been made by persons of higher rank, by way of purchase. The houses of the chief sidars, as well as of the merchants and skioffs, were completely gutted; while the women, alarmed for their personal safety, emptied their coffers, and brought forth whatever jewels they possessed.

Fortunately, however, for the army in general, the palace was secured, and all the riches it contained reserved for the army at large, as captured property. They were immense, and consisted of jewels, gold and silver, plate, rich stuffs, and various other articles of great price and rarity. The quantity of money yet discovered, though great in itself, is by no means what ought to have been expected from the known extent of Tippoo’s revenue and expenditure. Many lacks of specie, it is supposed, are not yet found, and it is equally probable that they will never be discovered. This enormous mass of wealth appeared to be arranged without taste or judgment. All the parts of this extensive building, except the Zenana and the state durbar, were appropriated to its reception. A succession of quadrangles, with their ranges of storehouses and galleries, were filled with the articles which were the least susceptible of injury. The jewels were kept in large dark rooms, strongly secured behind one of the durbars, and were deposited in coffers. In the same manner were preserved the gold and plate, both solid and in filigree, of which last manufacture there was an almost endless variety of most beautiful articles. The jewelry was set in gold, in the form of bracelets, rings, necklaces, aigrettes, plumes, &c. &c. An upper, and very long apartment, contained the silver plate, solid and filigree, of all dimensions and fashions. In one of the galleries were two elephants, of this metal; there were also many pieces of massive silver plate, richly inlaid with gold and jewels. The greater part of this treasure must have been the plunder of the unhappy Mysore families, and of many other inferior rajahs, which Tippoo and his father had amassed, after the extermination of their respective possessors. Two of the most capital articles were, however, of his own purchase, and were deposited in two small rooms on each side of the hall of audience. The one was a throne, estimated at a lack of pagodas; and the other an howdar, of equal value.[34] His repositories of curious and costly fire-arms and swords were equally astonishing, and some of the latter were most magnificently adorned with gold and jewels. The greater part of these have been presents, and several of them were of English manufacture. The palanquins of state were four; but those which were presented to him by Lord Cornwallis for his two sons, appeared never to have been unpacked. There were also several door-posts of ivory, of exquisite workmanship.

To this succession of treasure, may be added, various extensive workhouses, filled with the richest furniture and most costly carpets. In short, there was every thing that power could command, or money could purchase, in this stupendous collection. Telescopes of every size, spectacles for every sight, with looking-glasses and pictures in unbounded profusion; while, of china and glass ware, there was sufficient to form a large mercantile magazine. But amidst the confusion that appeared in the arrangement, there was an unexpected degree of regularity; the whole being accurately registered, and every article bearing its corresponding label. Tippoo, whose desire of hoarding was insatiable, passed the greatest part of his leisure hours in reviewing this various and splendid assemblage of his riches. Nor is this all: Tippoo, with his tyrannic nature, blended the love of literature, and was possessed of a very large and curious library. The volumes were kept in chests, each having a separate wrapper, so that they were in excellent preservation. Some of those that have been examined, were very richly adorned, and beautifully illuminated, in the manner of the Roman missals. This library, which contains many thousand volumes, will, it is presumed, be presented by the army to the English nation; if so, it will form the finest, most curious, and valuable collection of Oriental learning and history, that has ever been introduced into Europe.

The collection of military stores rivalled the arsenal of Madras; the cannon, mounted on the works, were very numerous; and the quantity of ordnance and musket ammunition expended, must have been very great, from the constant heavy fire which was maintained, and which, from the variety of its bearings, could never be silenced. The gunpowder, to the manufacture of which great attention appears to have been paid, was better than ours; and some of their shot was thrown from their walls considerably within our lines, which were at the distance of two miles. All his brass six-pounders, which were fifty-one in number, were said to be English; the others were in general cast in his own foundry, and curiously ornamented. One brass forty-two-pounder, and one brass six-inch howitzer, with a great number of his iron ordnance, were of English manufacture: and it was said he did not succeed so well in casting iron as brass ordnance. Tippoo had established powder mills on the European construction; but as they were without the walls, and on the side of our approaches, he had destroyed them. There was a paper mill also within the fort, on a large scale. His stores of grain surpassed all credibility. In the stables were found only a few fine horses and brood mares, his cavalry being at that time in the field. The body of the fort appeared as large as Tritchinopoly, but its defences and outworks were vastly more extensive; and as the most laborious additions were continually making to it, there is little doubt, when its insular situation is considered, that it would, in a short time, have been rendered impregnable. Its population was very great; and the mosque, which was built while we were in Seringapatam in the years 1787 and 1788, was a magnificent structure. This edifice was ornamented by a deserter from Bombay, whose name was Elliot. He was a man of considerable talents, but I suppose he met his fate in the general catastrophe. But, amidst all their splendour, neither the ancient Mysore palace, nor the pagodas, are on a grand scale. The ruins of the Pettah, or citadel, form a very striking spectacle; they occupy more ground than the fort and black town of Madras, including the vacant space, and cover the greatest part of the island. It was closely built, and in regular streets, but nothing remains except the walls of the houses. It is, however, a pleasing reflection, that its former inhabitants are returning by degrees to rebuild their ruined dwellings; the deserted villages will also be shortly reinhabited; and there is every reason to believe, that notwithstanding its hostile invasions, Seringapatam will soon be seen to flourish in a renewed state of cultivation.

One material mischief will not, however, be easily remedied; this is, the draining off the water in the Moottertellua lake, which was kept up by natural streams, and by means of sluices a large tract of country was watered. It is about twelve miles from Seringapatam; and the army was encamped near its bed. Its ordinary depth was about 40 feet, and Tippoo had employed a number of men for several weeks, under his own inspection, to make a breach in the mound, which is really tremendous, being about 100 feet deep, and much more in width and thickness.

Of the two gardens, the Laul-bog and Dowlah-baugh, the former has been already described; the latter, being close under the walls of the fort, was not in our possession in the last war. It contains a large, handsome, and ancient mansion, but has neither temple nor mausoleum; it formed the headquarters of the commander-in-chief. On one of the buildings was represented, but, as may be supposed, in a miserable style of painting, the defeat of Colonel Bailey, which the painter exhibited with every exaggeration that might flatter the vanity of the conqueror. The Laul-baugh was employed as an hospital.

The houses of Patam are very spacious, and well constructed; but the interior embellishments are without variety, yet as gaudy as splendid colours can make them. The streets are like those of Tanjour, but contain a larger proportion of houses of two stories. The situation of the ancient capital of the Mysore dominions must have been originally Chaser, on account of its strength, as the district is naturally barren. It is indebted for its population and fertility to the most persevering industry, in procuring the means of watering it. The water-courses from the river, as well as the distant lakes and tanks, in all directions, are stupendous works. The principal erections are finished with stone, having bridges at convenient intervals.

The chief, Sirdar Kumeradeen Cawn, surrendered himself at our post on the fourth day of the capture, as did Tippoo’s eldest legitimate son, and Hyder Saib, his eldest illegitimate son, who commanded a separate army. All the circar horses were shortly after delivered up; and there has been selected a sufficient number of them to complete the king’s regiment of dragoons, serving on the coast, as well as the Company’s establishment of native cavalry. Upwards of 2000 of an inferior order were transferred to the Nizam. The draft and carriage bullocks, with the camels and elephants, surrendered at the same time, so that our army was immediately furnished with every necessary equipment. To crown the whole, the dispersed and affrighted natives gradually returned in great numbers to their former situations.

As a proof of the mental derangement of the late sultan, which his subjects in general confirm, he neglected for several months past the war department of his affairs, and particularly that branch of it which related to the maintenance of those animals which are so essentially necessary to it. This was an object to which his father Hyder, throughout his reign, and himself, till very recently, had paid the most unremitted attention: but of late, his bullocks, his horses, and his elephants, were almost starved; and the people who had the care of them were in long arrears of pay. This too was at a time when he must have expected to be attacked by us; for he actually invited an army of French auxiliaries, who, being destitute of every kind of equipment, must necessarily have been provided by himself with the means to render their services effectual.

J. SCURRY.

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SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

_Repairs from the Downs to London—Receives all his Arrears
of Pay—Indiscreet Expenditure—Personal Appearance and
Manners—Visits his Friends—Affecting Interview—Mental
Improvement—Superintends a Grocery Concern in Plymouth—
Marries—Commences Business for himself—Forms other
Engagements—Wreck of the Dutton East Indiaman—Employed
as a Diver on the occasion—Repairs to Wales—Sails in a
Privateer—Revisits Wales—Dangerous Passage—Returns
to Plymouth—Manages some Mines—Illness and Death—
Conclusion._

Thus far the narrative of this unfortunate adventurer has been written by himself; and, with some trifling variations, the account has been given in his own language, not only with respect to his personal sufferings, and the fate of others, but as his details relate to the capture and riches of Seringapatam. The remaining particulars have been collected from the statements of his widow and son, and partially from detached papers.

On landing at the Downs, Mr. Scurry and his companions repaired to London, where the singularity of their dress, their manners, and their colour, so far excited attention, that they were followed by troops of boys, as objects of curiosity. On appealing to the proper authorities, and giving proof of their identity, all arrears of pay, from the time of their capture to their return, were instantly paid. Mr. Scurry also obtained a pension of £7 per annum, which was continued for several years. It was afterwards augmented to £18. which he retained through life. Being thus amply supplied with cash, their prodigality increased with their resources, and, like true British sailors, a considerable portion was squandered away in thoughtless extravagance. On one occasion, Mr. Scurry attended a sale, and laid out about forty pounds in articles, of which he scarcely knew either the quantity, the use, or the names. His lot was, however, packed up altogether, and forwarded to Devonshire, to which place he also after some time repaired.

From his long confinement in India, and his involuntary conformity to Asiatic manners, he had nearly forgotten the customs of his early years, and the delicate refinements of his native land. To the wearing of English clothes he felt the greatest aversion; nor could he even sit, except according to the manner to which he had been so long accustomed. Of a knife and fork he had almost lost the use, nor could he eat any thing with comfort, only in the style to which stern necessity had compelled him to submit. His language was broken and confused, having lost nearly all its vernacular idiom. His body was disfigured with scars; and his skin was likewise so deeply tinged with the heat of the climate in which he had so long resided, and by the rays of the sun, to which he had been so much exposed, that it was only a few shades removed from black. It so nearly resembled the swarthy complexion of the negroes, that he might have passed through Africa without being at all noted for the singularity of his colour. These combined peculiarities exposed him to several inconveniences, and brought upon him many an eager gaze, and many a curious inquiry, and pointed observation.

On leaving London, he travelled by coach to Exeter, to visit his friends, but stopping at an inn on the road to dine, instead of conforming to the customs of his fellow-travellers, he followed those which he had been obliged to adopt in Asia, to the no small amusement of his companions, and the equal astonishment of the people belonging to the house. His bones, offal, and rejected food, without ceremony were thrown on the floor, no regard being paid either to company or carpets; and when admonished of the impropriety of his conduct, his inattention to the hints which were given, and perseverance in domestic irregularity, only served to confirm those who witnessed his singularities, that he was either deranged, or some foreigner totally unacquainted with the refinements of civilized life. A British sailor, however, in any disguise, if flowing with money, can easily make his peace with a waiter at an inn, and metamorphose a frowning aspect into a smiling countenance.

On reaching Exeter, he learned that his mother, and sister Dannan with her husband, were living at Porlock. Thither he repaired; and, that he might reach this place in a style suited to his purse, he entered it in a chaise drawn by four horses, and drove immediately to their door. Surprised at this equipage, his sister first appeared, of whom, on putting his head out of the window, he inquired if Mrs. Scurry lived there, and was within? He was answered, that this was the place of her abode, but that just then she was not within. He then requested that she might be called, but could scarcely restrain his impatience during the absence of the messenger. On his mother’s arrival, he inquired whether she had not a son in India? She replied, that she once had a son there, but not having heard from him for many years, she concluded he was dead. This latter was a point which he seemed to doubt, but his mother was not to be dissuaded from a belief which she had so long indulged.

While this conversation was carrying on, his sister, Mrs. Dannan, who was listening with much attention, and viewing this stranger with eagerness, imagined that she could discover, amidst the scars of conflict, the effects of an equinoctial sun, and the furrows of distress, some remnants of features that had once been familiar. Full of this persuasion, she hailed him as her long-lost brother, nor did he keep her in any tedious suspense. His mother, however, was not so easily convinced. She had concluded that her son was dead, and the appearance of this stranger was not calculated to remove the unfavourable impression. But the chaise and four being dismissed, his mother’s unbelief gave way, and mutual recognition and joy succeeded to the astonishment that had been excited.

Having, during his long absence, and the scenes of distress through which he was called to pass, lost nearly all his European acquirements, Mr. Scurry turned his attention to learning for nearly two years, improving himself in writing and arithmetic, under the tuition of his brother-in-law at Porlock. During this period, he made such proficiency, as qualified him to engage in mercantile employment, in such departments as might probably present themselves.

On quitting his brother-in-law, he repaired to Plymouth, and entered into an engagement with Mr. Andrew Kinsman, a wholesale grocer of that place, and superintended his business. With this gentleman, and another named Harvey, he continued from about 1795 until 1799. He then took a house in Frankfort Place, and commenced business as a grocer for himself. In the following year he married, since which time he has had eight children, of whom one son and one daughter only survive.

It is somewhat remarkable, that while he was engaged with Mr. Kinsman, the Dutton, in which he had returned from India some years before, was wrecked near Plymouth garrison, and sunk. The hull, lying under water, was purchased by Mr. Kinsman and a Mr. Andrew Snow; and as Mr. Scurry was an excellent swimmer, and perhaps at that time the best diver in England, he offered his services to assist them in endeavouring to rescue all that they could find from the wreck, which lay about three fathoms under water. After much hesitation, they consented that he should make a trial. A day was accordingly appointed, when, amidst numbers of spectators, he succeeded in hooking some pigs of ballast, and part of her timbers, thus at once gratifying their eager curiosity, and the anxious expectations of his employers. This attempt was made a few months after she sunk. Finding, however, after several ineffectual efforts, that nothing of considerable value was likely to be obtained, the remains were sold, about two years afterwards, to a Mr. Joseph, a rich Jew, for ten pounds. As soon as this transfer took place, Mr. Scurry received a polite note from the new purchaser, requesting him to try once more to rescue something from the sunken ship. With this request he complied; but on his descent, he found that the Dutton was now five fathoms beneath the surface of the water. In this attempt he succeeded in bringing up some of her copper sheathing, and some timber; but the former was so corroded, and the latter so much decayed, that no encouragement was held out to perseverance. Her guns were by this time sunk in the sand; and as nothing promised to reward their exertions, all further efforts were abandoned.

Mr. Scurry continued his business as a grocer on his own account, from 1799 until 1804, when, on an application being made by Messrs. Fuge and Langmead, spirit merchants, of Plymouth, to travel for their house, he surrendered the management of his own concerns to his wife, still taking orders for goods as he prosecuted his journeys. In this situation he continued from 1804 to 1812, when, on discovering some irregularities, he quitted their employment, and formed an engagement with a Mr. Slade, of Plymouth, under whom he went to Swansea to manage a colliery. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Slade having fitted out a privateer to cruise in the Bay of Biscay, and knowing Mr. Scurry to be both expert and enterprising in maritime affairs, he sent for him to go out as steward, and to keep a watchful eye over the concerns of the vessel. Accordingly, in the year 1813, he repaired again to Plymouth, and sailed in the Cerberus privateer, commanded by Captain Tregotheth. He continued in this vessel about four months, during which time they took one prize, for his share of which he received £18. Returning from their cruise, they put into Fowey, in Cornwall, where he received a letter from Mr. Slade, stating that his son, James Scurry, was then on the point of death, and having a particular desire to see his father, requested his immediate attendance for a day or two. In consequence of this letter, he hastened to Plymouth, where he arrived on the 12th of April, 1813; and his son died on the 24th. Scarcely had he left the vessel, before the captain, without receiving any orders, again put to sea, and, on the day after he left Fowey, the Cerberus was captured by a French privateer, and carried to France.

In 1814, he again went to Swansea, under Mr. Slade, and on their voyage from Ilfracombe to Wales the vessel was nearly lost. In the midst of their distress, the captain grew dispirited, and the panic was communicated to the passengers and the men. In this emergency, Mr. Scurry’s native energies were all called into action, and such was the confidence which his example and precepts inspired, that they were roused from their lethargy, and, by unremitting exertions, succeeded in reaching the port. Having, in the course of his journeys, discovered some clay of a very superior quality, he visited Worcester, London, and some other places, with a design to procure a market, but the supplies of clay being more abundant than the demand for porcelain, his efforts proved unsuccessful. Early in 1815, he again returned to Plymouth, and once more engaged himself with Messrs. Langmeads, Mr. Fuge being now no longer connected with the concern. Here he continued until the death of Mr. John Langmead, when, being in want of a situation, he repaired to London early in 1816, and engaged himself at a coal wharf, where he continued about three years.

Having obtained some knowledge of mining, he was several times sent into his native county by the adventurers, to inspect various works in which they had become speculators. During these journeys he was occasionally exposed to the inclemencies of winter, which in all probability sapped the foundation of a strong constitution, that had so long sustained the rigour of the torrid zone. In the autumn of 1822, being on a journey to Devonshire, to superintend a mine in the neighbourhood of Buckfastleigh, he took a severe cold, by which he was laid up at Exeter. This was followed by an inflammation, and this was succeeded by a mortification, of which he died, aged 57, at the house of his sister Dannan, whose husband being a port-gauger of that city, had removed thither some years before. He was buried at St. Thomas’s, near Exeter, December 14th, 1822.

In justice to the memory of Mr. Scurry, it ought to be stated, that for a considerable time prior to his death, his mind had received serious impressions, which his subsequent conduct proved to be both deep and lasting. This circumstance gives an additional weight to the truth of his narrative—a narrative that might be deemed incredible from the miseries which it records, were it not supported by strong internal evidence, and corroborated by numerous testimonies drawn from the same unhappy source. To the eye of cool and dispassionate reflection, the world presents a spectacle of devastation and horror. Innumerable miseries arise from physical causes, and the present disordered state of things; and these, unhappily, are at once augmented and eclipsed by national hostilities, and the contentions of ambition for empire in fields of blood.

War is a monster, of which the portrait cannot be drawn in miniature. The shocks which the roaring of its cannon occasions in Europe, are felt in the interior of India; and its visits to the kingdoms of Asia are more terrible to the inhabitants than the irruptions of the lions and tigers which roam through their forests, or couch in their jungles. Its inhumanities and massacres extend from the cottage to the throne, and involve in one common destruction the despot and the slave. Of the desolations which it occasions, enough is known to excite the abhorrence and execration of mankind; but that innumerable instances of its barbarities lie concealed in impenetrable obscurity, we may reasonably infer from the mournful cases that are accidentally brought to light. The death of the victim seals up, in perpetual silence, the history of his sufferings; and even those tales of horror that are rescued from oblivion, can do little more than extort the sigh of commiseration, and urge humanity to shed her tears. The biography of James Scurry is an instance of this description. It merits preservation by its simplicity, and cannot fail to recompense the reader by the interesting facts which it records. It is one of those tales which presents its claims alike to justice and compassion; and the writer of these paragraphs feels much gratification in having made this effort to transmit the memorial of his sufferings to posterity.

THE END

London:
H. FISHER, 38, NEWGATE-STREET.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footnotes

Footnote 1:

There is something extraordinary, and which I never could hear
accounted for, in this engagement, viz. After the cannons’ roar
ceased, La Fin, French frigate of 40 guns, got alongside the Isis of
53 guns; where she remained entangled with our ship: the French
frigate considered herself taken, and her men were ready with their
bags to be prisoners; but so it was, after lying alongside an hour or
two, she was disentangled, and got back to her own fleet.

Footnote 2:

In this fort I have seen whole families, or their carcases rather,
lying in different spots; some eight, some ten, according to their
number. The few miserable survivors would plunge at one of our carrion
bones, though thrown into the middle of excrement.—May my eyes never
see the like again!

Footnote 3:

This opiate is made either into liquid or solid, with sugar, from the
boang tree, the produce of which they smoke with tobacco; it causes
the most astonishing sensations. In the course of a few years we were
in the habit of smoking it freely, to drown our troubles; and we well
knew its effects.

Footnote 4:

One, whose name was James Murrell, died; and the other, from the great
quantity of blood he lost, never had any colour in his face
afterwards; his name was Alsop.

Footnote 5:

Hyatt Saib was the rightful successor, but Tippoo proved the more
powerful. A curious and tragic circumstance took place on his first
visit to his father’s mausoleum: in his going through the Gangam gate,
a bullock’s head on one side, and a man’s head on the other, were
lopped off at one time. The real meaning of this ceremony we never
could learn.

Footnote 6:

A Mr. William Drake, midshipman of the Hannibal, for striking one of
the slaves that had struck him, was led to the front of one of the
battalions, and there had his hands and feet tied together; this done,
they forced his knees between his arms, and then pushed a pole under
his hams. In addition to this, three stout men flogged him as long as
they had strength. What must have been our feelings at this time? He
survived it; and we were surprised, for his body was as black as a
coal.

Footnote 7:

One Smith, a deserter from the Company’s service, was sent for one
morning, to read what was written on the bottoms of four pewter plates
or dishes; but not pleasing the killadare in deciphering the words, he
was sent away, and another, who could read better, ordered to be
brought to the durbar, or place of justice. I was selected; and
approaching with fear, I made my salam with as much reverence as I
could to one of the greatest men in his kingdom. He ordered the buxer,
or paymaster, to give me one of the dishes. It was very legible, and I
read it to his satisfaction, interpreted by a youth who was taken with
the general; the other three were put into my hands successively, and
I read them all. The purport was, that he knew he was poisoned, and by
order of Tippoo; that his time was short; that he must submit to his
fate; that he had borrowed 330,000 rupees from the Malabar Christians,
for the support of his army, since he left Bombay; closing with a
sincere request, that those who read what was written, (or engraven
rather, for it appeared to have been done with a fork or a nail,) and
should be so fortunate as to reach any of the presidencies, should
make it known to the governor and council, when they would be amply
rewarded.—When the passage relative to the money was first mentioned,
the killadare appeared quite sanguine, under an idea that it was
attainable; but when he understood the meaning of it, he, with the
most sovereign contempt, and in the most indignant manner, cried, “Ah!
Baunchut!” the meaning of which I cannot, with decency, explain; those
who know the Moorish language will understand it. One of the general’s
servants suffered with him. The other, George Madan, was with us some
years after; he was not removed till the general was taken away by
night: where he was buried, we never could learn, but, no doubt, in
some dirty hole.

Footnote 8:

No doubt, many of them survived the downfall of Tippoo, and I should
have been proud to hear that the Company had done something for those
brave unfortunate men, and particularly so, as all their miseries
originated from an English general.—The prison from whence the Malabar
Christians were brought to have their noses and ears cut off, for
refusing their daughters when Tippoo demanded them for his seraglio,
was a horrid dismal hole, which we named the Bull, as there was an
image considerably larger than life, of that animal, on the building,
which was originally designed for an Hindoo place of worship, but by
Tippoo converted into a dungeon. This prison we frequently passed, and
expected, sooner or later, to occupy some part of it. Very few who
were so unfortunate as to be confined here, escaped with less
punishment than the loss of their nose and ears. The chumbars, by whom
this operation was performed, are held in abhorrence by the
Mohammedans, and, on that account, they were consigned to this office;
and such was their brutality, that they frequently cut (or sawed,
rather) the upper lip off with the nose, leaving the poor unfortunate
wretch a pitiable object, to spin out a most miserable existence,
being always sent to Tippoo’s arsenals, to hard labour on a scanty
allowance.

Footnote 9:

Many of the Hindostan women come to maturity very early: they are
frequently mothers at twelve years old, nor is it an uncommon case to
find them pregnant much younger; but as they reach womanhood much
sooner than the females of Europe, so also they decline at a much
earlier period, and lose all their charms when a beauty of the western
world is in the zenith of her power. The bloom of youth vanishes soon
after twenty; and at thirty, age begins to make its visible ravages;
and the fresh, plump, and lively dame, degenerates into a flabby,
dull, and unpleasing matron.

Footnote 10:

On the margin of this river the Bramins burn their dead; it was
infested by numbers of alligators when I left it, though there were
none when I first went to it: they are not formidable, being
remarkably timid. I and others have frequently amused ourselves by
throwing stones at them.

Footnote 11:

Uncouth stupendous buildings, the grand residence of their Swarmy, or
deity.

Footnote 12:

These monuments were ornamented by an engraver and sculptor, whose
name was Elliott, an Englishman, and a deserter from Bombay; what
became of him I never heard, but suppose he shared the fate of the
rest.

Footnote 13:

In mentioning these beasts, I beg leave to make a few remarks on the
prevailing opinion respecting lions and tigers. In England we have
generally been taught to consider the lion as the king of the forest;
but to convince me of this, would be a difficult task, as I have
frequently been an eye-witness of the strength, fierceness, and
agility of the tiger; to which the lion, in these qualities, is much
inferior. Of these animals, my reader will be pleased not to draw any
conclusions from what he may have seen of exhibitions in Europe, as
they bear no more proportion to lions and tigers, in their natural
state, than a stout puppy does to a full-grown dog. In short, it is my
humble opinion, that the tigers of India are stronger, more active,
and much fiercer, than the lions of Africa, and in every respect their
superior, with the exception of generosity, of which quality the tiger
is quite destitute. It is this only that gives the lion the advantage.

Footnote 14:

A most destructive weapon, the length about sixteen inches, sharp and
taper at the extremity, but four inches diameter towards the handle.

Footnote 15:

There was a pole fixed in the centre of the circle, about sixty feet
high, near the top of which was a cap, whereon a man stood with a rope
suspended, for the purpose of pulling up the door of the cage. The
rope being fastened to it, another man would apply rockets through a
hole in the back of the cage, until the tiger was made to start. I
have seen them come out as black as a coal; one, which was
particularly noticed, made two desperate attempts to reach the man on
the pole, which he very nearly accomplished, to the great terror of
the man, and astonishment of all who beheld him.

Footnote 16:

We could well distinguish this brave officer by the long beard which
he wore; he was also pointed out to us by some person whom I cannot
now remember.

Footnote 17:

One of these creatures, after lying on the ground many hours, and
supposed dead, rose, on the touch of the elephant’s foot, and coped
with him, the elephant roaring dreadfully, till numbers of the pikemen
assailed him again, and put an end to his existence. After this
circumstance, their whiskers were always burnt, to ascertain if any
life remained.

Footnote 18:

The guards did not scruple to tell us this; but we had stronger
proofs. A few days prior to our being hurried off to Mysore, three
covered doolies passed us, and we heard voices, saying, “Good by, my
lads,”—“God bless you,”—“We know not where we are to be taken,” &c.
These were the three gentlemen, Captain Rumney, Lieutenant Fraser, and
Lieutenant Sampson, who were now conveyed to Mysore to be butchered. A
note, indicating their apprehensions, was found in a wall of our
prison, and their fatal place of confinement, by one Morton, a soldier
of the Company’s service. It was written small, but plain, with ink
that they must have made themselves, for it was very blue, and was
signed by all three. This was the wretched fate of those brave
officers! which it is painful for me to record.

Footnote 19:

The Cayenne pod.

Footnote 20:

Those who are acquainted with the Hindoo customs, know that they keep
snakes, consecrated, in their pagodas; in fact, I have seen them often
in other places; they are harmless, at least I never heard to the
contrary; but the Hindoos must have made them so.

Footnote 21:

A kind of grain, resembling a split pea. It was positively asserted by
many, that he made use of no kind of food; but this is false, as he
would frequently ask for the above grain. He was in the same spot when
we left the place; and what seemed most strange to us, was, his not
moving to obey nature’s calls. What became of him I know not, but
should be highly gratified to learn.

Footnote 22:

Late in the evening, the order came to prepare for marching. I had
then one child, sixteen months old, by one of the most affectionate of
women; she was always suspicious I should leave her, if opportunity
offered. She was certainly right in her conjectures; and my answers
were uniformly evasive to her questions on that score. The battalion
was under arms, while I was in my hut, looking at her and the child
alternately. Her soul was in her eyes; and surely never a woman looked
at a man with more eagerness and anxiety. I fain would have taken her
with me, and the child, who was then smiling in my face. I was eager
to give them a final embrace; but fearful of the consequences. O my
God! what were my sensations then! and even now, after a lapse of more
than thirty years! I am still sure a thousand will never obliterate
that moment. In the midst of these mutual distractions, I was
repeatedly called by my Moorish name, Shum Shu Cawn, to come and fall
in. At last, I resolutely tore myself from her and the child without
speaking a single word, and I never saw them more. Farewell! thou most
affectionate creature! and may the God of mercy and peace preserve
thee and thy infant!——[His surviving friends have observed, that Mr.
Scurry, on his return to England, repeatedly sent letters to India, in
the hope of their reaching his wife; and, in two or three instances,
when he found persons of his acquaintance going to those districts in
which she probably resided, he has requested them to use every effort
to find her out, and bring her to this country. At the same time he
was not without his fears, from the early age at which women die in
India, that she was no more. Still he had always sanguine hopes of
finding the child, whom he left smiling in its mother’s arms; but in
this his expectations were never realized.]

Footnote 23:

William Drake, midshipman of the Hannibal; dead—William Whitway,
midshipman of the Fortitude, J. Pudman; living—John Wood, of the
Chaser Sloop of War; living—John Jourdan, of the Hannibal; unknown—
James Scurry, of the Hannibal; the author.

Footnote 24:

A bag with four pockets.

Footnote 25: