Lives of the Lindsays, or, A memoir of the House of Crawford and Balcarres > Volume 4

BATTLE OF CONJEVERAM, ETC. 123
Hyder was upon the point of entering the country, and
Colonel Lang, who commanded Vellore, a garrison on the
frontiers of his country, received the most certain intel-
ligence that he had actually marched with his army from
his capital. This officer transmitted his information to
Madras, (') but the governor and council treated it in
the lightest manner, and informed him that " he saw
danger at too great a distance."
In the month of May, Hyder marched from Seringa-
patam to Colore, giving out that he was only gone to per-
form certain ceremonies at his father's tomb, who was
buried there, but, in reality, the place was more conve-
nient for collecting his numerous army. In June, find-
ing all his preparations completed, he reviewed his
troops, and found that they consisted of 45,000 cavalry,
30 battalions of sepoys, 70 pieces of cannon, with an
immense quantity of military stores of every kind, to-
gether with about 50,000 colleries and polygars. The
French had, some time before this, sent him 300 Euro-
peans ; and Lally (a famous partisan, who had a body
of troops of his own, consisting of 400 Europeans and
some good sepoys, in his own pay,) entered into his
service, and, it is supposed, was his principal adviser in
prevailing [on] him to [invade] the Carnatic at this
time ( 2 ).
He now moved towards the pass of Changama, and
encamped upon his side of it, and sent 10,000 polygars
to clear away the pass and make a road sufficient to en-
able his artillery and stores to pass through. In the be-