Hyder Ali Cawn, and his son Tippoo Saib, have long been distinguished, and not less detested, throughout every part of the civilized world, for the cruelties which they practised on their prisoners of war, during their dominion in India. Of their unexampled barbarities, many accounts have been published in England; and the enormities which these narratives record would have staggered credulity itself, had not the few mutilated wretches who have escaped their tyranny, furnished evidence by their

Sails in the Hannibal—Visits St. Helena—Returns to England with the East India Fleet—Revisits St. Helena—Cruise off the Cape of Good Hope—Much alarmed—Take two Prizes—Ordered to India with Despatches—Violent Storm—Captured by the French—Treated with Inhumanity—Actions between the English and French Fleets—Attempts an Escape—Perilous Situation—Pursued—Retaken—Threatened with Death—Gagged—Kept in Irons—Landed at Cudalore—Given up to Hyder Ali. In the year 1780, when a boy about 14 years of age, be

Marched to Chillembroom—Famine in the Place—Punishment of some who attempted to escape—Imprisoned—Put in Irons—Provisions scanty and bad—Conducted to Bangalore—General Treatment—Starvation—Inhuman Conduct—Comic Accident—Prisoners divided into three Parties—Sorrow at Separation—Sent to Burrampour—Imprisoned and in Irons—Nearly starved—Sent again to Bangalore—Marched to Seringapatam—Heads shaved—Treacherous European—Compelled to submit to the Mohammedan Rite—Afflictive Situation—Ablution—Death of

Accession of Tippoo Saib—Compelled to learn Military Exercise—Without Food two Days—Cruel Treatment for complaining—Ears bored, and marked as Slaves—Peace concluded—Left unclaimed by the British—Fate of some English Officers—Defeat and Capture of Colonel Bailey. About this time, Tippoo Saib, who had succeeded his father, Hyder Ali, [5] sent an order to the killadare of Seringapatam to incorporate us in his four battalions of slaves—which was accordingly done; but we had no doubt it was so done t

Behaviour of Tippoo towards his Prisoners—Conduct, Defeat, Treatment, and Death of General Matthews—Fate of the Malabar Christians—Execution of English Prisoners—Exhibitions at Seringapatam—Offenders devoured by Wild Beasts—Modes of Punishment—Despotic Cruelty—Human Ears and Noses exhibited in the Public Market—Author and Companions compelled to take Wives—Mode of Procedure—Marriage Ceremony—Visits Hyder Ali’s Tomb—Situation described. In a narrative of the sufferings of the English who survived

Description of Seringapatam—Ferocious Games—Observations on Lions and Tigers—Sent to Mysore—Tyranny of Tippoo—War with the Nizam—Author put in Irons—Misery of his Condition—Fate of some Bramins—Author separated from some Companions in Misfortune—Marched to Chitteldroog—Disturbed by Snakes—Expedient to procure Money—Anecdote of a Fanatical Native—Visited by Apes—Singular Snake—Forlorn Condition. A brief description of Seringapatam and its environs may not be amiss here. This capital of Mysore, (t

War renewed with the English—Bangalore taken from Tippoo.—Author and Companions entertain some Hopes of Escaping—Seem zealous for Tippoo—Obtain Confidence—Trusted with Arms—Gain Military Employment—Storm a Fort—Meditate an Escape—Make an Effort—Compelled to Return—Take their Final Departure—Progress of their Journey—Accidents—Enter some Mahratta Forts—Alarm—Danger—Seasonable Relief—Reach a Hospital, under the Care of an English Doctor—Kindly received—Visit the Mahratta Camp—Hospitable Treatment—

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

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 f