drugs. Appàji his brother was slain, his most faithful servants were slain. Wherever he went some memorial of a dark deed of cruelty met him. His sleep was disturbed. The blood of thousands was upon

him.

Under the 24th May 1809 Mr. Cole reported to the chief Secretary of the Government of Fort St. George, that the Rajah of Coorg was again labouring under insanity, and showed a most sanguinary disposition; that the people of Mercara were in constant terror; that Dr. Clarke also entertained fears for his own personal safety, and that he himself would probably find it difficult to deal with him, as his ancient jealousy and hatred of Mysore and every person connected with that Government had been re-awakened. Dr. Ingledew, who possessed the confidence of Viraraja, was again sent to Mercara. In the mean time, Mr. Clarke was enjoined to prevent, as far as it lay in his power, any re-enactment of former scenes of sanguinary violence. It was proposed that Captain Mahoney, the former resident, should return, take charge, if necessary, of the administration of affairs, and settle the question of the succession in case of the decease of the Rajah. Mr. Cole himself offered to proceed in person to Mercara. When Dr. Ingledew arrived, the end of Viraraja was at hand. It does not appear from the records, that Dr. Ingledew had an interview, or, if he had, that he was recognized by the dying Rajah. During his last days he seems to have been more favorably inclined, than formerly, towards the Sóde Rajah, who was appointed to transact business for him, and whom he desired, it was said, to act as Devan during the minority of Devammaji. On the 9th June 1809 the unhappy Prince called his beloved daughter to his bed side, gave his seal into her hands, and shortly afterwards breathed his last. A sad spectacle! A noble vessel, after having

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gallantly weathered the storms of Musulman domination and conquest, is torn from its moorings by the swell of wild grief and passion, and drifts into the breakers of sanguinary phrensy and suicidal despair, to perish there a miserable wreck, with many to look on, but none to help!

And how awfully has the righteous Ruler of the whole earth executed judgement upon the guilty prince and the objects of his love and hope! The forlorn Rajah lived ages of anguish from the day of the death of his beloved wife, 17th May 1807, to the date of his own decease, 9th June 1809. His idolized daughter was married and had four children, two sons and two daughters. She was deprived of the throne and of her father's legacy, and lived in obsecurity. Before the end of 1833 her husband was murdered in the Palace, she herself carried a prisoner to Mercara, her property seized by her cousin, the Exrajah, (one lac of pagodas at one sweep,) and shortly after she herself was murdered at Mercara, and her three children (one boy appears to have died a natural death), at Nalkanadu, by orders of her relative, and their corpses thrown into pits.

But we must return to our melancholy story, to record the doings of Lingaraja, the younger brother of Virarajendra, after the decease of his elder brother. He was a very incarnation of the worst elements of the Coorg Spirit. Greediness after gold, no matter how obtained, a bottomless depth of cunning, the most brazen hypocrisy, cowardice as abject as cruel, and a strong dose of sensuality were united in his character.

Dr. Ingledew, on the sudden death of Viraraja, had to fulfil the duties of a British Agent quite ex-improviso. He acted, it is true, with considerable tact and prudence and with perfect honesty; but he was not equal to the deep play of the Coorg parties, and was not sharp

sighted enough to discern the principal mover in the scenes acted before him. Thus he failed in the task devolved upon him by a most unforeseen combination of circumstances and persons, upon a ground he had scarcely explored. He ought to have carried out the wishes of the late Rajah, as far as they had received the approbation and sanction of the British Government. But it happened otherwise.

When Virarajendra died, there seemed to be a good prospect of peace and prosperity for Coorg. A short time before his decease, Viraraja permitted the Sóde Rajah to act for him as principal Devan, and expressed a desire, that his son-in-law should have the regency of Coorg, during the minortiy of Dévammáji, in conjunction with an Agent of the East India Company to be appointed by the Governor General. He had once given to Dr. Ingledew a testamentary document, expressive of these wishes, but had afterwards recalled and never returned it. As soon as the Rajah had expired, his daughter Devammaji was acknowledged, as Rani of Coorg, by the assembled chiefs. The Sode Rajah continued to perform the duties of principal Devan, or rather of Regent, and all people seemed to be happy and contented. Dr. Ingledew wrote to Mr. Cole, the Mysore resident; "owing to the many acts of cruelty, committed by the late Rajah, the Coorg people would be satisfied with any tolerable Government, but more particularly with one like the present promises to be, where the life of the subject is more secure and more regarded, than it has been for the last two years or, I believe, at almost any period of the late reign." Some of the Eunuchs gave themselves airs, and commenced to intrigue with different parties. But upon the complaint of Umbala Nayaka; one of the Devans, who threatened to resign, unless these men were removed; they were ordered to retire to their villages, and placed

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under surveillance. The first serious disturbance was occasioned by a rumour, that the Sode Rajah had forged the last will of the Rajah. Dr. Ingledew inquired into the charge, and found, that the copy of the will, produced by the Sode Rajah, had a signature not attached to it by Viraraja himself, but by a farrier, who had been in his favor. However, the alterations in the will itself were of no great consequence, and were in perfect harmony with Virarajendra's wishes shortly before his death. Yet, to quiet the minds of the Coorg chiefs the spurious, though honest, document was cancelled. The Sode Rajah retained his position. But soon affairs begun to take a new turn.

Lingaraja, then 34 years old, appears to have had many interviews with Dr. Ingledew, and impressed him with a strong conviction of his honesty, simplicity and humility. Lingaraja confessed, indeed, that he was somewhat disappointed at being entirely superseded. But his elder brother, he said, having recovered the country by force of arms, had a perfect right to dispose of the succession. He had therefore no cause, nor any inclination to complain. He would ever cheerfully submit to whatever arrangements were sanctioned by the Governor General. Dr. Ingledew was quite charmed with the man, and recommended him strongly to the favor of Government, as he had well deserved of the country. He had asked for an increase of his pension, which now consisted of two hundred Kanteraya pagodas for himself and six hundred pagodas a year for the family of his brother Appaji, who had been murdered eight months ago, and the Doctor zealously pleaded for the good, peaceable man. This recommendation is dated 4 July 1809. The peaceable Lingaraja, however, was not quite as unworldly minded as he appeared to the honest Doctor. He was much at the palace, and was busy among the principal Coorgs.

They certainly did not much approve of the rule of a foreigner, like the Sode Rajah, but they seem to have had no particular predilection for the late Rajah's brother. One day there had been a large gathering of the chiefs, of which Dr. Ingledew knew nothing, at the palace. It was proposed to displace the Sode Rajah by Lingaraja, but the proposition was thrown out. Lingaraja mounted his horse and rode away, in the direction of Haleri, his own residence. As he rode through the market street of Mercara, in deep despondency and actually weeping like a child, Kshauryakere Ap panna, one of the Devans, met him, on his way to the palace. "Why do you cry, Lingaraja?" he inquired. "I have been rejected by the Coorg Panchayat. All is lost," was the reply. "Come with me, Lingaraja," said Appanna. "I will set you on the throne of Coorg." With these words he seized the bridle of Lingaraja's poney, and set off with him to the Fort. He pleaded there for his helpless client before the assembled chiefs. Being a man of known integrity and considerable influence, he prevailed. The Coorgs changed their minds and Lingaraja was preferred to the Rajah of Sode.

Dr. Ingledew knew nothing of all these things, and was therefore not a little astonished, when on the 9th July, five weeks after the death of Virarajendra, during which period his reports had been full of Lingaraja's praises, the little Ráni sent for him, and told him, that she had reason to be dissatisfied with the conduct of the Rajah of Sóde, and wished to have Lingaraja, her uncle, for her guardian. Immediately afterwards, the Sóde Rajah came to him and asked his leave to return to his own country, as he had convinced himself, that he had to deal with a formidable opposition, and considered it prudent to withdraw from a situation of imminent danger. Dr. Ingledew objected strongly to so hasty a step. He was waiting for orders from Govern