better chances in remaining where I was, than in going to my native country, where birth, patronage, and the usages of good society, are necessary for a man's advancement, all which I wanted."
Mr. Loustaunau, left to his own exertions, recollected the rajah's offer; and on applying to him, received a commission in the Mahratta army. Eminently qualified by nature for military command, his advancement was rapid; and, after distinguishing himself in several actions, and showing likewise a very superior judgment in political affairs, he finally became general of Seindeah's troops, although I could not ascertain in how short a time. His reputation spread rapidly through the territory, and his noble conduct and intrepidity must have been very generally known, since, on one occasion, after having been severely wounded in his left hand, two fingers of which he had lost, the commander of the English forces sent a flag of truce and his own surgeon with an offer of his professional assistance, fearing that Mr. L. might not have a European surgeon to attend him. Seindeah, in his despatches to him, styled him a lion in battle, and a lynx in council. He consulted him in difficult negociations with the East India Company's servants; and, in acknowledgment of his services, he gave him a village as an appange to his rank. Mr. L. married the daughter of a French
