“To Hyder’s palace high and low came, inquiring of me the nature of the Christian doctrine, so that I could speak as long as my strength allowed. Hyder’s younger son (not Tippoo), seeing me in the Durbar or hall of audience, saluted me in a friendly manner and invited me to pay him a visit in his own apartments. I told him I would come most cheerfully, provided his father would give permission, since to do so, without his consent, might prove injurious both to himself and to me. Of this he was perfectly aware. Even the most intimate friends do not venture to speak their mind freely. Hyder has everywhere his spies, but I knew very well that on the subject of religion I might discourse day and night without fear of giving him the least offence. “When I was admitted to an audience Hyder bade me sit next to him on the floor, which was covered with the richest carpets, and I was not required to take off my shoes. He listened to all I had to say, expressed himself in a very frank and open manner, and told me that notwithstanding the Europeans had violated their public engagements, he was willing to live in peace with them. A letter was then read to me which had been prepared by his order. ‘In this letter,’ said he, ‘I have stated the substance of our conversation but you will be able to give further explanations personally.’ Hyder seemed by this expression to consider my visit as the preliminary to a treaty of peace, but the Nabob at Madras defeated all these intentions. While sitting near Hyder I was struck with the expeditious manner in which the public business was dispatched. When he had ceased conversing with me some letters were read to him and he dictated an immediate answer. The secretaries hastened away, wrote the letter, read it before him and he affixed his seal to it. In this way many letters were written in the course of the evening. Hyder himself can neither read nor write, but he has an excellent memory. Few have the courage to impose upon him. He orders one to write a letter and then has it read to him, after which he calls another and hears it read a second time, and if the secretary has not strictly conveyed his meaning, or has in the least deviated from his orders, his head pays for it.