After the accession of Tippoo Saib to the throne of Mysore in 1782, the English made overtures for a termination of the war which had been commenced by his father; but flushed by the possession of a large army, a well-filled treasury, a passion for war, and an inordinate sense of his own importance, Tippoo refused all terms of pacification, and left the English no alternative but to battle against him as they could. Lord Macartney, who was at that time the Governor of Madras, on becoming acquainted with the determination of Tippoo, resolved to prosecute hostilities with the greatest vigour, and having placed Col. Fullerton at the head of his force, he provided him with an army, collected from various parts, of 16,000 good troops, and afforded that excellent officer all available assistance in carrying the war into Tippoo's territory. Fullerton laid his plans with considerable skill; he encouraged the natives to bring and sell provisions to him on his march, effectually checked devastation and plundering, scrupulously respected the religious opinions of the Hindus, consolidated and improved the mode of march, and availed himself of the subtle cunning and nimble feet of the natives to establish a remarkably complete courier-system, whereby he could receive and communicate intelligence with a rapidity never before attained by any European officer in India. He had to choose between two systems of strategy--either to march through the Mysore territory, and frustrate Tippoo in his siege of Mangalore; or boldly to attack Seringapatam, in order to compel Tippoo to leave Mangalore as a means of defending his own capital. The colonel decided on the adoption of the latter course, as promising more fruitful results. Being at Daraporam, 200 miles south of Seringapatam, Fullerton resolved to divert the route, and take a circuit nearer the western coast, where the capture of the strong fort of Palagatcherry would afford him a valuable intermediate depot, commanding one of the chief roads from the Malabar to the Coromandel coasts. On the 18th of October he started. After capturing a few small forts, he ascended to high ground, where dense forests, deep ravines, and tortuous water courses embarrassed every yard of his progress: to fill up the ravines before he could drag his artillery over them, to throw trees across them where the depth was too great for filling up, to clear gaps through forests with the axe, to contend against tremendous rains--were only part of the difficulties he had to meet; but he met them like a skilful commander, reached Palagatcherry on the 5th of November, and captured the fort on the 15th, obtaining with it a welcome supply of money, grain, guns, powder, shot, and military stores. When the difficulties which Colonel Fullerton had to encounter, and the triumphant manner in which he overcame them, are taken into consideration, it will be readily admitted, we think, that his enterprise is well deserving of being recorded as a striking