"It was not till seven or eight days after I had set out with this fine troop that I learned there had been a battle at Plassey between the English and the Nawab, in which the latter had been defeated and forced to flee, and that Jafar Ali Khan, his maternal uncle,[132] had been enthroned in his place. This report, though likely enough as far as I could judge, did not come from a source so trustworthy that I could rely on it with entire faith. Accordingly I did not yet abandon the route which I had proposed to myself; in fact, I followed it for some days more, and almost as far as the mouth of the Patna River.[133] There I learned, beyond possibility of doubt, that Siraj-ud-daula had been captured, conducted to Murshidabad, and there massacred; that he had just missed being rejoined by M. Law, who was coming to meet him, and could easily have done so if he had followed the instructions given him and had been willing to march only three hours longer; and that the English had sent a body of troops towards Patna to capture or destroy M. Law if possible." We have seen in a previous chapter the real reasons why Law was unable to rejoin Siraj-ud-daula in time for the battle. "I now saw that a junction with him had become impossible, unless I determined to run the most evident risk of losing my liberty and all I had." It appears that Courtin had the Company's effects, as well as his own private property and that of his companions, on board his little fleet. "This made me change my route immediately. The mountains of Tibet[134] appeared to me a safe and eminently suitable asylum until the arrival in the Ganges of the forces which we flattered ourselves were coming. I therefore directed my route in this direction, but found myself suddenly and unexpectedly so close to Murshidabad that for two days together we heard the sound of the guns fired in honour of the revolution which had taken place. It is easy to judge into what alarm this unexpected and disagreeable proximity threw me. However, we arrived safely, on the 10th of July, at the capital of the Raja of Dinajpur, who wished to oppose our passage." This was the Raja Ram Nath, whom Orme describes as "a Raja, who with much timidity, was a good man." "We made it in spite of him, threatening to attack him if he showed any further intention of opposing us. I do not know what would have happened if he had had a little firmness, for we learned afterwards that he had always in his service a body of 5000 infantry and cavalry. The persons whom he sent to us had at first suggested that I should pretend I was English, assuring me that by that means all difficulties would be removed; but I thought this trick too much beneath a man of honour for me to make use of it, and, in fact, I objected to pass for anything but what I really was.