The  progress  of  the  army  was  slow ;  for  the  forage,  except  in
a  few  places,  had  been  destroyed,  and  the  draught  and  carriage
bullocks  died  by  hundreds.  The  Nizam's  force,  too,  had  joined
the  British  army,  and  it  presented  a  most  gorgeous  Eastern  dis-
play, far  more  imposing  than  any  Philip  had  yet  seen.  Men  of
all  nations  of  the  East,  and  tribes  of  India,  the  courtly  Persian,
the  reckless  Afghan,  the  wild  Beloche,  the  sturdy  Pathan,  the
more  slender  and  effeminate  Dukhanee,  the  chivabrous  Rajpoot
and  hardy  Mahrattas,  all  were  mingled  in  a  wild  confusion — ^
men  hardly  belonging  to  any  corps,  and  clustered  round  every
leader's  standard,  appareatly  as  fancy,  or  caprice,  or  hope  of
plunder  dictated.  The  force  was  utterly  inefficient,  however,
for  the  purposes  of  the  war,  for  the  leader  had  no  control
over  it,  nor  could  he  supply  it  with  food ;  and  his  fidelity  to  the
English  cause,  if  not  the  Nizam's  also,  was  questionable.
