A History of Assam c14.25

c14.25

He wrote to the Governor-General informing him of his decision, and on the 16th November started up the river towards Gauhāti.† Three days later, as the heavy boats conveying the detachment were labouring up the stream, about three miles below the Nāgarberā hill, a few canoes appeared in the distance. As they approached the fleet, they were hailed, and were found to contain Gaurināth and a few attendants, who had escaped with him from Gauhāti at two o'clock on the previous morning. The immediate cause of his flight was not the advance of Krishna Nārāyan, but a raid by a mob of Doms, or fishermen, from Pākariguri, who had banded themselves together under a Bairāgi† and, descending the Brahmaputra, had set fire to some houses near the king's residence. The Raja and his advisers had by this time become so demoralized that even this contemptible foe sufficed to inspire them with frantic terror, and they fled hastily without making the slightest effort at resistance.