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THE PATNA CRISIS: 
 
 OE 
 
 C|m ^oiitl^ at Ipatna, 
 
 DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1857. 
 
 Bt w. taylee, 
 
 LATE COMMISSIONER OF PATNA. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JLlim NISBET & CO., 21, EEENEES STEEET. 
 1858. 
 
.«>* ^f^^tin t 
 
 
 LONDON : 
 •VVARRKN HALL AND CO., STEAM PRINTERS, CAMDEN ROAD. 
 
 
tUcKthn. 
 
 To all those my countrymen, and fellow 
 Christians in the Province of Behar, who, living 
 at Patna, or in its neighbourhood, were more 
 or less personally cognizant of the events here 
 briefly narrated ; and specially, to all those who, 
 living on the spot, and being eye-witnesses of 
 all that occurred, so cheerfully supported me 
 throughout the days of peril, and have since so 
 kindly cheered me in the hour of affiction ; to 
 each and all I affectionately dedicate this little 
 narrative, as a trifling memento of the eventful 
 days, through which, by the great goodness of an 
 over-ruling Power, we have all been mercifully 
 preserved. 
 
 W. Tayler. 
 
 Calcutta. 
 
 513011 
 
XtiKtt. 
 
 The following pages contain a brief, and un- 
 adorned account of the events wMch. occurred at 
 Patna between the 20th of May and the 11th of 
 August. 
 
 The account is taken from a daily journal kept 
 at the time, and the facts may thus be relied on. 
 
 The restrictions of official etiquette have pre- 
 vented me from entering on many matters which 
 would have added piquancy and interest to the 
 narrative, but which it would be neither wise 
 nor decorous for a public officer to discuss in a 
 published work. 
 
 Such as it is, I give it to the world, believing 
 that it will not be devoid of interest to many, 
 and may afford an useful foundation for future 
 and more enlarged narratives. 
 
 W. T. 
 
MR. TAYLER AND THE LIETJTEN"ANT GOVERNOR 
 OE BENGAL * 
 
 The names of Mr. William Tayler, Mr. Samuells, 
 Ameer Ally, and Mr. Halliday, have become household 
 words in Patna politics. They suffused society at one 
 time in Calcutta, and almost monopolized the news- 
 papers. Letters from all parts of Bengal teemed with 
 discussions upon various points of the case. Mr. Tayler 
 was for a time the most conspicuous person in the pub- 
 lic eye. The position is a trying one, and nothing 
 could have saved his case from developing into a bore, 
 but the singular popularity that he enjoyed, and the 
 singular want of that advantage on the part of those 
 opposed to him. 
 
 But though the newspapers were full of Mr. Tayler, 
 we have never seen in one of them a fair analysis of 
 his case. The writers usually confined their remarks 
 to the particular points as they arose. The vigorous 
 and energetic measures of the Commissioner of Patna 
 received unbounded applause. The mission of Mr. 
 Samuells was properly appreciated and generally con- 
 
 * Reprinted from the " Mofussilite." 
 
VUl 
 
 demned ; and the appointment of Ameer Ally was so 
 steadily resented that the Mohamedan gentleman found 
 it necessary to avail himself of change of air. Still we 
 have never yet seen justice done to the case in the pub- 
 lic journals ; and indeed the facts concerning it are so 
 many and various that we ourselves, though we see the 
 want,, can scarcely pretend to supply it. However, the 
 subject is one of such importance, both to the members 
 of the Civil Service and the public generally, that it 
 should not be lightly dismissed for want of a little 
 labour to bestow upon it. For ourselves, although we 
 may be prevented by considerations of space from 
 entering so fully into the matter as we could wish, we 
 must claim to be considered some authority with regard 
 to it, since we have read the great blue book published 
 by Mr. Halliday, all Mr. Taylor's privately circulated 
 pamphlets (for a sight of which we are indebted to a 
 confiding friend) and have besides had opportunities of 
 conversing with many persons intimately acquainted 
 with the facts of the case. 
 
 Our readers are of course aware of the main features 
 of the case that have been made public. At any rate 
 they know that Mr. Tayler was Commissioner of Patna, 
 and that he was suddenly deprived of his appointment, 
 deprived of all employment for seven months, and then 
 placed in a post of a lower grade. Such a proceeding 
 is one which would naturally cause considerable sur- 
 prise, occuring as it did at a most critical tim^ * "^'^ 
 speculation could not fail to fix some grave faults upon' 
 
an officer whom it was found necessary to remove in so 
 summary and unceremonious a manner. That lie had 
 been guilty of gross neglect — that he had been corrupt 
 or incompetent — that he had lost the confidence of the 
 public — that his measures had been impolitic — that he 
 had failed in fact in the duties demanded of him ; — 
 some of these conclusions would be the natural • con- 
 sequence of the proceeding in question. Public officers 
 of twenty- eight years service are not turned out of 
 their posts without some good cause, and a good cause 
 could scarcely be found without the perpetration of 
 some bad crime. 
 
 How far are these conclusions warranted by facts ? 
 A perusal of the documents connected with this case 
 shows that so far from having been guilty of any neg- 
 lect or misconduct, so far from the administration of 
 the Province suffering in his hands, Mr. Tayler had 
 displayed the greatest zeal and the greatest sagacity ; 
 and that if one thing was more remarkable than 
 another, it was the signal and complete success of the 
 measures which he adopted, as shown in the safety of 
 the scene of his labours in the midst of the disasters 
 raging around. There are some public servants, we 
 believe, who look upon such a contingency as a mutiny 
 or a rebellion as "an extra " which is not considered in 
 their salaries, and upon this principle they justify the 
 practice of any vagaries and the departure from all the 
 Tisual considerations of duty, in troublous times. But 
 Mr. I'ayler was not one of these. He belongs to a class 
 
of men whose conduct is very frequently not estimated 
 at its true yalue. Under ordinary circumstances such 
 men are content to do their work without bustle or os- 
 tentation, to do nothing when there is nothing to do, 
 and who come out upon great emergencies, masters of 
 the situation, and evince a vigour and energy which 
 superficial persons regard with surprise. 
 
 Mr. Tayler was certainly master of the situation in 
 which he was placed at Patna ; and one of the greatest 
 signs of the success which he commanded was the con- 
 fidence which he inspired — among all by whom he was 
 surrounded, or who were in a position to form any 
 opinion of his policy and proceedings. One of the 
 pamphlets which have been shown us relating to this 
 case, is entirely filled with letters bearing testimony, 
 not only to the confidence of the writers in Mr. Taylor's 
 measures, but to their enthusiastic respect for and 
 admiration of the abilities he displayed, to which they 
 unequivocally attribute the safety of the district. It 
 may be said that testimonials as a general rule are 
 worthless, and the intelligent reader has probably 
 already made that observation. Yery true. They are 
 worthless as a general rule. But this is a particular 
 exception, so the intelligent reader must sit corrected if 
 he has been betrayed into the remark. These testimo- 
 nials are valuable, because they come from so many 
 difierent classes of persons, who could have had no 
 previous agreement upon the point, no united tendency 
 towards the laudation of Mr. Tayler, and who we're 
 
influenced only by facts that no unprejudiced person 
 could controvert. 
 
 Had these testimonials come from the non-oflB.cial 
 classes only, the generous inference would have been 
 obvious. The non-official class were opposed to the 
 Government, therefore they supported Mr. Tayler. 
 Supposing that none but Civil Servants had been found 
 to pen those pleasant missives, the support would be 
 attributed to class interests, and a sneering allusion to 
 " these fellows sticking to one another " would probably 
 be the entire moral effect of their demonstration. Had 
 the Clergymen and the Missionaries alone taken part in 
 the movement, the cry would have been that it was a 
 party one, and " Tayler and Religious Bigotry " would 
 have been synonymous terms. And so on to the end of 
 the chapter. But so far from the demonstration being 
 open to any objection of the kind, it is quite catholic in 
 character, and indeed we never heard of so many per- 
 sons of different positions, pursuits, and principles, 
 agreeing together with such unanimity upon any one 
 point. 
 
 The correspondence is very extensive, and it would 
 be impossible in our limits to note the substance of a 
 twentieth part of it. But two or three illustrations will 
 show its varied nature. 
 
 Mr. Yule, the Commissioner of Bhaugulpore, declares 
 his opinion that " if the whole country from Patna to 
 Malda is preserved from rising, it is due to Mr. Tayler 
 and to him alone." 
 
xu 
 
 Tlie Homan Catholic Bishop, writing in his own 
 name and that of all his congregation, declares that to 
 Mr. Tayler, and to him alone, '(under Providence) they 
 attributed the safety of their lives and property, and 
 that therefore he would live for ever in their hearts ! 
 
 The Protestant Missionary, who has resided for a 
 quarter of a century at Patna, and is known to be inti- 
 mately acquainted with the natives, expresses iden- 
 tically the same sentiments, adding that he thanks God 
 he does not serve such a master as the Lieut. Governor 
 of Bengal. 
 
 Civilians, Military men. Chaplains, Missionaries, 
 Merchants, Indigo Planters — all these classes give their 
 written testimony, and express their belief that the pre- 
 servation of Patna and Behar belongs to Mr. Tayler, 
 declaring, in most unqualified terms their concurrence 
 with his past and their confidence in his future conduct. 
 
 It would surely be expected that one who had shown 
 himself, upon evidence so unequivocal, to be so able an 
 Administrator — who had preserved a province at a time 
 of the greatest danger, by the exercise of a rare union 
 of vigour and judgment, of calmness and determination 
 — would be rewarded with honour and distinction, if 
 not with more substantial benefits. It has not been 
 apparent that such qualities as firmness and decision 
 have been so common among the rulers of Bengal, 
 during the crisis, as to have brought those virtues down 
 in the market — to reduce them to the condition of merp 
 drugs, with which the public service is too plentilully 
 
XIU 
 
 supplied. Nor is the saving of a province a matter of 
 course, a mere piece of routine business, which a Civilian 
 can knock off in the course of the morning by dictation 
 to his baboo, and a few discriminating clerical correc- 
 tions. It must be a very distant and facetious province, 
 certainly not in India, that would consent to be saved 
 in such a manner. But granting that saving a province 
 counts among the ordinary accomplishments of a Ci- 
 vilian, and does not call for special reward, the least 
 that the person performing the operation has a right to 
 expect, is that he will be allowed to do his work in 
 peace and quietness. But Mr. Tayler has not even had 
 this advantage afforded him. He was harassed and 
 bullied and thwarted throughout the performance of his 
 deKcate duties, and as a reward for the success of his 
 exertions, he has been turned out of his appointment, 
 kept without any appointment for seven months, and is 
 now degraded from his proper position in the service. 
 
 And what is the crime of which he stands accused ? 
 It must surely be of a strange and unusual character to 
 be compatible with so much wise judgment and vigorous 
 action ? His crime is, that at a time when Behar was 
 trembling in the balance between loyalty and rebellion, 
 between order and anarchy, he directed, or suggested, 
 the withdrawal of the Civil Officers and Christian resi- 
 dents from several out-stations, and the concentration 
 at Patna of the scattered forces. 
 
 We have carefully considered the causes which might 
 justify or condemn this measure, and our deliberate 
 
XIV 
 
 opinion is that it was tlie wisest and best measure that 
 could have been taken under the peculiar circumstances 
 of the case. 
 
 In order to form a fair estimate of the policy, we 
 must consider what those circumstances were at the 
 time of its adoption, and not view it by the light of 
 subsequent events, which the most sanguine could not 
 have anticipated, and which prudence and sagacity 
 could not have counted on. This is not merely our 
 own opinion, but we know it to be the opinion of aU 
 upon the spot, and of all elsewhere who are competent 
 to form a judgment upon the matter. It so happened 
 that the order was rendered unnecessary by an event 
 which was little short of a miracle. We refer to Major 
 Eyre's marvellous victory, which excited at the time 
 even as much surprise as satisfaction. There can be no 
 doubt that but for that happy event — ^had Major Eyre 
 been defeated — Mr. Tayler must have gained the 
 highest commendation for his energy and foresight. 
 For without this precautionary measure. Major Eyre's 
 failure could have had but one effect. Behar must 
 have gone, and all Bengal for a time — who shall 
 say how long ? — been lost to our rule. Kooer Singh's 
 forces would have effected a junction with the 5th 
 Cavalry, the 32nd N. I., the Eamghurh Battalion, and 
 probably the 68th I^. I., at Ghazeepore. They would 
 have over-run the whole country, and if the contagion 
 of activity had not extended to BarraokDore, the 
 omission might be recorded as one of the most extra- 
 ordinary events in history. 
 
XV 
 
 Supposing that matters had gone wrong, as they 
 might so easily have done, and Mr. Tayler had not 
 given the order in question, we should like to know 
 what would have been the opinion expressed of that 
 gentleman's conduct. All the abusive language which 
 Mr. Halliday has {mde published and official documents) 
 directed against Mr. Tayler for doing his duty, would 
 be nothing to the torrent of Billingsgate which might 
 have been expected under such circumstances. The 
 evil would have been the greater of the two, for Mr. 
 Tayler and for the country. What then is a man to 
 do when he is placed in a position which brings upon 
 him condemnation whichever way he turns, and how 
 hard it is that the conscientious performance of his 
 duty should subject him to obloquy and degradation. 
 
 Mr. Tayler is blamed for a measure which has 
 been condemned as too cautious. But will anybody 
 venture to say that this gentleman's previous proceed- 
 ings were marked by any error of this kind ? When 
 boldness was the true policy he was bold, and freely 
 perilled his own life. When he found it necessary to 
 be cautious, his caution was exercised in consideration 
 for the lives of others — his own courage was equally 
 conspicuous. 
 
 But even if the order was ill-judged, which one will 
 suppose for the sake of argument it was — is it con- 
 sistent with justice that a single error should be allowed 
 to counter-balance so many services ? Is no consider- 
 ation to be allowed for human imperfection, which even 
 
XVI 
 
 Bengal Civilians share with the rest of us. If the 
 principle is to be enforced that a public servant must 
 never make a mistake, where are our public servants 
 to come from ? Who among the number ought not to 
 be turned out of his post long ago ? Who is safe in 
 his post at the present time ? Where would Mr. Halli- 
 day be now, had he been judged by the same standard 
 by which Mr. Tayler has been condemned? Where 
 would Lord Canning himself be, had he been tested 
 in a similar manner? As the Friend of India well 
 observed ; — the question in fact is not whether that 
 particular order was right or wrong, but whether Mr. 
 Tayler, after such eminent services, ought, for one 
 error of judgment, to have been turned out of his 
 appointment. 
 
 We have now referred to the main features of Mr. 
 Tayler's case, as officially stated, and stripped of all 
 extraneous matter. Our readers have seen the nature 
 of his reward. But if anything could be more vexatious 
 than the wrong endured in the first instance, it was 
 the persevering opposition which he encountered in his 
 efforts to set himself right. We can scarcely venture 
 to record our opinion of the judgment passed upon his 
 appeal, and can only trust that the highest authority 
 was misled in the matter. But the state of suspense 
 in which he was kept for four months we cannot but 
 consider as cruel, and his suspension from employment 
 for seven months was a punishment which, involvinr* 
 as it did a loss of upwards of twenty-four inousand 
 
XYll 
 
 rupees, was one whicli can be best appreciated by the few 
 who have ever experienced a similar penalty. And, as 
 if the suspense in which Mr. Tayler had been kept was 
 not enough, the answer of the Government of India 
 was not communicated to him for five weeks after it 
 had been transmitted to the Government of Bengal; 
 and the condemnatory letter was then published in the 
 newspapers, notwithstanding that it contained an im- 
 portant error upon which a censure was founded, and 
 which error had been previously pointed out. Added to 
 the pecuniary and other hardships which Mr. Tayler had 
 already endured, was the fact that when at last appointed 
 to a post of inferior grade, a station was selected at 
 the farthest extremity of Bengal, six hundred miles 
 from Patna, his embarrasments being thus augmented 
 by heavy travelling expenses necessary for his family, 
 who had remained at Patna pending the decision of the 
 case. We will not now do more than allude to the new 
 and ex-post- facto charges raked up against him ; of the 
 secret reports to his prejudice, from both native and 
 European sources, which were received and encouraged ; 
 of the pitiful back-biting which was at work to injure 
 his reputation. The marvel is, not that the calumni- 
 ators should have exercised their congenial vocation, 
 but that their calumnies should have met with success, 
 instead of exposing their authors to the usual penalties 
 entailed by conduct unworthy the character of a 
 gentleman. 
 
 We believe we may safely state that all these new 
 
 B 
 
XVIU 
 
 charges, of which Mr. Tayler was kept in entire ignor- 
 ance for months past, have been triumphantly refuted 
 by him in the memorial which he has sent or is send- 
 ing home upon his case. The document, we hear, con- 
 tains revelations which are calculated to cause no little 
 astonishment, and under the favorable circumstances 
 of the new regime, there is no longer any room to 
 doubt that justice will be done. 
 
THE PATNA CEISIS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Patna is an ancient city, possessing all the defects, 
 and very few of the charms of antiquity. Its houses, 
 are generally mean, and slovenly, its streets narrow, 
 irregular and choked with dirt ; an Imambarah and 
 one or two rather handsome mosques, are the only 
 native buildings of importance, and the place is cele- 
 brated for nothing so much as for the brutal massacre 
 of 200 Europeans by Meer Kasim, in 1763. 
 
 In commemoration of those who suffered by this foul 
 deed, there is, in the city, a tomb, worthy memento of a 
 race, which, now, after a century of professed allegiance, 
 has striven to emulate the fame of this treacherous and 
 blood-thirsty ruler. 
 
 The city, including the suburbs, is about six miles in 
 length, and skirts the Ganges. The breadth, in no 
 place, exceeds half a mile. 
 
 The houses of the principal English residents, are 
 all at the west-end, called " Bankipore," where there 
 
20 
 
 is also the " Gola/' a wondrous bell-shaped building, 
 one hundred feet high, with a winding outer stair -case 
 leading to the top, and a small entrance- door at the 
 base. 
 
 This monstrous mass of brick- work, was intended for 
 a granary, to be filled when there was the expectation 
 of famine, but the plan was found to be, both politically 
 and materially, impracticable. 
 
 The schools objected to the proposed interference with 
 the natural course of events, believing it best to let those 
 starve who must, and the chemists pronounced that so 
 vast a mass of farinaceous substance would inevitably 
 ferment. 
 
 So the building has ever since remained empty, and 
 now goes by the name of " Garstin's Folly," from the 
 old gentleman who projected it, a warning to all other 
 such speculators, to study political economy, and the 
 " chemistry of common life " before they put their de- 
 signs into execution. 
 
 With a view to the better understanding of parts of 
 the following narrative, I may as well mention, that 
 the greater part of the English residences are on the 
 banks of the river, many of them being on the northern 
 side of an open square, which forms the parade ground, 
 and race-course. My own house is somewhat separated 
 from the rest, and lies at the south-west corner of the 
 square, enclosed in spacious grounds, and about a quarter 
 of a mile from the jail. 
 
 At a distance of about four miles east of Bankipore, 
 
21 
 
 in the heart of the city, is the Opium Godown, a large 
 building enclosed within high and strong walls, where 
 all the opium of the district is stored and manufactured 
 for transmission to Calcutta. 
 
 The population of Patna is estimated at about 400,000 
 souls — of whom about one-fourth are Mahomedans. 
 
 For some years past, this city has been considered a 
 very sink of disaffection and intrigue. 
 
 In 1846, a dangerous plot was detected, in which 
 many of the Mahomedans of Patna, and the neighbour- 
 ing districts, were concerned, and in which attempts had 
 been made to tamper with the Sepoys. There are many 
 Mahomedan families which were formerly distinguished 
 for station and opulence, now reduced to poverty ; 
 some in a state of distress that is painful to witness, 
 and yet impossible to alleviate, as pride prevents the 
 members of the aristocracy from accepting private 
 charity, or working for their own support. 
 
 That the conspiracy of 1846, was but a branch of a 
 more general plot, is the opinion of many who are well 
 acquainted with the country, and that the object of that 
 conspiracy was the destruction of the English, the over- 
 throw of the British Government, and the re-establish- 
 ment of a Mahomedan dynasty, is, I imagine, beyond 
 all doubt. 
 
 From the time this plot was detected, Behar has 
 been the " Bete noire '' of Indian statesmen ; every suc- 
 cessive Mohurrum has been the signal for alarm among 
 the Christian residents of Patna, and, when the late dis- 
 
22 
 
 turbances first commenced, I believe there was no one 
 in the province, whose apprehensions were not princi- 
 pally directed to this city, as the centre and focus of 
 disloyalty. 
 
 More than two years before the first appearance of an 
 insurrectionary spirit, I had, myself, publicly reported 
 to Government, that the minds of the Behar people, 
 and especially of the Mahomedans, were greatly dis- 
 turbed, in consequence of reports that had been circu- 
 lated of an intention on the part of Government to 
 interfere with their religious observances, and social 
 customs ; I pointed out the dangerous efiects of certain 
 measures in progress and contemplation, the miscon- 
 ception which had arisen from the late orders, regarding 
 the messing and drinking- vessels of the prisoners, 
 the sudden establishment of an expensive educational 
 machinery, and other matters of the kind, of which the 
 object was either unintelligible, or misunderstood by a 
 people, who are profoundly ignorant, and profoundly 
 sensitive, on all points connected with their faith, cus- 
 toms and caste. 
 
 This representation, the only notice, I believe, that has 
 ever been given to the Government of the popular 
 discontent, was found, on enquiry, to be correct, and was 
 followed by a proclamation from the Lieut. Governor, 
 explaining the matters which had been misunderstood, 
 and re-assuring the people, on the points on which their 
 fears had been excited. 
 
 It will be seen hereafter, when I touch upon tne 
 
23 
 
 correspondence found in the house of the Patna traitors, 
 how accurate was the information I had obtained, and 
 that the very subjects mentioned by me, as those which 
 had caused irritation and alarm, are also specially re- 
 ferred to by the correspondent of the chief rebel of the 
 city, Peer Ali Khan. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 For the benefit of English readers, it may be as weU, 
 before I commence the narrative of events, to give some 
 idea of the duties and responsibilities of a Commissioner 
 under the Indian Government, as the word itself is apt 
 to suggest ideas very different from the reality. 
 
 A Commissioner of Revenue and Circuit exercises su- 
 preme control over several districts, subject in matters of 
 revenue administration to the Sudder Board of Revenue, 
 and in general matters to the Local Government. 
 
 The districts comprising the division of the Patna 
 Commissionership, are six in number, viz. : 
 
 Patna, Capital, Patna. 
 
 Behar, „ Gya. 
 
 Sarun, „ Chuprah. 
 
 Shahabad, „ Arrah. 
 
 Tirhoot, „ Mozufferpore. 
 
 Chumparun, „ Moteeharee. 
 
24 
 
 These districts contain about 24,000 square miles, and 
 comprise a population of upwards of five millions. 
 
 The extreme length, north and south, is about 224 
 miles. The breadth 154 miles. 
 
 All the Civil Functionaries, excepting only those of 
 the Judicial department, are under the orders and 
 superintendence of the Commissioner, who is also super- 
 intendent of Police, and is held generally answerable 
 for everything that occurs. His office has been not 
 unfrequently compared to that of a Proconsul under 
 the Roman Empire. 
 
 In cases of emergency, like those which have lately 
 passed over us, the Commissioner's authority, appears, 
 by general consent, to have been considered paramount, 
 extending even to the Judges of the several districts. 
 
 Thus, during the late appalling events, I had the 
 responsibility of providing for the safety of all public 
 property, the protection of the several districts, and the 
 preservation of every christian life in the province. In 
 every crisis, in each emergency as it arose, all looked to 
 me for instruction and counsel, any symptoms of cause- 
 less panic exhibited by me, would, under such circum- 
 stances, communicate itself to the entire province ; any 
 serious mismanagement might raise a district, or involve 
 the inhabitants in destruction. 
 
 Well might frail mortal ask, " Who is equal to these 
 things?" and deeply, I may truly say, did I feel the 
 solemn obligation which rested upon me. 
 
 Unfortunately for me, there were other causes, wJucn 
 
25 
 
 rendered my responsibility still more oppressive, than it 
 otherwise would have been, and immeasurably enhanced 
 the difficulties of my position; throughout the entire 
 period which this narrative embraces, I have had to 
 contend, not only with the dangers of a treacherous and 
 disaffected city, turbulent districts, and a disorganised 
 province, but with the covert antagonism of unmanly 
 opponents, the secret machinations of an envious clique, 
 and the undisguised disfavor of the Government, whose 
 support and countenance was, at such a time, almost 
 indispensable to success. 
 
 I have already disclosed the painful circumstances of 
 this embarrassing opposition, in a narrative printed for 
 private circulation among my friends, and as this little 
 history is intended for the world, I will not intrude 
 upon the public, what official propriety renders it more 
 decorous to suppress, and general readers would not care 
 to know. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The report of the mutinous spirit exhibited at Bar- 
 rackpore and Berhampore, and the account of the terri- 
 ble mutinies at Meerut and Delhi, had been received at 
 Patna with the feelings of anxiety and horror which 
 such unexpected and startling events must every where 
 have excited, and I had, in my own mind, already 
 
26 
 
 foreseen the probability of the contagion spreading to 
 Behar ; but no step towards the adoption of any pre- 
 cautionary arrangements had been taken before the 
 20th of May. 
 
 On the afternoon of that day, the Judge, Mr. E,. IsT. 
 Farquharson, wrote to inform me, that Major ^Nation, 
 the Commandant of the Behar Station Guards, had 
 just returned from Dinapore, and reported a very un- 
 satisfactory state of affairs. In the same letter, Mr. 
 Farquharson proposed that the Government treasure 
 should at once be sent up to Dinapore, and that " we 
 should all be prepared to rendezvous there, on the first 
 real alarm, under the protection of H. M.'s 10th Regi- 
 ment and guns." 
 
 A meeting was, that evening, held at Major Nation^s 
 house, at my request, to consider the best plan to be 
 adopted for protection of the place. 
 
 The Judge's proposal, which, if acted upon, would 
 have involved, at that early stage, the abandonment of 
 Patna, and thus have produced a general, and probably, 
 a fatal panic, was not of course to be entertained for 
 a moment, and I mentioned at the meeting the idea 
 which I had already formed in my own mind, and which 
 was, eventually, adopted — viz. to stand our ground at 
 Patna, whatever happened, and prepare my own house, 
 as a place of general rendezvous. This house, being 
 situated in open ground, at a distance from the Bazaars, 
 and having a very extensive flat roof, capable of holding 
 all who were likely to resort to it, appeared, on aii 
 
27 
 
 accounts, to be best adapted for tbe purpose of protec- 
 tion and defence. 
 
 Several other plans were suggested, and discussed, 
 during the next few days. The occupation of the Col- 
 lector's Cutcherry, and the Opium Godown, as a general 
 rendezvous, was successively proposed, approved for a 
 time, and abandoned, and, while conflicting opinions 
 were still causing a division of council, events drove us 
 to a decision. 
 
 On the evening of the 7th of June, while driving on 
 the race-course, we received intimation from Dinapore, 
 that the Kegiments were in a state of excitement, and 
 that a rise was apprehended that very night, by the 
 military authorities. 
 
 All was new excitement and alarm; there was no 
 time to be lost in argument or discussion ; every one 
 referred to me for decision, and I declared at ouce, for 
 the plan originally proposed by me, viz. the occupation 
 of my own house ; my wife and myself were in a curricle 
 when we received the news ; we drove off at once to the 
 houses of the nearest residents, and informed them 
 quietly of the plan decided upon, begging them to come 
 over without delay, bag and baggage, to the rendezvous ; 
 messengers were at the same time despatched to warn 
 the more distant residents ; in less than an hour almost 
 every man, woman and child, (excepting some few who 
 lived close to the Opium Godown, and found refuge 
 there) were hurrying helter skelter to our house, fol- 
 fowed by a heavy phalanx of beds, clothes, pillows, 
 mattresses and other domestic " impedimenta." 
 
28 
 
 The intimation sent was imminent, and from the 
 best authority; no one knew at what moment the 
 mutiny might break out, whether the Sepoys would 
 bear down at once on Patna, whether they would be 
 joined and supported by the towns-people, or by our 
 only defenders, the men of the local Police. 
 
 Dinapore is eight miles from Bankipore, but long- 
 legged pandies travel marvellously quick, and would 
 have done the distance in less than two hours, if they 
 chose ; every minute therefore was of importance, and 
 I confess to no little anxiety, until all the fugitives 
 were fairly within the house, and the gentlemen, on 
 whom we could rely, at hand with their revolvers and 
 double-barrelled guns. 
 
 It was a lovely night, and by the time that all were 
 assembled, the moon had risen, and the grounds and 
 garden were light almost as day; every room in the 
 house was filled with occupants; in one a bevy of 
 children of every size, age and disposition, the sleepy, 
 the cross, the silent and the squalling, were stretched in 
 every conceivable attitude on the floor. In another a 
 group of nervous ladies scarcely knowing what to appre- 
 hend! Strange ayahs were stealing to and fro with 
 noiseless step, and bearing unintelligible bundles, agi- 
 tated gentlemen, cool gentlemen, and fussy gentlemen, 
 gentlemen with guns and swords, and gentlemen with- 
 out guns and swords, were holding consultation in 
 groups ; outside the house, a body of the Nujeebs, or 
 local Police Battalion were assembled, under the com- 
 
29 
 
 mand of Major Nation, while a small party of Holmes's 
 Troopers, were ready mounted near the door ; the rat- 
 tling of carriages, the screaming of children, men's 
 hoarse voices, servant's shouting — formed, on the en- 
 trance side of the house, a bahel of confusion : on the 
 garden side, our daughters, with some other girls and 
 the juveniles among the gentlemen, in spite of the hub- 
 bub, and ignorant of the real extent of danger, were 
 enjoying the open walks and moonlit grass of the 
 garden, and somewhat scandalised the more nervous 
 portion of the assemblage by their laughter and 
 merriment. 
 
 My wife was, as is her wont, engaged in ministering 
 to the comfort of all who had taken shelter in the 
 house. 
 
 The scene was one not easily to be forgotten; the 
 Nujeebs with their dark green dresses, the picturesque 
 and dashing troopers, with the motley tribe of servants 
 on one side, the figures wandering over the garden in 
 the clear light of the moon, on the other, the heads ap- 
 pearing over the parapet on the roof, and the forms 
 passing up and down the ladder which led to the top of 
 the house, all was strange, unusual and exciting. 
 
 While we were thus assembled, and just as I was 
 persuading some of the mamnaas to send their living 
 treasures to the roof, to prevent the inconvenience and 
 danger of a general rush to the ladder, in the event of 
 alarm, I was called out, and found Major Nation, who 
 Had received from one of his Nujeebs, two letters, which 
 
30 
 
 had been brought from Dinapore by a coolie ; these let- 
 ters, were from Sepoys of one of the Dinapore Regiments, 
 they informed the addressees that all were "ek-dil," 
 (of one heart) that they were about to rise and come 
 down upon Patna, and directed the Nujeebs to seize the 
 Treasury and meet them. 
 
 Pleasant intelligence for us, who had the Nujeehs only 
 for our protection ! 
 
 However laudable the act of the men who brought 
 these letters to their commanding officer, we could not 
 help feeling that the letters themselves bore internal 
 and unmistakeable evidence of a previous understanding 
 between the Nujeebs and the Sepoys ! Such a proposal 
 would never have been made off-hand, and without 
 previous concert; the delivery of the letter to Major 
 Nation might have been caused by mistake, by the 
 exceptional loyalty of a single man, by individual fear, 
 or hopelessness caused by our preparations for defence, 
 by any one of a hundred such causes; still the un- 
 pleasant sensation was left, communication had taken 
 place with the Nujeebs ! their support and co-operation 
 was evidently expected hy the mutineers ! our lives were 
 in their hands. 
 
 The body consisted at that time of several hundred 
 men, they were armed with percussion muskets, they 
 supplied the guard at the Treasury, the Jail, (which 
 was close to my house) and at the private houses of 
 almost all the officials. 
 
 Had they turned against us, our destruction would 
 have been inevitable. 
 
31 
 
 My feelings at this moment, as the officer to whom 
 all looked for safety, and on whose measures, as the 
 highest authority, the preservation, under God, of the 
 whole community, depended, may be easily conceived. 
 
 Several days before, as the sense of danger became 
 more palpable and pressing, I had despatched urgent 
 expresses to hasten on Captain Rattray's Seikhs ; I 
 knew them to be within a distance of some thirty or 
 forty miles, and had, that very evening, again sent off 
 messengers in ekkas* to urge their advance. 
 
 The interval between the discovery of this gunpowder 
 missive from the Regiments and the arrival of the 
 Seikhs was one of intense anxiety, and it is difficult to 
 describe the relief and gratitude I felt when, at about 
 four in the morning. Captain Rattray's fine figure, in 
 his picturesque costume and long boots, appeared at 
 the door. 
 
 It was by God's mercy that the purpose of the Regi- 
 ments was not, that night, put into execution. 
 
 It struck me at the time, and I think so still, that 
 the object of the Sepoys was to rise before the Seikhs 
 arrived ; and, although it would be unfair now to cast 
 any imputation on the Nujeebs then at Patna, (who 
 have undoubtedly behaved well) there can be little doubt 
 that their fidelity would have been too severely tested 
 if the three Regiments had come down upon Patna, and 
 a popular rising in the city had simultaneously taken 
 place. 
 
 • • Ekkas, light cars drawn by a single horse. 
 
32 
 
 Their conduct at Arrah and Gya corroborates this 
 view. 
 
 Few, I believe, knew at the time, what urgent requi- 
 sitions I had sent to Captain Eattray, and how much 
 depended on his timely arrival. 
 
 When day dawned, the residents left our house and 
 sought their own homes. 
 
 For that night, at least, the danger had been 
 averted. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The events of this memorable night served to open 
 my eyes to the dangers with which we were surrounded, 
 and all that subsequently occurred confirmed the sus- 
 picions which the interception of these treasonable 
 letters excited in our minds. 
 
 It was impossible to reflect on what might have 
 happened, had the three Regiments marched down on 
 Patna, and been joined by the Nujeebs, the prisoners 
 and the city mob, without a keen sensation of danger 
 mercifully averted, and a lively conviction of the im- 
 portance of active measures to check and bafile any evil 
 designs that might be in contemplation. 
 
 It is true that the Sepoys would have been pursued 
 by the English soldiers, who would have followed close 
 upon their heels, as soon as it was known that any large 
 
33 
 
 body had gone to Patna, but the Regiment then only 
 numbered 650 bayonets, the General might have been 
 unable or unwilling to spare an efFective detachment, 
 unless the whole of the mutineers had evacuated Dina- 
 pore, and a single hour would have been sufficient, if 
 the JN^ujeebs had joined the Sepoys, to break the Jail, 
 secure the Treasure, and raise the town, so that although, 
 as I had always calculated, we might have made good 
 our defence from the roof until the English soldiers 
 reached Patna, it is impossible to say what scenes of 
 anarchy, massacre, and pillage, might not have taken 
 place. 
 
 Up to this time, though far from feeling confident in 
 the loyalty and good feeling of the citizens of Patna, 
 I had, in my brief communications with the Govern- 
 ment, generally expressed a hope that we should weather 
 the storm, and that no popular outbreak would occur at 
 Patna, but from this night, my confidence, such as it 
 was, was shaken ; and the account which Captain Rat- 
 tray gave me next day of the treatment which the 
 Seikhs had met with in their way showed clearly how 
 general was the feeling of disafiection around us. 
 
 From what he told me, it appeared, that the Seikhs 
 were constantly reviled on their march towards Patna, 
 and taunted with the part they were taking, accused of 
 being renegades to their faith, and asked whether they 
 intended to fight for the " kafir," or for their " deen." 
 As they entered the town, a wild-looking fakeer rushed 
 forward into the road, and with savage menaces and 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 threatening gestures, reviled them as traitors and ac- 
 cursed. 
 
 The Gooroo, or High Priest, of the Seikh Temple in 
 the town, refused to admit the soldiers to the sacred 
 shrine — and wherever they were seen, the most palpable 
 evidences of contempt and hatred were openly shewn. 
 
 On the morning of the 8th, I drove down with Cap- 
 tain E,attray, to see the Regiment which was encamped 
 close to the Collector's Cutcherry, and from what Heda- 
 yut Ali, the subadar, told us of the observations that he 
 had overheard — and the overtures that even in that 
 short space of time had been already made — we agreed 
 that it was of the utmost importance to remove the 
 men, as far as possible, from all communication with the 
 towns-folk, and the loiterers of the court purlieus. 
 They were accordingly brought up to the " west end " 
 of the station, and lodged in the grounds of the circuit 
 house, on the bank of the river. 
 
 The expediency of this move was soon shewn — and 
 there is little doubt that much dangerous tampering 
 was thereby obviated. 
 
 But these were not the only indications of a hostile 
 spirit among the people ; the subadar of the Seikh 
 Regiment, who will be more particularly mentioned 
 hereafter — reported to Captain Rattray and myself — 
 that he had heard several men of apparent respectability 
 exulting that the Company's Raj was about to expire, 
 and that of the true king to be re-established; many 
 of the European residents perceived an unusually inco- 
 
35 
 
 lent, what, in the saxon slang of the day, is called a 
 " cheeky " bearing among the natives, which had never 
 been observed before. Mr. Yincent, the able Deputy 
 Magistrate of Barh, (an out-station about fifty miles to 
 the East of Patna, on the river side, and half way to 
 Monghyr) mentioned in a letter that the common 
 coolies on the road were heard to talk of the '• Padshah 
 of Delhi," and several instances of open insolence 
 towards the Seikhs, were brought publicly to notice. 
 
 The private enquiries that about this time I instituted, 
 united to these outward and visible signs of disaffection, 
 convinced me that, under an apparently unruffled sur- 
 face, mischief of some sort was brewing — anonymous 
 petitions began to pour in — some directed to the Gene- 
 ral, who forwarded them to me — some to myself, some 
 to other functionaries ; I was informed that conferences 
 were held at night, both in mosques, and private houses, 
 though with such secrecy and cunning that proof or 
 capture was impossible. 
 
 Particular individuals were named again and again 
 by different parties, who concealed their names, but 
 uttered emphatic warnings ; the Judge, Mr. Farquhar- 
 son, the Opium Agent, Mr. Garrett, and some others 
 left their houses, and took refuge with their families 
 within the walls of the Opium Godown; Mr. Garrett, 
 and his principal assistant, the unfortunate Dr. Lyell, 
 were incessant in. their representations of the danger 
 anticipated ; distrust, and apprehension, not distinctly 
 defied, but unmistakeably felt, prevailed throughout 
 the city, and neighbourhood. 
 
36 
 
 On the 11th of June, I accompanied Captain Rattray 
 and Hedayut Ali to Dinapore — to consult with General 
 Lloyd, and Colonel Rowcroft. It was agreed while we 
 were at the house of the latter — that I should be allowed 
 an opportunity of talking with the Native OiBficers of 
 the 8th Regiment, as I was not without some hope, that 
 advantage might arise from such conversation. 
 
 For several years past, I had made the language, the 
 customs, and even the superstitions of the natives, a 
 subject of study and research ; I had been in the habit 
 of frequently conversing with the higher classes — and 
 hoped at least, by familiar converse, to gain some in- 
 sight into the mind of these men, if I made no impres- 
 sion on their feelings. 
 
 I was vain enough to flatter myself that I had to 
 some extent produced an efiect upon these veterans, but 
 I now feel how completely I was duped. 
 
 If language is given to men for the purpose of 
 disguising their thoughts, the inhabitants of India pre- 
 eminently have profited by the gift ; there are few more 
 consummate adepts at deception than the wily Brahmin, 
 or the self-possessed Mahomedan — and subtle must be 
 the diplomatist, who, in a battle of the wits, would gain 
 the mastery over them. 
 
 On our return from Dinapore, I found letters from 
 Mr. Wake, the active and high-spirited Magistrate of 
 Arrah, informing me that many of the Railway em- 
 ployes — and other Europeans — had bolted from Shaha- 
 bad in a panic, and come in to Dinapore. ^ c« 
 
37 
 
 Absurd stories were circulated about some of these 
 gentlemen having reached Dinapore in women's clothes, 
 some said that, on an ekka being stopped and chal- 
 lenged with the question, " Quon hie,'* (who's there) a 
 voice replied " Hum Aurut hie," (we are women) — when 
 the sentry, not having heard so gruff a voice before 
 issuing from fair female's lips, lifted up the curtain, and 
 found a burly red-faced Englishman. 
 
 These stories were not fully authenticated, but were 
 current, and caused much amusement at the time. 
 
 As no overt act of rebellion or hostility had taken 
 place at that time in the district, this exodus was 
 unjustifiable — and likely to cause serious mischief by 
 spreading premature alarm ; I therefore issued a notice 
 to the runaways, which was promulgated by the General 
 at Dinapore, and they returned to the district. 
 
 Meanwhile enquiries had been instituted into the case 
 of the intercepted letters. 
 
 Some were for a time inclined to believe it was a 
 hoax. Others that it had been got up by the Nujeebs 
 to obtain credit for a fictitious loyalty — but we soon 
 had reason to credit the fact. 
 
 I ought here to mention that on the night of the 7th, 
 just after the letters had been read — Major Nation, 
 ascertained that a man in undress, but evidently, from 
 the description, a Sepoy — had entered the Nujeeb Hos- 
 pital, and sitting down on the charpoy * on which a sick 
 m^n was stretched, asked carelessly what was the news. 
 
 • Charpoy— a bed, or stretcher. 
 
38 
 
 He was told that a letter had just been brought by a 
 coolie from the lines — and had been taken to the Major 
 Sahib, and the coolie seized. 
 
 On hearing this, the man jumped up — and hurried off. 
 
 This circumstance, when related by Major Nation at 
 the time, was considered to afford strong presumptive 
 evidence that the story was a fact — and not a sham; 
 the subsequent events proved its reality beyond a doubt. 
 
 The writer and his accomplices were distinctly identi- 
 fied — six Sepoys were found to have had a direct share 
 in the writing and despatch of the letter, three men of 
 the 8th Regiment deserted that same night — when they 
 found that the missive had been intercepted. 
 
 As soon as the fact had been placed beyond all doubt 
 by these discoveries, I determined on, at once, bestowing 
 a handsome reward upon the three Nujeebs whose fide- 
 lity had been displayed ; orders were therefore issued for 
 the whole corps to be assembled on the Parade, with the 
 Seikhs and the Police. On the evening of the 12th three 
 bags, containing 200 rupees each, were prepared, and a 
 little before sunset, I rode out to address the assemblage 
 on the parade ground. 
 
 The three bodies of men were drawn up in square — 
 the Nujeebs in front, the Seikhs on the left, and the 
 Police on the right, spectators on horseback and in car- 
 riages, formed the fourth line. As I entered the square, 
 Major Nation and Captain Kattray rode forward to tell 
 me, that a Nujeeh had been discovered, endeavouring, to 
 tamper with the Seikhs, and shake their allegiance. 
 
89 
 
 As the treason of one man, in no way affected the 
 loyalty and good service of those who were about to be 
 rewarded, I would not allow this intelligence to inter- 
 fere with the ceremony ; I therefore begged that no 
 notice might be taken of the circumstance, tiLL after the 
 parade — and I then addressed the men — in Oordoo — 
 pointing out brieily the traitorous revolt of soldiers, 
 who had so long eaten the salt of the Company, dilat- 
 ing on the degrading and brutal acts committed by men, 
 who had formerly fought and bled in great battles with 
 the English — the delusion under which they had acted 
 in imagining that the British Government had any 
 intention to interfere with their religion — or that Hin- 
 doos or Mahomedans could be made Christians — be- 
 cause they admitted forbidden grease into their mouths. 
 
 The three men were then called out of the ranks, I 
 narrated the service they had performed, and delivered 
 a bag of money to each. 
 
 No sooner was the parade over — than the culprit, 
 (who had shirked the muster) was seized in the lines, 
 and marched off between two stalwart Seikhs to my 
 house, where preliminary enquiries were conducted by 
 the Magistrate, and he was carried to jail. 
 
 It was proved that this fellow had entered the Seikh 
 lines, related to some of the Mahomedans of the Regi- 
 ment a half true, half false, story of a parade at Dina- 
 pore, at which the Sepoys had been compelled to bite 
 tlje abominable cartridges — and ended by reminding his 
 auditors — that this was a question of *^ deen " — and that 
 " deen " was above all things precious ! 
 
40 
 
 I telegraphed next morning to Government for a 
 Commission under the new act, that sentence might be 
 passed on the ojffender. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 The next day, June 13th, I went with Captain Rat- 
 tray again to Dinapore, to consult the General as to the 
 disposal of the traitorous Nujeeb, thinking that he 
 might try him by court martial, and hang him. 
 
 The General fully agreed as to the fate the scoundrel 
 merited, but declined to take the responsibility of his 
 execution. 
 
 Excitement among the Regiments was said to have 
 partially subsided — and several of the officers, especially 
 in the 40th N. I. expressed their belief that they might 
 be preserved from revolt, — if properly managed. 
 
 From this time to the 20th nothing of any moment, 
 deserving of detailed or special notice, occurred. 
 
 The Chuprah and Arrah treasures were brought to 
 Patna, and lodged safely in the Collector's Treasury. 
 At one time this treasure amounted to upwards of 
 30 lacs — and, knowing what a temptation such a large 
 sum must offer, I directed its removal to the Opium 
 Godown. 
 
 The agent — Mr. Garrett, refused to admit it — as he 
 said it would increase the danger of those who had taken 
 
41 
 
 refuge there. I fully intended to have my orders en- 
 forced at the point of the bayonet ; but hearing he was 
 seriously ill, and excitement might be dangerous, I 
 forebore to do so. 
 
 It was reported in Calcutta and indeed stated by some 
 lover of truth — to a Government Secretary — that I 
 refused to have the treasure placed within the walls ! 
 
 The notes from which this narrative is taken exhibit 
 a gradual increase of distrust and disaffection in all the 
 neighbouring districts, during the next seven days. 
 Letters from Chuprah, Arrah, Gya and Tirhoot, were all 
 more or less of the same character. Some of the Chup- 
 rah Officials left their Station under a conviction of 
 an impending attack, but were persuaded to return the 
 following day ; the districts bordering on Sarun were 
 reported to be in revolt ; at Arrah much apprehension 
 was entertained in regard to Kooer Singh, a powerful 
 Eajpoot landholder, and the martial population of the 
 district. 
 
 The Deputy Magistrate of Barh reported that he had 
 discovered a plot to burn his bungalow, and murder 
 himself. 
 
 The authorities at Gya expressed their belief, that a 
 rising was being concerted by the Patna towns-people, 
 and that any disturbance at Patna would be followed by 
 a rising in that city. 
 
 From Mozufferpore, it was reported, that the Nujeebs 
 had been actually overheard planning an outbreak, — and 
 a round-robin was sent in by the planters, applying 
 
42 
 
 to the General for an European guard, which could not 
 be granted. 
 
 At Patna itself every day my suspicions of the town 
 were strengthened, anonymous petitions and letters be- 
 came more frequent, private information was conveyed 
 to me from sundry quarters, that active communication 
 was kept up between the towns-folk and the Sepoys at 
 Dinapore, and that money was being secretly distributed 
 in large sums among the latter, for the furtherance of 
 some traitorous design. 
 
 The general impression among all the Christian resi- 
 dents, with perhaps two or three exceptions, was — that 
 under an appearance of tranquility and peace, some evil 
 purposes w^ere being silently hatched. 
 
 That the Dinapore Eegiments were bent on mutiny, 
 and only bided their time, was the almost universal 
 belief. 
 
 Here and there, an infatuated officer or two, whose 
 heart was bound up in the associations of the past, who 
 had prided himself on the fidelity of his men and the 
 reputation of his Regiment, refused, with feelings in 
 which all can sympathise, to distrust those whom he 
 had led in battle, and cherished, perhaps loved, in times 
 of peace — but these were exceptions, and but few in 
 number. 
 
 Captain Rattray and myself paid constant visits to 
 Dinapore, in hopes of hearing that the General com- 
 manding the division had made up his mind to disarm, 
 which we all heartily longed for ; but the question, being 
 
43 
 
 a purely military one, and the General being, as we 
 knew, in daily communication with the Government, we 
 could do nothing more than enquire and suggest ; and, 
 when it became evident that his intention was to " carry 
 them through," as he expressed it, my only duty and 
 anxiety was to keep Patna down, and prevent, as far 
 as possible, all communication between the Sepoys and 
 the evil- disposed of the city. 
 
 The conviction of all intelligent residents in the pro- 
 vince, the common, nay, the daily saying was, that the 
 safety of all the division, depended upon Patna — that if 
 Patna fell, every other district would be involved in ruin. 
 It may, therefore, be imagined, that with all these 
 symptoms of disaffection around us, three Regiments on 
 the eve of revolt, an immense Mahomedan population 
 on all sides of us, whose loyalty and good- feeling it was 
 impossible not to distrust, a treasury amounting at one 
 time to more than thirty lacs of rupees, opium to the 
 value of several crores, a large Christian population, and 
 a noble province in my hands, my own name, and all 
 that was dearest to me in this life in my keeping, and 
 all looking up to me for protection and safety ; at such 
 a crisis, it may well be imagined, how intense was my 
 anxiety, what a burden of responsibility weighed upon 
 my mind. 
 
 After long and careful considersation, feeling an 
 irresistible conviction that mischief was brewing, not- 
 ^withstanding the assurances of the Police, and the 
 continued outward appearance of safety, reflecting 
 
44 
 
 deeply upon the awful consequences of an outbreak 
 at Patna, and of the smallest advantage gained by 
 the insurgents or conspirators of the town, knowing 
 well that the people with whom we had to deal, are 
 as cowardly, as they are ferocious, I came to the deter- 
 mination in my own mind, to take the initiative against 
 the town, and deprive the disaffected, as far as I might, 
 of all power of mischief. 
 
 The great, the disastrous error, from which so many 
 irremediable evils spring in times like these, is com- 
 prised in those little words '^ too late." In all enterprises 
 of moment, the " time and the hour " are the essential 
 ingredients of success, and more especially, in dealing 
 with Asiatics, the first blow, the timely stroke, which 
 intimidates, before that fictitious courage arises, which 
 is supplied by fanaticism, and strengthened by despair, 
 that blow is usually the winning stroke of the game. 
 
 Under these reflections, which I kept within my own 
 mind until the moment of action arrived, I laid the 
 plan for my campaign against an unknown enemy. 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 The quarters from which as it appeared to me, imme- 
 diate danger was to be apprehended, were three. 
 
 First, from the Wahabees of the city and the neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
45 
 
 Secondly, from the Lucknow immigrants and parti- 
 sans, either permanently residing, or sojourning for a 
 time in the city. 
 
 Thirdly, from the thieves and scoundrels of the city, 
 known by the ^ term "Budmashes/' It was against 
 these three parties, that my measures were adopted. 
 
 The Wahabees are a set of Mahomedans, taking their 
 name from Abdel Wahab, who was born in 1691, and 
 became celebrated in after years, as an earnest and 
 energetic reformer. 
 
 The tenets originally professed by the Wahabees, have 
 been described as a " Mahomedan Puritanism," joined 
 to a Bedouin Phylarchy, in which the great chief is 
 both the political and religious leader of the nation. 
 
 The unity of God, is the fundamental principle of 
 their faith. They regard the Prophet, as a man, though 
 gifted with a divine mission, reject the fables and false 
 glosses of the Koran, but recognise and adopt the tradi- 
 tions of the Soonnees. 
 
 They hold that all men are equal in the sight of God, 
 and therefore condemn the custom of invoking departed 
 saints, or paying honor to their remains. 
 
 To swear by Mahomed is considered a crime. 
 
 They affect great purity of morals, abstain, or, at 
 least, profess to abstain, from spirituous liquors, and all 
 sensual indulgences. 
 
 With the Soonnees the Wahabees are on terms of 
 tolerable agreement, though differing in certain points, 
 l^t from the Sheahs, they differ radically, and their 
 hatred, like all religious hatred, is bitter and intolerant. 
 
46 
 
 But the most striking characteristic of the Wahabee 
 sect, and that which principally concerns this narrative, 
 is the entire subservience which they yield to the 
 "Peer," or spiritual guide, a subservience, which, if 
 rumour lies not, compensates, at least among the Patna 
 puritans, for many prohibited indulgences and beset- 
 ting sins. 
 
 The ceremony of initiation is curious. The pupil, 
 (" Mureed ") placing his right hand on the left palm of 
 the " Peer," (who again, covers the pupiFs left with his 
 own right), repeats after him sundry formularies of faith 
 and practice, and thenceforward abandons himself, mind 
 and body, to a state of utter and unreflecting slavery, 
 to his saintly superior, whose influence is not unfre- 
 quently strengthened by a conviction on the part of the 
 credulous neophyte, that by the aid of the " Peer " he 
 may be admitted to the ecstasy of a beatific interview 
 with the prophet, admire his bodily form, and venerate 
 his sacred beard. This conviction, in some cases sincere, 
 in others simulated, heightens the fanatical subservience 
 of the " Mureed," who after having once, with closed 
 eyes and downcast head, enjoyed, or pretended to enjoy, 
 the ecstatic interview, is bound heart and hand to him, 
 through whose holy intervention he has been admitted 
 to the privilege. 
 
 The sect in Behar is daily increasing in numbers, and, 
 although the converts are principally obtained from the 
 lowest classes, and are contemptible as a body, if openly 
 opposed to the Government, they are dangerous in con-*. 
 
47 
 
 sequence of their union, their subservience to their 
 leaders, and their extended communications. 
 
 Without writing a line, a Wahabee Moulvee, or leader, 
 could, it is said, convey a confidential message from 
 Patna to Lahore, in an incredibly short space of time, 
 and an order, however difficult to execute, would pro- 
 bably meet with unquestioning acquiescence. 
 
 There were in the city of Patna, several well-known 
 Moulvees of this sect, little, shrivelled, skin-dried men, 
 of contemptible appearance, and plain manners, but 
 holding undisputed sway over a crowd of tailors, 
 butchers, and low-born followers of every description, 
 who would sacrifice everything at their beck. 
 
 From private information, obtained from many sources, 
 I had reason to believe that these saintly gentlemen 
 were busying themselves to a very unusual extent, and 
 what rendered their conduct peculiarly suspicious, was, 
 that an intimacy appeared to have suddenly sprung up 
 between them and one Lootf Ali Khan, the rich banker 
 of the city, who being a Sheah, was an unnatural sub- 
 ject for such connexion, and who was very generally 
 believed to be secretly engaged in traitorous designs. 
 
 These men I determined at once to arrest, and place 
 under trustworthy surveillance. 
 
 I felt sure that, with their necks at my disposal, and 
 their persons under the drawn sabres of the Seikhs, 
 not one genuine "Wahabee in the district, dare stir a 
 finger. 
 ^ When I had resolved on this step, I formed a plan 
 
48 
 
 for carrying it out without delay, and, wishing to do all 
 as quietly as possible, and, more especially, to avoid all 
 chance of resistance, (which might have been offered if 
 the arrest had been made in the town,) I issued a circu- 
 lar letter to all the respectable natives, inviting them to 
 my house the next day for consultation on the state of 
 affairs. 
 
 The next morning, in compliance with the summons, 
 the principal men of the city presented themselves, and 
 among them the three Puritan Moulvees, Shah Maho- 
 med Hossein, Moulvee Ahmed OoUah, and Moulvee 
 Waiz-ool-Hiiq. 
 
 Seats were placed for all round my long dining table, 
 and, when they were assembled, I entered the room, ac- 
 companied by the Collector, Major Nation, Commandant 
 of the Behar Guards, Captain E-attray commanding the 
 Seikh corps, Mr. Lindsay the Assistant, Mr. Lockwood 
 an unpassed Civilian, and Hedayet Ali Subadar of the 
 Seikhs. 
 
 Before entering the room, I had explained my tactics 
 to Major JN'ation and Captain Rattray, and it had been 
 agreed, that, when the assembly was dismissed, our three 
 Kttle friends should be taken quiet possession of, and 
 marched off to the Seikh lines. 
 
 We entered upon the supposed consultation, and it 
 was inexpressibly amusing to observe the demeanour of 
 the victims, who, I have some reason to believe, had a 
 strong suspicion that something was about to happen. 
 
 All three of the Moulvees were perfect types of the*, 
 class, all short, shrivelled, mean-looking, and demure. 
 
49 
 
 Mahomed Hossein is the " Peer," or spiritual chief 
 to whom the entire body of converts of the last genera- 
 tion owe their admission into the fraternity. 
 
 Ahmed OoUah is the principal " Mureed," or disciple, 
 and is said to possess greater influence than his superior. 
 On the present occasion, he entered, with much volu- 
 bility, and apparent nonchalance, into the discussion, 
 made several very sensible proposals for the protection 
 of the city, and appeared quite to appreciate the sup- 
 posed objects of the meeting. 
 
 The other two men were silent, or only occasionally 
 muttered assent, and altogether looked uncomfortable, 
 especially when Captain E-attray and Hedayet Ali, en- 
 tered the room, with their swords clanking on the floor, 
 and took their places in unpleasant proximity to them. 
 
 The contrast between the Httle shrinking forms of the 
 sacred men, with their dried faces, scanty beards, and 
 side- long looks, their little legs, tucked uncomfortably 
 up under the chair, and their crimped petticoats tucked 
 in between their legs, with the dashing appearance of 
 Capt. R. and the resolute bearing of Hedayet Ali, was 
 very striking, and would have formed an excellent sub- 
 ject for the painter. 
 
 Now that I know the little men suspected something 
 wrong, I can pity their state of alarm, and admire their 
 fortitude. When I pronounced the word of dismissal, 
 all rose from their seats, the Moulvees were politely re- 
 quested to remain, and, after all the rest had driven 
 a^fay, I entered the room again, acquainted them with my 
 
50 
 
 purpose, saying that the present was a time of turbu- 
 lence, disaffection, and intrigue, that I had received 
 several letters and petitions, accusing the Wahabees of 
 complicity in evil designs, and though I had no positive 
 proof of guilty connivance, I still thought it my duty 
 to take precautions against the possibility of surprise, 
 and had therefore resolved, as a precautionary measure, 
 to keep them, as leading men of the sect, in safe keeping, 
 until matters had settled down, and all cause for such 
 precaution should have ceased. 
 
 With wonderful presence of mind, and a politeness of 
 manner worthy of all admiration, Ahmed OoUah placed 
 his hands together, and said, "Great is your Excel- 
 lency's kindness, great your wisdom, what you order 
 is the best for your slaves, so shall our enemies be unable 
 to bring false charges against us." 
 
 To which I replied, "What is pleasing to you, is 
 agreeable to me,'' and smiles and salutations were 
 exchanged. 
 
 One word of warning and advice, however, I added 
 to Ahmed Oolah, and it was to this effect. His father, 
 Moulvee Ilahee Buksh, a very aged man, stone blind, 
 and much venerated by the sect, was living in the city ; 
 I purposely refrained from arresting him, though his in- 
 fluence was as great, if not greater, than Ahmed OoUah's, 
 for several reasons. First, because I did not wish, if it 
 could be helped, to subject so old and infirm a man, to 
 unnecessary inconvenience, and secondly, because, I 
 thought that by keeping him in the city, while his s6n 
 
51 
 
 was under the guard, they might both be used as checks 
 to each other, and so, the more effectually subserve my 
 purpose. It will be seen hereafter, how strikingly my 
 expectations were realised. 
 
 Before, therefore, our final parting, I said to Ahmed 
 Oollah. " Eemember, I have not arrested your father ; 
 but his life is in your hands, yours in his." 
 
 The peculiar look and twinkle of the wary little eye, 
 with which this hint was received, convinced me that it 
 had been fully understood; then the three Moulvees 
 entered their palanquins, and with Seikhs on either side, 
 were safely and quietly escorted to their temporary resi- 
 dence in the circuit house, where suitable accommodation 
 was provided for them. 
 
 To this day I look at the detention of these men as 
 one of the most successful strokes of policy which I 
 was able to carry into execution. It was grounded on my 
 intimate acquaintance with the character and feelings of 
 the sect, whose almost superstitious attachment towards 
 their leaders, would, I felt sure, effectually prevent their 
 entering upon any deeds which would bring the necks 
 of their beloved into danger, while, at the same time, 
 my pledge, that, without proof of guilt, they would be 
 neither maltreated no dishonored, would I knew, be 
 implicitly believed, and unreservedly relied on. 
 
 The success of the measure, however, was not left to 
 conjecture only, but received singulur attestation, from 
 a very curious circumstance, which, though not in the 
 order of the narrative, I may here relate. 
 
62 
 
 Two days before tlie emeute at Patna, which will be 
 described in a subsequent chapter, Ahmed OoUah's 
 father, Ilahee Buksh, the blind old man, whom I have 
 above mentioned, sent a message to apprise me, that the 
 leader of the Rebels, Peer Ali Khan, was collecting 
 arms and men. Being closely occupied at the time the 
 man came, and unable to receive him, I sent him with a 
 note to the Magistrate, requesting him to listen to his 
 story, and act on it, if it appeared reliable. The magis- 
 trate, unfortunate^, not thinking it of importance, the 
 warning was disregarded. 
 
 But the information was correct and valuable ! It is 
 worthy of special notice, because it shews that fear is 
 the most effective instrument, wherewith to work upon 
 such men. 
 
 When it is remembered that this is the only instance 
 of information having been supplied, and that it was 
 supplied by a blind old man, who had never been in the 
 habit of communicating with the authorities ; when 
 these facts are considered, and then connected with my 
 warning speech to Ahmed OoUah, his son, at the time 
 of his arrest, it can scarcely be douUed, what the motive 
 was, which led to this very singular, this unprecedented 
 disclosure. 
 
 Nobody, I feel sure, regretted the disregard of the 
 intelligence more than the Magistrate himself. 
 
 It would be ungenerous to enquire too closely, how 
 the old gentleman (Ilahee Buksh) knew the fact at all ! 
 
 Three more Moulvees of the sect were subsequently^ 
 apprehended : two at Patna, and one at Dinapore. 
 
63 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 When the Moulvees were fairly in custody, the Ma- 
 gistrate, with Major Nation and Captain Eattray, pro- 
 ceeded into the city, to search several houses where we 
 had reason to believe that arms would be discovered. 
 
 I was never sanguine of the result, as, whatever are 
 the precautions of Englishmen, in the sematters, natives 
 are usually too cunning to be over- reached. The visit 
 was evidently expected, the houses swept and garnished, 
 and nothing found. 
 
 My own plan for disarming the city, which was one of 
 the measures I had resolved upon, was put into force 
 the next day. 
 
 Meanwhile I had given orders to bring to my house, 
 Moulvee Mehdee,* the Kote-gusht or Patroling Darogah, 
 whom I suspected of connivance with the Lucknow 
 adherents, and who had been treated with much con- 
 sideration by the Lucknow Minister, Ali Nukee Khan, 
 when on his visit to Patna, en route to Calcutta, imme- 
 diately after the annexation of Oude. 
 
 This man was, personally, a great favorite of mine, for 
 his former good services, his respectful behaviour, and 
 his intellectual acquirements, but I could not divest my- 
 self of suspicion, — and I felt, if my suspicions were cor- 
 rect, his influence would effectually baffle all attempts 
 at discovering the designs of the disaffected. 
 
 •• This man was subsequently released by Mr. Samuells, and, is said, to have taken 
 an active part against us at Azimghur and elsewhere. 
 
64 
 
 Several days before this, when I intimated to tlie 
 Magistrate, my wish to remove him from his situation, 
 because I imagined from his intimacy with the Wahabee 
 Moulvees and Lootf Ali Khan, and other circumstances, 
 that he was not dealing faithfully with us, the Magis- 
 trate intreated me not to do so, saying that his influence 
 was so great, that any such step would probably cause 
 a disturbance. 
 
 As he urged this stronglj^, and added that it was Mr. 
 Elliott's opinion, I consented to postpone his removal 
 for a time, but all such scruples were set at rest when I 
 had once resolved on a distinct course of action. The 
 argument used by the Magistrate, was, in fact, a strong 
 reason for displacing a man, who had such power for 
 evil. It was not the time for English officers to truckle 
 to a Darogah. 
 
 I, therefore, called him to my room, and, while ex- 
 plaining to him my grounds for the arrest, Mr. E. 
 Woodcock, the Collector, kindly regardful of my safety, 
 came forward and relieved him of two formidable pistols 
 which were in his belt, and a handsome sword and 
 dagger, which he always wore. 
 
 The next day I issued a proclamation, calling on all 
 the citizens to deliver their arms, within twenty- four 
 hours, on pain of being proceeded against, and another 
 order, forbidding all, (but such as might be specially 
 excepted) from leaving their houses after nine o'clock. 
 
 The first order was partially obeyed, several thousand 
 arms being brought in and delivered up, while lists oF 
 
55 
 
 many more, were, by permission, received from those 
 who were held to be well affected. 
 
 Many more, were, of course, withheld, but I have good 
 reason to believe, that they were so disposed of, as to be 
 unserviceable, at any short or sudden notice, which was 
 the great object. Some were thrown down wells, others 
 into the rivers, others buried. For the time, the city 
 was, so to speak, without arms, a few subsequent dis- 
 coveries and punishments, would have done the rest. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that, by these measures, hard 
 blows had been effectually struck in the three quarters 
 of danger. The entire sect of the Wahabees was check- 
 mated, and unable, or at least, afraid, to move. 
 
 Moulvee Mehdee, the man whom we all suspected to 
 be in the Oude interest, and who, from his sudden inti- 
 macy with Lootf Ali, the rich banker, and the Waha- 
 bees, we had reason to believe was engaged in mischief, 
 was rendered powerless. 
 
 The great body of the turbulent, the evil and the dis- 
 loyal, were either without arms, or at least deprived of 
 them for immediate and sudden use. 
 
 Nightly meetings and consultations, whether in Patna 
 itself, or between Patna and Dinapore, were effectually 
 stopped ; every man found out of his house after nine, 
 was liable to seizure and punishment, and all that could 
 well be done, in such a state of ignorance, mistrust, and 
 danger, was done. 
 
 Two days after these occurrences, the gentlemen, who 
 •had taken refuge at the Opium Godown, returned to 
 their houses. 
 
56 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 The events detailed in the last chapter occurred on 
 the 20th of June; on the 21st, the Benares steamer 
 arrived at Dinapore. I drove up before breakfast and 
 went on board, and heard, for the first time, from eye- 
 witnesses, some details of the atrocities that had oc- 
 curred in the north-western provinces. 
 
 On the 22nd, the Magistrate and myself proceeded, 
 under the new Commission, to try the Nujeeb, whose 
 arrest and confinement, on a charge of tampering with 
 the Seikhs, has been above described. 
 
 His guilt was clearly established, and he was sen- 
 tenced to death. Three faqueers, who had been found 
 in the camp, and could give no satisfactory explanation, 
 were at the same time imprisoned. 
 
 About this time I had the gratification of hearing 
 from Dinapore, from several parties, that the measures 
 taken at Patna on the 20th had caused great satisfac- 
 tion; a letter was sent to me by General Lloyd, con- 
 taining a detailed description, which had been given 
 him by one of the public officers, of a plot for the mur- 
 der of all the Europeans at Chuprah, by some of the 
 principal Mahomedans of the district. I did not con- 
 sider it sufficiently tangible to act upon, and there were 
 names of men in the list, in whom I had, as I believed, 
 good reason to trust. 
 
 Throughout the whole period, between May and*' 
 
67 
 
 August, constant accusations were put into my hands 
 against different people, indeed there was scarcely a 
 Mahomedan of any station, in the province, who was 
 not, at one time or another, accused. 
 
 The most difficult part of my duty was to discrimi- 
 nate between these charges, and observe the happy 
 medium between credulity and undue suspicion. As it 
 was, I never moved against a soul, except in the way of 
 precaution, until suspicion was corroborated by many 
 concurrent circumstances. 
 
 At dawn on the morning of the 23rd, while I was yet 
 in bed, a letter from Mr. E-ichardson, the Magistrate of 
 Tirhoot, was put into my hand, intimating the arrest, 
 in that district, of a police jemadar, a Mahomedan, 
 under circumstances of serious suspicion. A bundle of 
 letters, seized at the same time upon his person, was 
 enclosed in Mr. Eichardson's letter, a mere glance at 
 which shewed they were of a seditious character. 
 
 They were all written by Ali Kureem, a Mahomedan 
 of some notoriety, who had been for many years a resi- 
 dent in the Gya district, and at this time was living 
 about nine miles from Patna, on the Gya road. 
 
 The first object evidently was to lay this fellow by 
 the heels as speedily as possible. I therefore sent off at 
 once for the Magistrate, Mr. Lowis, and Moula Buksh, 
 the native deputy Magistrate, a man who, from the 
 commencement of the troublous times, had exhibited 
 the greatest zeal, and on whom I placed implicit re- 
 Itance. 
 
58 
 
 Captain Rattray was living in my house ; it was 
 arranged that lie and Mr. Lewis, with ten mounted 
 troopers and fifty Seikhs, should start oiF, at once, to 
 All Kureem's house, surround it and seize him. They 
 set off in the buggy followed by the troopers, they 
 reached the house, and found that the culprit had just 
 started on an elephant with two or three armed attend- 
 ants, some friendly voice having evidently warned him ! 
 
 As the Magistrate's Nazir was the only native who 
 was aware of the proposed expedition (besides Dewan 
 Moula Buksh, who had remained in my room, and 
 whose character raised him above all mistrust,) general 
 suspicion fell upon him, and this suspicion was rendered 
 almost a certainty, by the man^s subsequent conduct. 
 
 When Mr. Lewis found that the bird had flown, he 
 started after him immediately in an ekka.* 
 
 Had he taken the troopers with him, he must have 
 caught the traitor, but, in an unlucky moment, he listened 
 to his Nazir's advice, who strongly urged him not to let 
 the troopers accompany them, 
 
 Mr. Lewis, eager and excited in the pursuit, fell into 
 the snare, and the consequence was exactly what might 
 have been expected. 
 
 When they came in sight of Ali Kureem, he turned 
 
 off the road, and crossed the fields ; the ekka could not 
 
 follow ! Mr. Lowis continued the pursuit on foot, but 
 
 without success, — the villagers not only gave him no 
 
 assistance, but actually removed a Tattoo that he had 
 
 ft 
 
 • Ekka, small country carrige drawn, by a single horee. 
 
59 
 
 secured, and otherwise thwarted him. He returned, tha 
 next day, wearied and disheartened. 
 
 The I^azir, who was left in pursuit, remained out for 
 several days, hunted his game down to a particular 
 village, and there, as he says, lost sight of him ! If 
 report is true, his vision was darkened, like Danae's, by 
 a shower of gold. 
 
 I will here briefly mention, the further doings of this 
 faithful Nazir. Some days after his return, the Magis- 
 trate received information that Ali Kureem had doubled 
 back upon Patna, and was concealed in a house in the 
 town. The Magistrate again informed the Nazir, told 
 him to remain in the verandah while he completed his 
 toilet, looked through the Venetians, and saw the man 
 walking ofi*! He called him back, again, strictly en- 
 joined him to remain where he was, and not to move, 
 intending to take him with himself in the buggy ; when 
 he again came out, he found that the Nazir had gone off 
 to the Cutcherry ! The Magistrate himself informed me 
 of this, and added that, in consequence, he had not 
 thought it of any use to search the house, feeling that 
 he had been betrayed. After all these acts of palpable 
 treachery, I thought it my duty to place the Nazir in 
 confinement, and commit him for trial. He was ac- 
 quitted by the judge, and, since my removal, has been 
 restored to his former appointmenty by the present 
 Commissioner. 
 
 Ali Kureem's house and property were attached and 
 & reward of 2000 rupees, afterwards raised to 5000, was 
 ofiered for his head. 
 
60 
 
 The Nujeeb was hanged on the evening of the 23rd 
 at 6 p. M. He had, during his confinement, simulated 
 madness, but met his death, as most Mahomedans do, 
 with calmness and fortitude. 
 
 From this day to the 3rd of July, no occurrence of 
 any importance took place in any of the districts, but 
 the minds of all were disturbed by the successive reports 
 of murder and outrage up-the-country. 
 
 Each day appeared to make our situation more dan- 
 gerous, the massacre at Shahjehanpore, the fall of 
 Cawnpore, and Futtehpore, the flight from Fyzabad, all 
 were reported during the interval : several Sepoys were 
 caught and hanged; the ladies were sent away from 
 Bhaugulpore, in consequence of the 5th cavalry being 
 distrusted ; the Dinapore Regiments were for some days 
 said to be staunch, than suddenly pronounced " shaky;" 
 no one in the division trusted them, and all, with per- 
 haps two or three exceptions, felt convinced that they 
 were only waiting for a convenient season. 
 
 During all this period, our house was the place of 
 general resort. I had begged everybody in the station 
 to consider it, on all occasions of danger, their home, 
 and their asylum, and gave carteblanche to all, to take 
 possession of any portion they might find unoccupied. 
 
 The majority of the Christians had, some time before, 
 at my request, formed themselves into a volunteer corps 
 under the command of Major Nation, and kept up with 
 great zeal and cheerfulness, a regular nightly patrol 
 during all weathers, both in the city and its environs. 
 
61 
 
 The roof of our house had been prepared for a siege, 
 sand-bags being placed in the intervals of the balus- 
 trades, a thatch erected to give cover in case of rain, 
 and a stand of arms placed in readiness, under charge 
 of the volunteers, who were told off for the duty, — a 
 wooden ladder, which led to the roof, was strengthened 
 and protected, and other subsidiary precautions taken. 
 Several ladies with their children, slept almost every 
 night on the roof, the volunteers, after their rounds, 
 occupied the outer verandahs. 
 
 The city of Patna, from the date of the coercive mea- 
 sures adopted on the 20th was, to all appearance, in a 
 state of profound tranquility, and the people, generally, 
 more submissive and respectful than before. 
 
 This, however, was not destined to continue. — On 
 the 3rd of July, just as we were sitting down to 
 dinner, the Magistrate rushed into the house, and, call- 
 ing me out, informed me that the news had just been 
 brought of a party of several hundred men having 
 attacked the house of a Eoman Catholic priest in the 
 heart of the town. 
 
 I immediately directed Captain Rattray to march 
 down, with the Magistrate and 150 Seikhs, to the 
 scene of the disturbance, despatched messages to all the 
 residents, and rode round myself to the nearest houses, 
 to warn the occupants, as well as to make arrangements 
 for posting other parties of the Seikhs at different 
 points. 
 * After my return we all remained outside the house. 
 
62 
 
 anxiously looking for the return of tlie messengers, who 
 had been successively despatched, on horseback or in 
 ekkas, to bring tidings from the city. 
 
 While thus assembled, a horseman dashed up the 
 avenue, with a drawn sword in his hand, and called out 
 in a loud and excited voice, " Mr. Tayler ! where's Mr. 
 Tayler ?" On receiving an answer, he said, " Dr. Lyell 
 is shot, the city is up, we were too few, and have been 
 obliged to retreat." He then hurriedly related all he 
 knew about this melancholy catastrophe, and galloped 
 away again. 
 
 On hearing this account, thinking the affair, from this 
 gentleman's statement, more serious than I had at first 
 imagined, I despatched one of my servants, on my 
 fastest horse to Dinapore, and requested the General to 
 send us fifty Europeans. 
 
 The requisition was promptly complied with, and the 
 detachment marched into our grounds, between two and 
 three o'clock a.m. 
 
 Before they arrived, however, we had received intel- 
 ligence that the insurgents had been dispersed, one man 
 having been killed, and another wounded. 
 
 The soldiers, therefore, returned at about three o'clock 
 to Dinapore, and we went to bed at about four a.m. 
 
 For the next fifteen days my time was principally 
 employed in unravelling the facts of this outbreak, and, 
 as I consider that the circumstances connected with it, 
 are of the utmost importance, and that the correspond- 
 ence discovered in the house of the chief conspirator^ 
 
63 
 
 is calculated to throw light upon the origin and objects 
 of the insurrection generally, I will offer some remarks 
 on the event, as disclosed by the enquiries, which occu- 
 pied me with scarcely any intermission, from the 3rd to 
 the 20th of July. 
 
 I must first, however, notice another occurrence, 
 which took place on the 18th of this month. 
 
 On the evening of that day, the indefatigable Hida- 
 yut Ali informed Captain Eattray, that one of his 
 troopers, (ten of whom were at Patna,) had been playing 
 the traitor, having received a large sum of money from 
 Ali Kureem, on the day of the pursuit, which he had 
 since divided with several of his comrades. 
 
 This information had been given to Hidayut Ali by 
 one of the other troopers, and was by Hidayut Ali at 
 once brought to his commanding officer. 
 
 The troopers were then bivouacked in my grounds, 
 and, after a short consultation, Rattray and myself 
 agreed to go to the little bungalow in which they slept, 
 seize the delinquents ourselves, and search the premises 
 on the spot. 
 
 "We therefore took our revolvers and sallied out, the 
 man was seized, and the house searched, nothing was 
 discovered in it, but in the waist-band of a grass-cutter, 
 the servant of the principal man suspected, we found 
 twenty-five rupees. The man confessed that it was part 
 of a larger sum received from his master, and the fact 
 strongly corroborated the statement made, especially as 
 the trooper himself could give no satisfactory account of 
 the way in which he had obtained the money. 
 
64 
 
 This man had been sent by the Magistrate with a 
 letter to Gya, immediately after Ali Kureem's escape, 
 had overtaken the arch-conspirator himself on the road, 
 and had there sold himself; he received the money on 
 his arrival at Gya, and, after his return to Patna, di- 
 vided it among his friends. 
 
 The fellow's guilt being clearly established, he was 
 hanged and his accomplices imprisoned. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 I HAVE before mentioned that in the street-fight of 
 the 3rd one of the rebels was severely wounded. The 
 importance of securing this man, and separating him 
 from all cummunion or intercourse with others, imme- 
 diately struck me, and I had him brought up to my 
 house early on the morning of the 4th. 
 
 His wounds were fearful, his arm had been nearly 
 severed from the shoulder, he had a severe cut on his 
 head, and the air was actually whistling through his 
 lungs. 
 
 On my first questioning him he would disclose no- 
 thing, and I had him removed to the Seikh Hospital, 
 where he was most ably and carefully treated by Drs. 
 Sutherland and Coates. 
 
 He was here kept for some time, and, when partially 
 recovered, he entered into frequent conversation witb 
 
65 
 
 Hidajrut Ali, tlie Subahdar of tlie Seikh. corps, an ojfficer 
 whom I have before mentioned, and who rendered, 
 throughout the period of our troubles, the most cordial 
 and effective service to the state. 
 
 His intimate knowledge of the native character, 
 admirable tact, penetration, and temper, peculiarly qua- 
 lified him for sounding the purposes of the people with 
 whom he came in contact, and eliciting, by judicious 
 cross-questioning, the information he wanted. 
 
 After several conversations with Hidayut Ali, the 
 wounded man was induced to give very important in- 
 formation, and, finding that he was kindly treated, his 
 wounds cared for, and hopes of exemption from capital 
 punishment held out, he made a clean breast of it and 
 disclosed all he knew.* 
 
 His statements we invariably found to be correct, or, 
 at least, strongly corroborated by circumstantial evi- 
 dence and the testimony or confessions of others, who 
 seldom denied what he stated, when confronted with 
 him. 
 
 Somewhat later in the day, the deputy Magistrate, 
 Moula Buksh, to whom the Magistrate had entrusted 
 the investigation of the case, came to me in great 
 triumph with some murderous looking arms and imple- 
 ments (among which was an English fencing mask,) 
 and a large packet of letters, all of which had been 
 
 * This man made no scruple of admitting, as indeed many others confessed in 
 conversation -with me, that their object was to murder all the Europeans— and set 
 up a Ruler at Patna. 
 
66 
 
 found in the house of Peer Ali Khan, the leader of the 
 outbreak and captain of the rebels ; numerous accom- 
 plices were seized during the next few days, and, among 
 them, after a short resistance, in which he was wounded. 
 Peer Ali himself ; ample evidence was, by the exertions 
 of Moula Buksh, obtained, convicting these men of 
 active participation in the outrage, twenty- one were 
 hanged, twenty-three imprisoned. 
 
 Peer Ali himself was a model of the desperate and de- 
 termined fanatic ; repulsive in appearance, with a brutal 
 and suUen countenance, he was calm, self-possessed, and 
 almost dignified, in language and demeanour. 
 
 After capital sentence had been pronounced upon him, 
 I sent for him (as I generally did with such criminals) 
 and questioned him in my private room, in hopes of 
 eliciting some further information regarding the plot. 
 
 Heavily fettered, his soiled garments stained deeply 
 with blood from a wound in his side, confronted with 
 myself and several other English gentlemen, the last 
 hope of life departed, not for a moment did he betray 
 agitation, despondency, or fear. 
 
 On being asked whether he could do anything to 
 make it worth while to spare his life, he answered with 
 supreme coolness and some contempt : " There are some 
 cases in which it is good to save life, others in which it 
 is better to lose it." He then taunted me with the 
 oppression I had exercised, and concluded his speech by 
 saying, " You may hang me, or such as me, every day, 
 but thousands will rise in my place, and your objejt 
 will never be gained." 
 
67 
 
 After this defiance, lie joined his manacled hands, and 
 said, with the utmost politeness, as if he was on the best 
 of terms with himself, the world, and me, " I have 
 something to ask." — " Well, what is it ? Speak,'^ — 
 " My house ? " — " It will be razed to the ground," — 
 "My property?" — "It will be confiscated." — "My 
 children," and here for the first time, his voice faltered 
 and his tone betrayed emotion. — On my asking him 
 where his children were, he said they were in Oude, and 
 all I could tell him was, that, under the circumstances 
 of that country, it was impossible to make either guess 
 or promise in regard to them. 
 
 He then salaamed, respectfully rose, on the order 
 being given, and walked out unmoved, and, to all ap- 
 pearance, unconcerned. 
 
 I have dwelt at some length on the description of 
 this man, because he is the type of a class, with many 
 of whom we have in this country to deal, men, whose 
 unconquerable fanaticism renders them dangerous ene- 
 mies, and whose stern resolution entitles them, in some 
 measure, to admiration and respect. 
 
 Peer AK was a native of Lucknow, but had resided 
 for many years at Patna ; he was, by trade, a Book- 
 seller, and I strongly suspect that he may have origi- 
 nally established himself here, for the express purpose 
 of carrying on the intrigues which issued in this abortive 
 outbreak. 
 
 The letters discovered in his house serve to shew, 
 tlfet, for several years past, he had been in correspond- 
 
68 
 
 ence with different parties, principally with one " Musee- 
 ool-zuman," a Lncknow man, who followed the same 
 trade, and that he had, in communication with these 
 parties, deliberately discussed and matured seditious 
 plans against the British Government. 
 
 It was proved, that, during the few months prior to 
 his capture, he had, assisted by Lootf Ali Khan's Jema- 
 dar, "Guseeta" a notorious and consummate villain, 
 engaged numerous men and kept them in pay, with 
 instructions, as some of the accomplices themselves 
 described to me, that they should be ready, when called 
 upon, to fight for their " deen and the emperor of Delhi." 
 
 The letters of " Musee-ool-zuman " appear to me to 
 afford a most instructive and interesting commentary 
 upon the late disastrous events, and they prove, beyond 
 a doubt, the following important facts. 
 
 First. That an anti-christian crusade (if I may use 
 such an expression) has been, for some time past, deli- 
 berately contemplated, the great object being described 
 as, " Futteh ooper I^asara." Yictory over the Nazarenes. 
 
 Secondly. That for the accomplishment of this object, 
 it was understood and enjoined that all sects and classes, 
 Hindoos, Wahabees and even Eafzees, were to combine 
 with the orthodox Mahomedans. 
 
 Thirdly. That the arguments employed to excite the 
 conspirators to action, are all based on the assumption, 
 whether sincere or pretended, that the covert purpose 
 of the British government has been, for some years past, 
 secretly to undermine and destroy the religion of tl^e 
 
natives, whetlier Mahomedan or Hindoo, and thus, 
 many of the late orders, rules and regulations, the aboli- 
 tion of oaths, the new rules regarding the prisoners' 
 food, the shaving of their beards, each and all of these 
 matters were taken advantage of, and employed by the 
 instigators of the insurrection, to exasperate the people, 
 and seduce the army from its allegiance. 
 
 It must be remembered that these letters were all 
 found in one man's house, and only accidentally dis- 
 covered ; they cannot, therefore, be regarded as anything 
 like a complete or full exposure of the secret designs 
 of the conspirators, but a mere example, as a stray 
 mineral, on the mountain top, indicates the vein beneath 
 the surface. 
 
 The conclusion obviously suggested hj common sense, 
 is, that, if one accidental seizure has disclosed so much, 
 even in the house of a single individual, much more 
 must remain behind. 
 
 Peer Ali Khan would never have kept men in pay for 
 months together, appointed Darogahs, and distributed 
 hard money for the mere purpose of a street row, and the 
 inference from what was discovered, especially when 
 confirmed, as it is, by the confessions of the conspirators 
 themselves, the testimony of witness, and the collateral 
 evidence of facts, is, that this scheme, which failed in 
 the execution, was part and parcel of a more general and 
 extensive plot, which, but for the measures taken to 
 anticipate and baffle it, would have issued in disastrous 
 consequences. 
 
70 
 
 Take again tlie case of Ali Kureem ; the unfortunate 
 escape of this traitor, prevented us from obtaining papers 
 which might have afforded an important clue to his 
 designs, but the few letters found in the possession of 
 Waris Ali, the Police Jemadar, were quite sufficient to 
 shew what extended plans of mischief he had formed. 
 
 In one of his letters to his confederate, he talks of 
 a large commercial enterprise " (Tijarut)" which he had 
 established, of partners of respectability who had joined 
 it from the east and the west, of a secure place of ren- 
 dezvous, which robbers could not enter, of the extensive 
 profits to be derived by the shareholders ! Under an- 
 other more familiar figure, he describes the savoury 
 "Pilau" which he had been cooking, which was now 
 ready for eating, and to the enjoyment of which, he 
 urgently summons his friend, even though he sacrifice 
 everything for that end ! 
 
 Then we find this Waris Ali, after in vain applying 
 to the Magistrate for leave of absence, preparing to 
 abandon his appointment and his salary, and cast him- 
 self at all risks into this " commercial enterprise," and 
 enter upon the deglutition of the well-seasoned dish. 
 
 He was caught by Mr. Robertson, the assistant Magis- 
 trate, and some Indigo planters, with his horse saddled, 
 his goods packed, and in the act of writing to tell Ali 
 Kureem that he had resolved to join him at once. 
 
 Can any man of. sense or wisdom doubt that these 
 disclosures, accidental as they were, and made under all 
 the difficulties which have prevented such discoveries 
 
71 
 
 elsewhere, are palpable indications of a more extensive 
 conspiracy ? 
 
 Will any one be so hardy as to assert, or so blind as 
 to believe, that Waris Ali, a man who had been for years 
 in the district, and knew well what he was about, him- 
 self of high family, connected, as is said, with the royal 
 family of Delhi, and possessed of considerable property, 
 that such a man was prepared to leave a lucrative 
 situation, in a way which would effectually preclude his 
 future employment without knowing well, that Ali 
 Kureem's " commercial enterprise, was at least plausibly 
 planned, and reasonably supported?" that he was about 
 to throw away all his prospects in the Government 
 service, for a chimera or a pretence ? Or will any one 
 believe that when Ali Kureem described these under- 
 takings to Waris Ali, told him all was ready, and urged 
 him, at all risks, to come at once, that this was all 
 imagination or a myth ? 
 
 Musee-ool-zuman sends through Peer Ali a message 
 to the Wahabee Waiz-ool-Hiiq and refers to what he 
 had written to him, *' which though obscure and under 
 a metaphor, the Moulvee being a wise man, would 
 understand ! " 
 
 Will any one say, that such a message from such a 
 man as Musee-ool-zuman, communicated through such 
 a man as Peer Ali, to a chief of a fanatic sect, had no 
 sinister or secret meaning ? 
 
 To my mind, these disclosures, when taken in conjunc- 
 ^tion with all the other circumstances, afford convincing 
 
72 
 
 proof of the existence of extensive and deadlj^ plots, 
 similar in character and purpose to those, which have 
 been carried out, with such incidents of horror and 
 atrocity, and made India for months like a vast Chris- 
 tian Charnel-house. 
 
 That the outbreak, which led to these disclosures, was 
 not more successful, was simply because the measures 
 I had adopted, had cowed and disheartened the conspi- 
 rators before the attempt was made. The imprisonment 
 of the Moulvee leaders effectually prevented their devoted 
 followers from joining in the riot, the seizure of arms 
 had deprived the citizens generally of the means of 
 fighting, many of the turbulent and disaffected had 
 fled from the city, and the stoppage of communica- 
 tion with Dinapore had prevented concert with the 
 Regiments. 
 
 This emeute, therefore, was both premature and ill- 
 concerted, several of the conspirators themselves confessed 
 this to me, and the tenor of Peer Ali's own remarks 
 was, that he had been hurried on by what he called my 
 oppression, the greatest compliment he could have paid 
 me. This fact led to the complete frustration of the 
 scheme, the condign punishment of the conspirators. 
 
 And here I must take occasion to bear my testimony to 
 the valuable services of Dewan Moula Buksh, — the De- 
 puty Magistrate, through whose zealous co-operation, 
 unremitting zeal, and unimpeachable integrity, the 
 successful developement of this conspiracy, the capture 
 and conviction of the criminals, and the discovery o:^ 
 the correspondence above described, is mainly owing. 
 
73 
 
 From tlie first, and throughout the whole period, this 
 fine old man, who has served the Government for thirty- 
 five years, laboured night and day, at the peril of his 
 life, in the discharge of the most arduous duties, in 
 which he received but little assistance, either from the 
 Police, or any other subordinate functionary. It is a 
 fact, that, with one exception, not a single Police officer, 
 of any grade, ever gave the slightest information, either 
 in regard to the collection of arms, the employment of 
 bravos, or the distribution of money. 
 
 Almost all the information I did obtain, was supplied 
 by Christian residents, by three or four respectable native 
 gentlemen, whose loyalty was unquestioned (and one of 
 whom will deserve special mention) by Hfdayut Ali, and 
 by this faithful and zealous old officer, Moula Buksh, 
 whose services will yet, I trust, be duly rewarded. 
 
 The other individual of whom justice compels me to 
 make prominent mention is Syud Wilayut Ali Khan. 
 
 This very respectable gentleman, who, from his 
 straightforward character is more like an European 
 than a native, when first the rumours of danger were 
 heard, presented a petition to Government and myself, 
 stating that he was ready to devote both property and 
 life to the service of the State. 
 
 From that day he was in constant attendance when- 
 ever assistance was required, he supplied me with arms, 
 he helped to patrol the city, he furnished valuable in- 
 formation, and subjected himself to abuse, ridicule and 
 jfktred, from many of the towns-people. 
 
74 
 
 Professions of loyalty are valuable in proportion as 
 they are voluntary and timely, and their sincerity is 
 tested by acts. 
 
 The proffer of Wilayut All's service, was made, not as 
 that of others, when the tide had turned, and the British 
 bayonets were gleaming over the country, but in our 
 darkest and most dangerous crisis, and the proffer 
 throughout was supported by deeds. 
 
 I brought his voluntary service to the notice of Gro- 
 vernment, by whom it will doubtless be duly recognized. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 I HAVE already mentioned Lootf Ali Khan the wealthy 
 banker, whose intimacy with Moulvee Mehdee, the 
 darogah, and the Wahabee leaders, had given rise to 
 suspicion. 
 
 One day, a report was presented by Meer Anjan, one 
 of the town darogahs, to the effect that a Sepoy of the 
 37th JST. I. which had lately mutinied at Benares, had 
 been seen on Lootf All's premises, and had been engaged 
 by him as a servant, though the wretch had been heard 
 by several persons to describe the Benares mutiny, and 
 boast of his exploits against the English. 
 
 Lootf Ali and the mutineer were arrested, and com- 
 mitted to the Judge to be tried under the late acts, the 
 former, for harbouring a mutineer, the latter for mutiny. 
 
75 
 
 The Sepoy was hanged, the evidence was not consi- 
 dered by the Judge to be sufficient against Lootf Ali, 
 and he was acquitted, to the great disappointment of the 
 christian public, who all felt a moral conviction of his 
 guilt, not only of this special crime, but of complicity, 
 generally, in treasonous designs. 
 
 The previous character of this man, which was noto- 
 rious in the district, and the many suspicious circum- 
 stances, which had come to the notice of the public in 
 the course' of the disturbances, had tended to raise a 
 strong feeling against him, but, what served above 
 everything to excite indignation, was, that one of his 
 household servants had been convicted and hanged for 
 active participation in the murder of our lamented 
 countryman. Dr. Lyell, a deed, which had been accom- 
 panied with the revolting atrocities, which have eter- 
 nally disgraced the murderous ruffians of India. 
 
 Poor Lyell's face was so mutilated, after he fell, that 
 he could scarcely be identified. 
 
 That this man escaped punishment, was a disappoint- 
 ment, that he was afterwards admitted to the house of 
 some public officers, excited general indignation. 
 
 Subsequent occurrences, which will be detailed in the 
 second part of this narrative, greatly increased this 
 feeling. Knowing the terms of intimacy which always 
 exist between natives and their domestic servants, it 
 was generally felt, that the active participation of Lootf 
 All's Jemadar, not only in the actual riot, but also in 
 **the previous preparations, could not well have taken 
 
76 
 
 place, without his master's privity, and would not have 
 been attempted^ if the servant had known that his master 
 was well affected and loyal. 
 
 At all events, it was believed, that, until he fully 
 cleared himself before the public, he was not a fitting 
 subject for the society of English gentlemen. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 On the 25th of this month, the event, to which all 
 had been so long looking, at last took place. 
 
 A little after noon on that day, Hidayut Ali came to 
 me in a state of some excitement, and told me that a 
 mutinous spirit had been unmistakeably shewn by the 
 native Regiments at Dinapore, and that they might be 
 expected to rise at any moment. 
 
 I was just sitting down to communicate the intelli- 
 gence to the authorities at Dinapore, when a short note 
 came from Major Lydiard, telling me that the Regi- 
 ments were mutinous, and an outbreak was expected. 
 
 This note arrived at one p.m., at a little after two p.m., 
 the mutiny broke out. 
 
 I had barely time to summon the different residents 
 to our house, and make all the necessary arrangements 
 for protection and defence, before the three signal guns 
 were heard, and we knew that the ball had commenced. 
 
 It does not fall within my purpose to describe what I^ 
 
77 
 
 did not witness, and the occurrences at Dinapore, on that 
 eventful day, have been already narrated by others. 
 
 As we listened to the firing, which could be plainly 
 heard from Patna, we were calculating how many muti- 
 neers would be destroyed. Some said six hundred, 
 others eight hundred, some perhaps not more than five 
 hundred ! 
 
 One man only was killed. 
 
 That evening there was a general meeting at our 
 house; it was not then known, nor could it be ascer- 
 tained for some time, what the plans of the mutineers 
 were, whether they had gone ofi" in a body to the west 
 or whether, as some said, they were meditating an attack 
 upon Patna, or were still hovering in the neighbourhood 
 of Dinapore. We had heard that the English soldiers 
 could not follow them over the fields into which they at 
 first fled, and, thinking it possible that some stragglers 
 might be intercepted, we planned a night movement 
 from Patna, to be carried out under the guidance of Mr. 
 Lindsay, the Assistant Magistrate, Mr. H. Whitcombe 
 the resident Eailway Engineer, and Mr. Y. Taylor, a 
 young civilian, who was studying at Patna. These 
 volunteers, with fifty Seikhs, fifty Nujeebs, and some 
 few troopers newly raised, went off" to Phoolwaree, a 
 place some eight miles distant from Patna, where they 
 were to bivouac for the night, and it was my purpose 
 to proceed at dawn of day to Dinapore to induce the 
 General to send a detachment of H. M.'s lOth to co- 
 operate with them, if we should have reason to believe 
 any of the Sepoys had taken that route. 
 
78 
 
 While it was yet scarcely daylight, a note was brought 
 to my bedside ; by the imperfect light, I could just 
 distinguish the words " Major Holmes and his wife," I 
 felt at once what it was, and shall never forget the 
 sensation of pain and horror, with which I read the 
 announcement of this gallant and chivalrous officer's 
 murder. 
 
 Nothing that has occurred throughout these days of 
 horror, so deeply penetrated the feelings, not only of 
 myself but all around us ; the bold and prominent part 
 which poor Holmes had taken from the commencement, 
 the confidence he had felt and expressed in his men, the 
 attachment which they professed for him, the good 
 service the regiment had performed, and the constant 
 and cheering communications I had received from him, 
 all served to prevent the least apprehension of danger 
 to him personally. It is strange how, throughout this 
 foul rebellion, the bravest and the best have been selected 
 for suffering or destruction. — I immediately recalled our 
 volunteer detachment, the revolt of poor Holmes's regi- 
 ment gave a serious turn to affairs, and I did not know 
 what call there might be for our men, or what danger 
 for straggling parties. 
 
 That afternoon the General wrote to tell me he pro- 
 posed entrenching Dinapore, it was ascertained that. the 
 mutineers had gone off in a body towards Arrah, and it 
 was apprehended by him, that they might be joined by 
 Kooer Singh and return to attack Dinapore. 
 
 I deprecated the measure, and strongly urged' am 
 immediate and active pursuit of the rebels. 
 
79 
 
 Two hundred men of H. M. STth were despatched in 
 the Horungutta steamer, but the vessel stuck on a sand 
 bank, as some supposed, through a trick of the native 
 pilot. The General then proposed to recall them ; but, 
 as he consulted me, I took the liberty of again urging 
 the despatch of a larger force, and, on the Generars 
 consent being obtained, I went up to Dinapore on the 
 evening of the 29th with Mr. McDonell, the Magistrate 
 of Chuprah, who had expressed an earnest desire to 
 accompany the relieving force, and young Mangles, the 
 assistant at Patna, who had a similar longing. 
 
 We first went to see Messrs. E. Macdonell and 
 Lynch, who had just reached Dinapore, after an almost 
 miraculous escape from the pursuit of the blood-thirsty 
 troopers of Holmes's Regiment, who tracked them for 
 miles, in hopes of murdering them. They were foot- 
 sore and exhausted, but heartily thankful for their 
 escape. 
 
 Mangles and myself slept that night in the carriage, 
 at Dinapore, as I was anxious to witness the departure 
 of the relieving force which was to take place at dawn 
 of the dext day. 
 
 "We went down before the day broke to the banks of 
 the river. The soldiers of H.M.'s 10th were just march- 
 ing to the ghat, the General was already there, but un- 
 expected difficulties arose : the passengers, instead of 
 having been warned out of the vessel (which had been 
 stopped on her downward trip) were still comfortably 
 sleeping, men, women and children, in the steamer. 
 
80 
 
 The Captain remonstrated against their ejection at so 
 unseemly an hour, forgetting that English lives were at 
 stake, and every minute was of consequence ! 
 
 Col. Fenwick appealed to the General for authority to 
 have the sleepers turned out, which was promptly given, 
 the word was passed on to the non-commissioned officers, 
 and from them to some of the privates. In another 
 minute, it was discovered, that the steamer could not 
 tow her own flat, as well as that of the Horungutta, 
 which it was arranged she was to take on, and 
 consequently, only half the force told off could go. Col. 
 Fenwick retired in disgust, and the command was 
 delegated to Captain Dunbar. From that moment, all 
 was confusion. J^o progress was made, no one took 
 upon himself to disturb the happy sleepers. As Civil 
 Commissioner, I had no authority in matters purely 
 military, but I could not quite refrain from interference. 
 I saw the man, apparently a sergeant, to whom the 
 order for turning out the passengers was given, but who, 
 after Colonel Fenwick's departure, had done nothing in 
 the matter. I went up to him and suggested that if 
 he would send three or four hard-hearted men to turn 
 the passengers out, *' neck and crop," if necessary, it 
 would be a beneficial move, and they would never get 
 off, if he did'nt ; he had just said, " All right, sir," with 
 much alacrity, and was telling off the men to set to 
 work, when somebody called out to him, " Hallo ! you 
 may knock off, you're not to go ! " The man, a splendid 
 specimen of a soldier, turned short off, muttering, and,* 
 
81 
 
 with several others, went away in no good humour. 
 Several hours elapsed before the final start was made, 
 and the steamer did not get clear away till about half- 
 past nine ! 
 
 Fatal delay ! who shall say of what importance 
 were those four hours, lost in talking, hustling, and 
 donothingness ! 
 
 It was a cheering sight, however, when they did start. 
 The gallant appearance of the men, the eager counte- 
 nances of the officers, the anticipation of certain success 
 in the enterprise, gave the expedition a character of 
 bright and [buoyant hopefulness, too soon, alas ! to be 
 changed for the bitterness of disaster and defeat. 
 
 The force consisted of about 200 men* of H. M.'s 10th 
 foot, with several officers and a small body of Seikhs 
 under Captain Ingelby of the 7th N. I., a gallant and 
 high-spirited officer, who volunteered for the service, 
 and was killed in the expedition. Messrs. McDonell, 
 Magistrate of Chuprah, and Ross Mangles, the assistant 
 Magistrate of Patna, also accompanied them. 
 
 Between the 26th and the day on which this detach- 
 ment started, we had received positive intelligence, that 
 the three Eegiments had marched in a body to the 
 station of Arrah, destroying, in their road, the houses 
 and other property belonging to the Railway Company, 
 on both banks of the Soane; we had heard that the 
 Civil Functionaries and other Christian residents, under 
 
 • Two hundred men of H. M.'s 37tli were a short distance ahead in the flat of 
 *the Hornngutta which had stuck on a sand-hank. 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 the guidance of Mr. "Wake, the Magistrate, with their 
 escort of fifty Seikhs (whom I had sent to the station 
 with treasure, a few days before, and who had been 
 detained at the request of the Magistrate) had taken 
 possession of a small house, skilfully prepared for the 
 purpose by Mr. Boyle, and were then besieged by the 
 whole body of mutineers, amounting to about 2,000, 
 and some 7,000 or 8,000 more men, the followers of 
 Kooer Singh. 
 
 The intense anxiety for the deliverance and rescue of 
 this brave little band may easily be conceived, and the 
 feelings which swelled the hearts of all who saw the 
 relieving force depart, full of hope and confidence, with 
 smiling faces, and cheers of anticipated triumph, may 
 perhaps be imagined, but can scarcely be described. 
 
 The last account had represented the little garrison, 
 as safe inside the house, and repelling all attacks with 
 spirit and resolution under the brave guidance of Mr. 
 "Wake, the Magistrate, but we had also heard that two 
 guns had been brought against them, and who could 
 say how long they could hold out ? 
 
 Still, no one doubted that the brave band, which 
 steamed off on the 29th under the animating cheers of 
 the spectators, would do their work, as English soldiers 
 ever do, and bring back the besieged in safety. 
 
 Accordingly, the next day, I went up with my wife 
 and daughters to welcome the victorious force, with the 
 rescued garrison. After several hours of anxious ex- 
 pectation, the steamer hove in sight ; as she neared th^ 
 
83 
 
 shore, every breath was held in excitement ; an unusual 
 stillness first attracted the notice of the spectators ; no 
 waving hats, no cheers, no sign of exultation. Down 
 they came, steamer and flat, dull, quiet and ominous ; 
 all seemed to feel the weight of some heavj^ disaster, 
 and, when the vessel made for the Hospital, instead of 
 coming onwards to the usual moorings, the feeling 
 became certainty. 
 
 Never had I witnessed, God grant I never may wit- 
 ness, so harrowing a scene, too dreadful to forget, far too 
 dreadful to attempt to describe, with any minuteness. 
 
 Of that gallant band of 400 men which had left the 
 shore in bright array, and in assurance of victory, but a 
 few hours before, 180 had been left dead on the field, 
 several officers were no more, almost all the survivors 
 were wounded ! 
 
 The scene that ensued was heart-rending, the soldiers' 
 wives rushed down, screaming, to the edge of the water, 
 beating their breasts and tearing their hair, despondency 
 and despair were depicted on every countenance. 
 
 It was with unfeigned delight and thankfulness, that 
 I recognized the faces of McDonell and young Mangles, 
 who had escaped with only slight injuries, though both, 
 as I afterwards learned, had exposed themselves to the 
 greatest danger, and were conspicuous for their bravery 
 and daring. 
 
 McDonell's anxiety to go was chiefly dictated by an 
 honourable anxiety to aid in the rescue of his friend Mr. 
 »Wake, the Magistrate of Arrah, whose high qualities, 
 
84 
 
 bravery, and energetic service, rendered him well wor- 
 thy of such friendship, but he also went in the capacity 
 of guide to the force, and there was, therefore, good 
 cause to justify my compliance with his wishes. 
 
 But I had no such excuse for permitting young 
 Mangles to go, and felt a heavy responsibility in having 
 done so. The fact is, that, almost at the last moment, 
 and when all our hearts (at least I can answer for my 
 own) were beating with excitement at the preparations 
 for departure, he had suddenly made his request, and 
 with such evident earnestness, that I could not find it 
 in my heart to refuse.* 
 
 When the first act in this painful tragedy had passed, 
 which, for the time absorbed every other thought, there 
 then came the fearful conviction that the Arrah garrison 
 was lost, hopkssl^, irremediably lost! 
 
 Not a chance, as it appeared to ns, remained ; and, 
 with this terrible conviction on our minds, we all re- 
 turned to Patna, taking with us McDonell and Mangles, 
 and the wife, (then believed to be the widow) of Mr. 
 Boyle, one of the principal defenders of the Arrah 
 garrison. 
 
 * N.B.— I cannot now regret that he went, as it gave opportunity for the per- 
 formance of one of those great and noble deeds which constitute true heroism and 
 live for ever in history ; finding a poor soldier wounded and unable to move, Koss 
 Mangles, at the imminent risk of his own life, raised him from the ground, and 
 carried him through the fire of the rebels for five miles, and thus saved his life. 
 
85 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The crisis, as far as Behar was concerned, had now 
 evidently arrived. 
 
 The body of mutineers, with the outsiders who had 
 joined them, and who were chiefly men of the martial 
 population of Shahabad, under Kooer Singh, were said 
 to amount to 9,000, or 10,000 men. They were flushed 
 with victory, such as never before had been obtained 
 over an English force. 
 
 The destruction of the Civil Functionaries, and the 
 other Christians within the Arrah garrison, with, their 
 escort of fifty Seikhs, was considered as inevitable. 
 
 The rebel army was said to be in possession of guns, 
 and a great portion of the population, as far as could 
 be seen, were aiding their arms. All intelligence from 
 the district was stopped, but general rumour gave out 
 that the Domraon Rajah, whose estates extended along 
 the whole line of road, from Arrah to Buxar, had also 
 joined the rebels. The effective strength of the force at 
 Dinapore was reduced by this defeat to about 400 
 bayonets, the Nujeebs, or local Police battalion, were 
 mistrusted, the Seikhs were employed in the different 
 guards at Patna, and only a few men were available. It 
 appeared to me evident, that no out-station was in a 
 position to protect itself against the force, which, at any 
 moment, might be sent against it. 
 * A few hours would have taken a thousand men across 
 
86 
 
 to the districts of Chuprah and Tirhoot, a few more 
 would have taken a similar force to Gya. 
 
 At the two former stations, there was no reliable force 
 at ally at the latter there were, as before mentioned, only- 
 one hundred Seikhs and forty-five European soldiers. 
 
 The crisis called for immediate decision. If Kooer 
 Singh had taken it into his head to send a force by the 
 cross road to Gya, the first we should have heard of the 
 movement would probably have been of their arrival, 
 the small force, then at that station, would have been 
 inevitably destroyed, and another European massacre 
 would have horrified the world, and afibrded fresh 
 triumph to our blood-thirsty enemies. 
 
 All that had occurred in other parts of the country, 
 proved, beyond dispute, that the extermination of the 
 Christian race, root and branch, was the one great object 
 sought for ; the murder of Dr. Lyell, and of the noble 
 Holmes, the supposed destruction of the Civil Function- 
 aries at Arrah, then regarded as inevitable, if not already 
 past, appeared to me, to be, at least, a sufficient sacrifice 
 of Christian life ; the interests of the state, the calls of 
 humanity, and the dictates of prudence, alike appeared 
 to call for the withdrawal of small bodies of English, 
 insufficiently protected, from a danger which they could 
 not resist, while, at the same time, the concentration of 
 the scattered forces, in one central position, appeared 
 highly desirable. 
 
 I, accordingly, sent an order to the Magistrates of 
 Tirhoot and Gya to come in to Patna. The Arrah 
 
87 
 
 officials were, as has been above mentioned, in a state 
 of siege, the Chuprah Functionaries, had, of their own 
 accord, come in several days before.* 
 
 This order was carried out, and, at no station, except- 
 ing Gya, was any ill- consequence produced; on the 
 contrary, the effects were beneficial; the district of 
 Chuprah was kept in order by Cazee Ramzan Ali, a 
 Mahomedan, whom I believed I had reason to trust as 
 an individual, and whose energy, talent and decision I 
 knew would render him equal to the task, if he chose to 
 act with good faith towards us. 
 
 His foresight and shrewdness appeared to me to render 
 this probable, I accordingly vested him, on my own 
 responsibility, with the powers of a Magistrate, and 
 frankly told him that I left everything in his hands. 
 
 He discharged the obligation, faithfully and well, and 
 delivered over charge of the district and public pro- 
 perty intact to the authorities, when they returned. 
 
 At Mozufferpore, a slight attempt at a disturbance 
 was caused by twelve men of Major Holmes's Regiment 
 who ran off with the Collector's horses and a pair of 
 boots, and would have helped themselves to the Treasure, 
 but the Nujeebs, who had been distrusted by all, and 
 whom the Magistrate reported as sure to rise, being 
 well-paid by the wealthy merchants of the town, and 
 encouraged by letters from myself, after the withdrawal 
 of the officials, resisted the attempt, and the dozen 
 
 troopers retreated. 
 
 « 
 
 •I do not mention Chumparun,— on the revolt of Holmes's Regiment the Magis- 
 trate had of his own accord retired ; I afterwards authorized his withdrawal, but 
 meanwhile the danger had passed, and no abandonment took place. 
 
88 
 
 In both these stations, therefore, the withdrawal of 
 the Christian residents, while it fully answered the pur- 
 pose of rescuing many valuable lives from danger, and 
 removing the temptation, which has generally been the 
 great inducement to assault and outrage, entailed no 
 corresponding evil consequence whatever, while, at the 
 same time, our central stations Dinapore and Patna, 
 were strengthend by the accession of many stout Eng- 
 lish hearts, who, though almost helpless, when scattered, 
 would have been of material assistance as a body, in 
 case of an attack on either station. 
 
 The case of Gya is different, and as it has caused no 
 little discussion, I will here dwell, somewhat more at 
 length, upon the facts. 
 
 Gya is distant about sixty miles from Patna, and 
 about forty from the Soane near Urwal ; with which it 
 is connected by a central road, passing through Tikaree, 
 the village and dwelling-place of Baboo Modenerain Sing, 
 generally styled the the Tikaree Rajah. 
 
 The district of Shahabad, where the great body of the 
 rebels was, is on the other or western side of the Soane. 
 If the rebels had, made an attack upon Gya, after the 
 defeat of the Dinapore relieving force, they would have 
 marched down this road, crossing the Soane at Urwal; 
 that they would make this attack, was the belief of eVery 
 one acquainted with the circumstances. It was expected 
 by the Magistrate of Gya himself, the reports I received 
 of their movements, of the preparation at that ghat of 
 rafts and boats, confirmed the impression, and, above * 
 
89 
 
 all, the poverty of Kooer Singh and his followers, and 
 the fact that eight lacs of treasure invited their 
 cupidity at Gya, all these circumstances rendered this 
 movement, almost a matter of certainty. While this 
 imminent danger threatened them from the west, it was 
 confidentl}^ believed that the Ramghur Battalion, and 
 two companies of the 8th Regiment (which had already 
 mutinied at Dinapore) the 32nd N. I. and 5th cavalry 
 (all of which have since revolted,) were on the eve of 
 mutiny, and that all or most would come through Gya. 
 
 At the same time I had good reason for knowing 
 that the district of Behar (of which Gya is the principal 
 station) was filled with traitors ; the expressions used in 
 the letters of Ali Kureem, who was a Gya man, indicated 
 the existence of extensive combinations, the principal 
 landholder, Modenerain, was known to have lately pre- 
 pared and cleaned guns, which had been hitherto con- 
 cealed, and to have taken men into his pay ; even the 
 Rajah of Benares was suspected by the Magistrate to be 
 in league with Kooer Singh and Modenerain against us. 
 
 It had been proved at Arrah that the Nujeebs, whe- 
 ther loyal or disloyal, were of no account in the event of 
 an attack from numbers, the jail at Gya contained 800 
 prisoners, the town was full of scoundrels. 
 
 Under this appalling combination of dangers, feeling 
 that the lives of my fellow-countrymen, and the honor 
 of my country were in my hands, I directed the with- 
 drawal, and instructed the Magistrate to come to Patna, 
 «as quickly as possible, with the troops and Christian 
 
90 
 
 residents, bringing the treasure with them, unless, by 
 so doing their personal safety was endangered. 
 
 The meaning of this order, given to sensible and ex- 
 perienced men, was obvious. The danger apprehended 
 was, as they knew, an attack from an overwhelming 
 body which their small force would have been unable 
 to cope with. This condition, therefore, was added to 
 relieve them, and take upon myself, the responsibility of 
 abandoning the money, if the attack should have already 
 taken place, or should be so imminent as not to admit 
 of the usual means of removing treasure, without in- 
 volving the party in a danger, which they could neither 
 resist nor escape ; in short, to avoid the shame and horror 
 of massacre, in an unavailing defence of money bags. 
 
 To my mind, the slaughter of small bodies of troops, 
 the murder of Englishmen, and, especially, public 
 officers, is the greatest blow, the most deadly wound, 
 which our power and our honor can sustain. 
 
 The abandonment of a station is, of course, an evil in 
 itself, and only to be admitted as the means of escaping 
 a still greater evil. 
 
 In the present instance, there were the strongest 
 grounds for apprehending this greater evil, and on 
 careful consideration, with a full appreciation of all the 
 circumstances, deeply impressed with the awful respon- 
 sibility that rested upon me, and hoping that I should 
 meet with a generous support and sympathy from the 
 Government, whose interest I had endeavoured, at no 
 little risk or sacrifice, to secure, I followed the path,* 
 
91 
 
 whicli to my judgement and conscience seemed the wisest 
 and the best. 
 
 Had Major Eyre's marvellous victory not taken place, 
 the wisdom of the withdrawal, and the importance of 
 concentration would have been recognized by all. 
 
 To return, the Magistrate of Gya, Mr. A. Money, on 
 receiving these instructions, summoned the other officers ; 
 they determined* (for what reasons, I am to this day not 
 fully informed) not to bring away the treasure, and all 
 left the station within a few hours from the receipt of 
 my letter. After proceeding a few miles, the Magistrate, 
 persuaded, as it is said, by Mr. HoUIngs, the Sub-Deputy 
 Opium Agent, suddenly changed his mind, left the rest 
 of the party and returned, with Mr. Hollings, to Gya. 
 
 At midnight of the 2nd, I received a letter from the 
 Judge, Mr. Trotter, intimating to me these circum- 
 stances, representing the dilemma in which Mr. Money's 
 "vacillation" had left him and the other officers, and 
 asking whether I adhered to my former order. 
 
 My reply was, that, although Mr. Money's conduct 
 had enhanced my embarrassment y it had not altered the 
 principle on which I had sanctioned the withdrawal, and 
 I, therefore, still adhered to my instructions. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. A. Money, with Mr. Hollings, had 
 returned, and had procured a fresh escort from the 
 Trunk Road, consisting of eighty men of H. M.'s 64th 
 Kegiment, but, instead of remaining and holding his 
 own, as his return would have led one to suppose he 
 
 • It has since been stated that conveyance could not be procured in time, but this 
 has been contradicted by others. 
 
92 
 
 would, lie took the treasure, and marched down three 
 hundred miles to Calcutta ! protected by the English 
 troops. 
 
 The departure of the officials had not given rise to 
 any outbreak; no movement had been made towards 
 Gya by the rebel army, and what was the immediate 
 cause of Mr. Money's second exodus, I have never yet 
 been able precisely to discover. 
 
 Whatever it was, he was not allowed to remove the 
 treasure unopposed. The Nujeebs themselves, who 
 guarded both the Treasury and the Jail, rose against 
 him, liberated the prisoners and attacked the escort ! 
 Mr. Money and his party bravely repelled them, several 
 Nujeebs were shot, and the escort made good its way to 
 the Presidency. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 While the occurrences, described in the last Chapter, 
 were in progress, the providential event took place which 
 saved the province of Behar. 
 
 On the very evening of the day, on which the relieving 
 force, which marched from Dinapore for the relief of 
 the Arrah Garrison, was driven back with such fearful 
 slaughter, intimation was received that Major Eyre was 
 about to advance from Buxar with 150 men and three 
 guns. It was the opinion of all, that this small force 
 would have but little chance of success against so large 
 
93 
 
 a body as was then under the command of Kooer Singh, 
 flushed as they were with their victory over so large 
 and effective a detachment as had been sent against them. 
 
 It was, therefore, thought advisable to intimate to him 
 what had happened, and recommend him to postpone 
 his advance, until another force could be sent to co- 
 operate with him from Dinapore, or he could receive 
 some accession of strength from other quarters. 
 
 This was thought the more important, because, at 
 that time, report was rife, that the Domraon Rajah had 
 joined Kooer Singh, and as Major Eyre's march lay 
 through his estates along a road lined with groves, there 
 was every reason to apprehend that his small number 
 would be destroyed by ambuscades, before he could 
 reach Arrah, distant forty miles from Buxar. I accord- 
 ingly expressed this opinion in a letter which I wrote 
 to Mr. Bax, the civil officer deputed to accompany 
 Major Eyre's force, in reply to a letter received from 
 him, and I sent this letter, open, to the General, to be 
 forwarded with such instructions as he should think fit 
 to give. 
 
 The General forwarded my letter, with a memorandum 
 and letter from himself, to Major Eyre. 
 
 What orders he gave I do not precisely know, and it 
 is of little consequence.* 
 
 Both the letters miscarried for a time. 
 
 It was ordained that Major Eyre should have the 
 glory of rescuing the garrison, redeeming the honor of 
 
 * I believe at the time that General Lloyd sent positive orders not to advance ; 
 but there is some doubt now on this point. 
 
94 
 
 tlie British name, and saving the whole province of 
 Behar. A brilliant action decisive in its results, though, 
 at one time doubtful in the issue, and hardly won by a 
 desperate charge of British soldiers, changed in one 
 hour the entire face of things. The devoted garrison 
 and the brave Seikhs were rescued from the little house, 
 in which, for a week, they had braved, without loss or 
 injury, the fury of 9000 men, the cowardly rebels were 
 dispersed, Kooer Singh fled to his stronghold, the hearts 
 of all traitors in the province were dismayed, the critical 
 turn in the tide of our disasters had taken place. 
 
 The Gya ofiicials, who had been once before on their 
 return to the station, but had been prevented by the 
 outbreak, which occcurred on Mr. Money's attempt 
 to remove the treasure, were now strengthened by 100 
 Seikhs and reoccupied the station. 
 
 The Chuprah and Mozufferpore Functionaries, each 
 with a guard of fifty Seikhs, returned to their stations, 
 a second victory over Kooer Singh's force, and the de- 
 struction of Judispore, his stronghold, completed the 
 discomfiture of the rebels, and cleared the districts. 
 
 During all these convulsions, Patna remained quiet, 
 peaceful and submissive. 
 
 At the critical moment when it was thought probable 
 that an attack might be made on the city, the only 
 change in our own arrangements which I assented to, 
 was to send my wife and daughters to Dinapore, that 
 they might be in safety, and I, myself, unencumbered to 
 meet such active duties as might arise ; but, through the* 
 
95 
 
 worst, I still upheld the reign of stern, uncompromising 
 supremacy. I had the gallows placed in the centre of 
 the race-course, in view of all, tried, condemned and 
 executed some more prisoners, disarmed the Nujeebs at 
 Patna, and commenced measures for the undermining of 
 the Jail, which it was, however, found impracticable to 
 effect. 
 
 After Eyre's great victory, my friends were congra- 
 tulating me that the crisis had passed, that success had 
 at length crowned my exertions, and repaid my anxie- 
 ties ; notwithstanding the fears and prognostications of 
 the entire province, notwithstanding the successful re- 
 volt of the three Regiments, the destruction of the 
 Dinapore detachment, the weakness of our escort ; 
 though plots were proved to have been planned in the 
 city, and our destruction had been contemplated, still, 
 Patna had passed through the fiery ordeal, and was 
 safe ; the great work, on which, all said, so much de- 
 pended, had been accomplished ; one life only among 
 the many under my protection had been sacrificed, not 
 a rupee of treasure, save a small sum at Arrah, had 
 been lost. 
 
 In the midst of these congratulations, and, at the 
 moment when I thought, that, without presumption, 
 I might look, if not for reward, at least for acknow- 
 ledgment, I was dismissed from the Commissionership ; 
 by a singular coincidence, the appointment was made 
 over, for a time, to the officer who had suggested the ahan- 
 donment of Fatna, ** on the first real alarms'' in May, and 
 
96 
 
 a few days afterwards, my pernianent successor, Mr. 
 E. A. Samuells, arrived, bringing with 'him, as coun- 
 sellor, coadjutor and assistant. Ameer Ali, a Mahomedan 
 lawyer, tlie intimate friend and professional adviser of 
 Lootf Ali Khan. 
 
 Finis Coronat Opus." 
 
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