THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 DAILY LIFE 
 DURING THE INDIAN MUTINY
 
 Some pinions of tbe press 
 
 " Mr Sherer gives a graphic account of the events he wit- 
 nessed in the terrible times of the Mutiny. He has done right 
 to publish the letters sent to him by Sir James Outram and 
 others ; they speak for themselves." Glasgow Herald. 
 
 " It throws an interesting sidelight on those troublous times 
 from a civilian non-combatant's point of view." Pall Mall 
 Gazette; 
 
 " Full of exciting adventure, with the added charm of actual 
 personal experience. Written in a vigorous and picturesque 
 style." Bookseller. 
 
 "Mr Sherer's narrative is full of good stories, and he has 
 done well to republish it in its present form." Publishers' 
 Circular. 
 
 " This publication will be interesting, instructive, and useful 
 to the younger generation, as throwing a few sidelights on a 
 momentous episode in our national history, and enabling them 
 to estimate in some degree the anxiety, sorrow and horror 
 which moved the nation in thrills and pulsations." Shooting 
 Times. 
 
 "Although memoirs and reminiscences of the Indian Mutiny 
 have been published by the score, the reader will find in Mr 
 Sherer's narrative much that will be new and interesting to 
 him even now when the story of 1857 is fading away into old 
 history." Broad Arrow. 
 
 "The pages of this modest, amiable book are a valuable 
 supplement to the more dignified histories." Spectator.
 
 DAILY LIFE DURING 
 THE INDIAN MUTINY 
 
 PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF 1857 
 
 BY 
 
 J. W. SHERER, C.S.I. 
 
 " fl'O' apKTTOl 
 
 r\ov TToAc/xoio veiKos eo-^arais f 
 
 Pindar 
 
 Where our best 
 Sustained the strife of war 
 When hopes were at their lowest 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. LIM. 
 25 HIGH STREET, BLOOMSBURY, W.C. 
 1910
 
 THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.
 
 X)S 
 
 So 
 GENERAL MOWBRAY THOMSON 
 
 IN REMEMBRANCE 
 
 OK DAYS GONE BY 
 
 AND IN TOKEN 
 
 OF 
 
 A LONG FRIENDSHIP 
 1857 1898
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE chapters forming this volume were contributed by me 
 to Colonel F. C. Maude's " Memories of the Mutiny," which 
 appeared early in 1894, They were founded on part of a 
 series of letters descriptive of life in the North- Western Pro- 
 vince of India, and of my experiences there, which were 
 written at the suggestion of Sir Charles Lawson, and pub- 
 lished by him in The Madras Mail, of which he was then 
 the editor, and, as now, principal proprietor. The high 
 price of Colonel Maude's illustrated work placed it beyond 
 the reach of some who might otherwise have wished to 
 possess it, though it was, of course, obtainable at public and 
 mess libraries, and received unusual notice from the press. 
 Its copyright belongs solely to Mr. John Macqueen, the pub- 
 lisher, of Norfolk Street, Strand, and as he has apparently 
 no immediate intention of issuing a cheap edition of the 
 "Memories," he has very courteously allowed me to republish 
 my portion of the work separately; and it now appears 
 under this permission, and with the full knowledge and good 
 wishes of Colonel Maude.
 
 VI11 PREFACE. 
 
 As the intention of the author was simply to present what 
 may be called a domestic view of an anxious and exciting 
 crisis, discussions as to the origin of the outbreak, or the 
 political warnings it may be held to have supplied, would be 
 out of place. But I trust that, incidentally, the narrative 
 may be useful in throwing a few side-lights on a momentous 
 episode in our national history. 
 
 The occasion has been taken for careful revision, and the 
 correction of misprints and slips of memory. For the folly 
 of a portrait I must plead the excuse that my effigies in the 
 illustrated " Memories " turned out, through my own mala- 
 droitness, a sorrowful caricature, and I trust that the present 
 representation may be leniently regarded as a protest rather 
 than an egotism.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. FAG 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . I 
 
 I. WITHDRAWAL . . . . .II 
 
 II. SCENES AT BANDA . . . .29 
 
 III. NOMAD LIFE ..... 37 
 
 IV. MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS ... $2 
 
 V. HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE . . . . 60 
 
 VI. CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED . . . 76 
 
 VII. THE RAINS OF l8$7 . . .93 
 
 VIII. ANXIOUS WEEKS . . . . I2O 
 
 ix. DUNCAN'S HOTEL . , . .146 
 
 X. THE NUWAB'S HOUSE , . . ,163 
 
 APPENDIX . . . . .185 
 
 IN MEMORIAM . . , . 197
 
 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 I LANDED in Calcutta in December, 1846, and after a rather 
 long stay in connection with passing the college, finally pro- 
 ceeded up country in the spring of 1848, and reaching Agra, 
 was appointed Assistant Magistrate there. In the same 
 year, I was transferred to Muttra, where I acted as Joint- 
 Magistrate. 
 
 In 1850, the Lieut.-Governor, Mr. James Thomason, 
 whose father had been an intimate friend of mine, ap- 
 pointed me Assistant Secretary to his Government. After- 
 wards I acted as Registrar of the old S udder Court, and 
 later, became Joint-Magistrate of Allygurh. 
 
 In the cold weather of 1856, I was directed by the 
 Revenue Board to report on the condition of lands bordering 
 the Jumna Canals, which had suffered very much from a 
 saline effloresence called by the natives Reh. My tour led 
 me to Paneeput, and Kurnal, and Rohtuk, and Nujufgurh, 
 and other places, afterwards so often mentioned in accounts 
 of the Siege of Delhi. 
 
 In Delhi itself, I staid a day or two on my way back, 
 and particularly remember one Sunday afternoon. I went 
 to evening prayers at the church built by Col. Skinner.
 
 2 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 Service was, I think, at five. I must mention that, person- 
 ally, I had not the slightest idea that there were any 
 symptoms of approaching disturbance in the country, or of 
 uneasy feeling in the Army. The function proceeded till it 
 was time for the sermon, when, instead of going into the 
 pulpit, Chaplain Jennings walked down the church to the 
 font, where he commenced the celebration of a baptism. 
 As he passed the pew, I thought I noticed a rather dogged 
 expression on his face, as of one who should say, " I know 
 this is a little burdensome, but I think it correct, and you 
 must bear it." Afterwards, when the pulpit was reached, it 
 was growing dark, and soon a candle had to be sent for. 
 This slender, solitary light in the darkening church, and the 
 loud voice proceeding from a figure partially occupying the 
 small disk of brightness, had a most singular effect. The 
 sermon, which the preacher would not curtail by a syllable 
 on account of the lateness, dwelt, as far as I remember, on 
 the vicissitudes of life, and urged how unwise the postpone- 
 ment of repentance was in the face of the absolute un- 
 certainty of the future. I felt at the time a most unaccount- 
 able sinking of spirits; and when afterwards I came to 
 remember how many were present, shrouded in the gloom, 
 whose lives were rapidly drawing to a close, I grew to 
 associate with the scene some sense of forewarning, from 
 which my memory is now unable to disengage itself. 
 
 When the tour was over, I went to the house of my 
 father-in-law, Harington, at Agra, to write my report. He 
 was a judge of the old Sudder Court, and lived in the 
 Kandaharee Bagh, an ancient tomb adapted to household 
 purposes, and standing in a walled garden. It was in this, 
 walking with him and a colonel of native infantry, that the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 possibility of a mutiny first struck me. The subject of the 
 cartridges quite uew to me was being discussed, and the 
 colonel said if the materials for greasing them were such as 
 suspected, and biting them was insisted upon, the Sepoys 
 would certainly not obey orders. "And," he added, 
 "though John Sepoy seems such a quiet fellow in the lines, 
 on such matters as his caste, his religion, or his women, if he 
 gets off his head, there is no violence or cruelty he would 
 not commit." Thus was the seed sown in one's mind of 
 much subsequent anxiety. 
 
 During my stay at Agra, Wulleedad Khan, who after- 
 wards gave much trouble at his own town, Boolundsbuhr, 
 got an introduction to me, and called two or three times. 
 He was then as was known afterwards, plotting against our 
 Government amongst the Mahomedans of Agra, and I 
 suppose made up to me in the hopes of hearing from me 
 what Harington and men in his position thought of the 
 crisis. I remember one day saying that the misapprehen- 
 sion in the Army was very extraordinary, and Wulleedad 
 answered, "But it is of no importance. What could revolted 
 Sepoys do ? A soldier untrue to his salt is not a formidable 
 enemy." When we finally parted, he said he hoped sooner 
 or later the Government (Sircar) would send me to Boolund- 
 shuhr. It is very odd he should have taken the trouble 
 to talk in this false way. I can ouly suppose he wished to 
 create a favourable impression of loyalty, as a string to his 
 bow in case of accidents. 
 
 My report was approved of by the new Lieut. -Governor, 
 Mr. John Colvin, and he appointed me to act as Magistrate 
 and Collector of Futtehpore-Hussowa, a district situated in 
 the Doab, between Cawupore and Allahabad. The town-
 
 4 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 ship of Futtehpore itself was on the Grand Trunk Road, and 
 is now a railway station about 35 miles from Cawnpore, 
 I travelled towards my new home, with my wife and chil- 
 dren, in two posting carriages, and as it was getting very hot 
 we moved at night, being drawn by coolies along the smooth 
 road. We constantly passed groups of Sepoys, leave having 
 been purposely given with exceptional freedom. The Magis- 
 trate of Cawnpore, Mr. Hillersdon, had asked us to put up 
 with him, and we stayed a day or two in his comfortable 
 bungalow in Nuwab Gunj. Mrs. Hillersdon was an accom- 
 plished pianist a favourite pupil of Ascher and she 
 delighted us with some charming music, both on her own 
 instrument and on the concertina, which, in her hands, 
 proved itself as satisfactory as it usually is very much the 
 contrary with less skilful players. She was fond of Men- 
 delssohn's Rondo Capriccios, then not hackneyed, and I 
 never hear the piece without recollections of the still interior 
 of the Cawnpore house, its accomplished mistress, her hus- 
 band, her children, her brother-in-law Col. Hillersdon all 
 doomed to speedy and painful destruction. Little did I 
 think, as I sat talking with Hillersdon over friends we had 
 both known at Muttra, that in a month or two I should be 
 his successor, and that four only would be alive of all our 
 countrymen whose duties had collected them at Cawnpore, 
 and of the families that had gathered around them. 
 
 When we reached our destination, we found much ex- 
 citement, but no special knowledge of the state of affairs at 
 Allahabad, further than that the 6th Regiment of Native 
 Infantry was considered shaky. As the treasury guard at 
 Futtehpore, commanded by a Subahdar, was supplied by 
 that regiment, its conduct was of local interest. I relieved
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 my predecessor, Mr. Edmonstone, and he went off to Allaha- 
 bad, and then the circle at the station consisted of four 
 railway engineers engaged in constructing the new line to 
 Cawnpore, viz. t Bews, Oswin, Heathcote, and a fourth whose 
 name has escaped me. Then there was Mr. Robert Tucker, 
 the judge, and Elliott Macnaghten, Assistant Magistrate, 
 and Dr. Hutchinson and his wife, and Anderson, opium 
 agent, and his mother, and a salt inspector who was often 
 away in the district, and ourselves. 
 
 Our judge was a tall, large-boned man, eccentric in some 
 of his views, but of an exceedingly fine character. He was 
 one of those of whom you felt absolutely certain that in no 
 circumstances of life, however trying, would any unworthy 
 motive ever even cross his mind. He was possessed of much 
 information, and conversed with an easy flow of language, 
 and in a voice of full and pleasant tone, so that it was an 
 enjoyment to listen to him. Though vivacious and social 
 enough, his life was directed by strict principles of what old 
 Isaak Walton called " the primitive piety." In the court, 
 where he sat at the daily task, he had had painted on the 
 wall over his chair a label with these words, " Thou God 
 seest me." At the entry of the town, too, he had got per- 
 mission to erect pillars by the wayside, on which he had had 
 inscribed, in the vernacular, the Ten Commandments, and 
 sundry religious precepts. 
 
 Though there was no immediate cause for apprehension, 
 I received orders not to let the ladies stay in case of threat- 
 ened danger. The mail-carts seemed to afford a fair test of 
 general security, and as long as they ran regularly both ways, 
 I did not think any action necessary. But at last, one night, 
 there was no mail from the westward. A sowar usually
 
 6 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 came up at midnight with the letters, and I was awakened 
 to see if there was any news of importance. On this occa- 
 sion he waited an hour or two, and then rode up to say the 
 cart had not arrived. My brother-in-law, Forbes, who had 
 been ordered home sick, was staying with us, and his wife 
 and children were with him. I had to give notice in the 
 morning that unless the mail-cart came at noon, there must 
 be a start for Allahabad. Twelve struck, no mail-cart. So 
 the posting carriages were sent for, and the two families, 
 under the protection of Forbes, were sent off. When they 
 reached Allahabad, the road to Calcutta was reported open, 
 and they pushed on ; and the last day there was any post 
 from Allahabad, there came a mere scrap of untidy paper 
 with the words " all safe " written on it, and the Calcutta 
 post-mark. 
 
 The same day my people left me, I warned the other 
 ladies ; and as they were more or less expecting an intima- 
 tion, their arrangements were complete, and off they went. 
 
 As it happened, the mail-cart had only broken down, and 
 at last came in ; but affairs were very gloomy, and it was a 
 great relief to know that no one was left but those whose 
 duties required them to stay. All Eurasians connected 
 with the offices decided on such plans for the safety of their 
 families as seemed to them the most suitable. I occupied 
 a large and roomy house, which had been built by my pre- 
 decessor, and as it seemed most desirable that we should 
 act together in case of emergency, I proposed to all the men 
 that we should make a common home of the only place in 
 the station that would accommodate so large a party. 
 
 The news grew worse. English soldiers, by twos and 
 threes, occasionally passed through towards Cawnpore in
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 conveyances, and these the Kotwal, or head constable of the 
 town, who was really a rebel in the guise of a humourist, 
 called the choontee fouj, or ant-array. One evening three 
 officers called on us on their way westward. One was 
 named Bax, and another was a young fellow just joining, 
 and we made them stay supper. Afterwards a song or two 
 followed, and they left us at midnight, not without " one 
 cheer more," and so departed to their fate. The railway 
 men tried to work in the mornings, but could not manage 
 much ; and though our courts and office were open, yet 
 there was no business. Only the opium-eaters were con- 
 stant ; they came at the stated hour for their supply of the 
 drug. They dwelt in dreamland, and were not interested 
 in the troubles of real life. The sub-officers out in the 
 district reported that crime had ceased altogether. 
 
 A Sanscrit poet describes how, in an overwhelmingly hot 
 season, the cobra lay under the peacock's wing, and the frog, 
 again, reclined beneath the hood of the cobra. All anti- 
 pathies and antagonisms were forgotten. And so, amongst 
 the peasantry around us, there was a general expectation 
 which paralysed all activity. The thief sat down by the 
 door-keeper, and the bad characters sought the shelter of 
 the miser's wall ; all were waiting waiting they certainly 
 had no idea for what. 
 
 We had had the celebrated "chupatties" in our district; 
 but I am almost inclined to think more has been made of 
 them than was their due. The village watchmen received 
 them, and forwarded them, or similar ones, elsewhere, as 
 they were requested to do; but all agree that the watchmen 
 had no definite idea of what was meant. If the transmis- 
 sion of these cakes was only intended to create a mysterious
 
 8 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 uneasiness, that object was gained. But if the affair was a 
 signal for united action, it failed altogether, and ended in a 
 bungle, for no united action took place. And it must be 
 remembered that the circulation of chupatties is a super- 
 stitious practice not unknown in Central India, resorted to, 
 we are told, in the hope of passing on epidemics. 
 
 When I was leaving Agra, the Government Secretary, 
 knowing that I had little or no experience in managing a 
 district, kindly told me of the Mahornedan Deputy-Col- 
 lector, Hikmut-Oollah, at Futtehpore, and recommended me 
 to lean on him as a man of complete acquaintance with that 
 part of the country, intelligent, tried, and entirely to be 
 trusted. As soon as I arrived, he, of course, came to see me, 
 and I found him tall, but with rather a stooping, invalid 
 figure, of pale, olive complexion, and with reticent eyes 
 eyes, that is, from which he withheld all expression, till he 
 could form some idea of my character. He had the grave, 
 graceful manners of his race ; but the impression he pro- 
 duced on my mind was that of a person astute rather than 
 frank, and whose behaviour would be coloured by his 
 opinion of his official superior. Somehow, he reminded me 
 of the Italian secretaries one sees in a picture gallery, with 
 their black velvet doublets and delicate lace collars, and 
 their calm, mask-like faces. 
 
 During the ominously tranquil time I have described 
 tranquil, indeed, only in our immediate neighbourhood, for 
 the administration was breaking down in all directions the 
 Deputy-Collector hardly ever came near me. When he did, 
 and the conversation turned on the state of the army, he 
 affected to ignore any serious danger from Sepoys without 
 discipline, and alienated from their lawful leaders. This
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was exactly the tone of Wulleedad Khan. But the daily 
 report from the treasury was kept up as usual. Generally 
 the Subahdar came himself. He was a Brahmin, and though 
 I naturally expressed no doubt of his fidelity, he seemed 
 particularly anxious to impress upon me that I might 
 entirely trust him. Indeed, one morning he rose from his 
 seat abruptly, opened his coat, and drew out his sacrificial 
 thread, and holding it up in his hand, he exclaimed in a 
 strong voice, ''If I am not faithful to the Government 
 (Sircar), Collector Sahib, may Gunga strike me dead!" 
 But when the Subahdar did not come in person, a slight, 
 pleasant-faced old Jemadar took his place, and I could 
 plainly see that his mind was greatly distressed. His heart 
 was not in the mischief, and yet he dared not make any dis- 
 closures. He spoke in a mournful voice, and always asked 
 what the news was from Allahabad. Once in answer to 
 my question, "Well, are your men still quite in hand?" 
 " Oh, yes," he said, " all is right." And then, after a short 
 pause, he added, " But the young are obstinate, and if they 
 get the wind into their heads, they won't listen to advice." 
 But though he thus indicated that things were not what 
 could be wished, he would go no further. I think he was 
 afraid if he told me anything definite, I might ask the 
 Subahdar if it was true. 
 
 At last an afternoon came which was cloudy and overcast, 
 and after luncheon, we opened the windows and Venetian 
 blinds towards the west, and sat out in the verandah. 
 There was a purple haze over the distance, and a sound of 
 guns was distinctly heard. The firing had been going on 
 since mid-day, but we had not known of it in the muffled 
 house ; and every now and then the deep rumble of heavy
 
 10 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 ordnance came rolling over the fields. We were witnesses, 
 through our hearing, of an historical event, for the Nana 
 was attacking Wheeler's entrenchment for the first time. 
 The day was, therefore, June 6th. The Sub-Collector, 
 posted half-way to Cawnpore, had been told to write all in- 
 telligence he could gather, and that evening a letter arrived 
 from him, full of extravagance. "What Roostums were 
 these, who, a mere handful, were resisting hordes of their 
 enemies 1 What courage ! what resource ! The pen refused 
 to proceed, and bowed itself down before qualities which it 
 would require a Furdoosee to rightly celebrate." This rodo- 
 montade had to us a significance all its own. The storm 
 was close upon us. 
 
 I begin my narrative as I began it in the " Memories," but 
 hope that this Introduction will render it less abrupt. In 
 the last few paragraphs, I have a little anticipated events ; 
 but I do not think any confusion will arise.
 
 WITHDRAWAL 
 
 WELL, then, there we were all the men of the station, 
 collected in the large house at Futtehpore which had been 
 built by the last Collector. Each day our movements be- 
 came more restricted. We generally drove in the evening, 
 and one of the railwaymen had a tandem. This practice 
 had to be given up. Then a day or two before the finale 
 we heard that a party of the 2nd Cavalry, who had taken 
 treasure to Allahabad, would be returning, and that their 
 passage through the place might be the signal for a dis- 
 turbance ; and it was rumoured they would perhaps join 
 the treasury guard, and assist in removing the money. We 
 had begun to sleep on the roof of the house, which roof was 
 a rambling place, but approached only by a ladder, at the 
 top of which was a door capable of being fastened. But in 
 prospect of an outbreak of any sort, it seemed as well, this 
 morning of the expected transit, to retain our position on 
 the roof during the day also. The Subahdar had sent word 
 that perfect reliance was to be placed in him, and that if 
 the Cavalry attempted to come near the treasury he would 
 fire into them forthwith. A Zemindar had kindly placed a 
 number of matchlock-men at our disposal, and I sent word 
 to the Subahdar to say that these men would be stationed 
 in a garden not far from our gate ; that they had received 
 
 instructions not to assume the offensive, but to let the 
 
 ii
 
 12 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 Cavalry pass ; then, if they heard firing at the treasury, to 
 move on and take the Cavalry in the rear. This the man 
 in charge of them promised to do. It seemed undesirable 
 that any of our little garrison should take part with the 
 matchlock men, because of their fidelity there seemed no 
 guarantee whatever. From our roof we all watched the 
 proceedings with the greatest interest. If we saw any of 
 the Cavalry they could only have seemed like distant forms 
 moving behind the trees. The sound of hoofs, however, 
 was distinct. They passed the garden, where the match- 
 locks were, at a trot, and then there was a halt ; and as we 
 afterwards learnt, one or two men were sent to parley at 
 the treasury. 
 
 Again we heard the sound of hoofs, and soon after a 
 messenger came to say that the Cavalry had gone on to 
 Cawnpore. It seemed right that the Subahdar should have 
 credit for the result, whether accidental or not. So Mac- 
 naghten, the assistant magistrate, and I rode down to the 
 guard. All the Sepoys had their muskets, and the Subah- 
 dar was in a glow of self-satisfaction, as he ordered us 
 seats, and exclaimed : " I told you there was no cause for 
 apprehension." It seems that some zealous Mahomedans 
 had gone out of the town to meet the Cavalry, and to tell 
 them to beware of an ambush which the English had laid 
 for them in a garden adjoining the road. They rode out of 
 the street, therefore, in the greatest trepidation, and if 
 they ever intended coming to the treasury, gave up the 
 idea, and sent an embassy to the guard, with whom, how- 
 ever, the Stibahdar refused to treat. Things cleared a 
 little for that day, and we dined below. It occurred to us, 
 however, that the punkahs were sources of danger, because,
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 13 
 
 if they had been set on fire, the rafters would have caught, 
 aud our stronghold, the roof, have become untenable. So, 
 when dinner was over we cut all the punkahs down and 
 brought them outside. Some thoughtless tongue said : 
 'Let us burn them !" and the suggestion was immediately 
 carried out. The wretched things were as dry as tinder, 
 and flared up in a most prodigious way. So great a blaze 
 would create alarm in the town, and attract the most un- 
 necessary attention ; but what could we do 1 The fire was 
 easy enough to Hght, but impossible to extinguish ; so we 
 could only wait, our anxious faces lighted up with the 
 brazen glare. In the midst of the unwelcome illumination, 
 a peasant arrived, breathless with terror, and said there 
 was a body of Cavalry in the next field. We withdrew to 
 the roof, but the horsemen passed away. They belonged, 
 we were told, to an Irregular regiment, and were desirous 
 of moving westward without adventures. 
 
 Next day was a morning of troubles. News was brought 
 that the mass of convicts had been let loose at Allahabad, 
 and that numbers were entering our district. The 
 peasantry, too, were getting unsteady. Groups of them 
 were seen wandering towards the station, and, we soon 
 heard, were carrying off doors and wood or iron work of any 
 description they could get possession of, from the un- 
 occupied bungalows. Sinister reports also came that our 
 jail was in danger. The Darogha was in communication 
 with the Subahdar as to whether he should release the 
 prisoners, and the Subahdar was favourable to the pro- 
 position, thinking, probably, that if they broke out they 
 might give trouble about the treasure, but would disperse 
 if merely dismissed. We knew that the 6th N.I. had gone
 
 14 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 at Allahabad, and were certain the party at Futtehpore was 
 only meditating how the booty could be got away. Early 
 in the afternoon we saw from the roof a great number of 
 people approaching from the city. They gradually ad- 
 vanced to our gate, and then the main body stopped, and 
 one or two men came forward. I say we saw, meaning 
 those who were on watch saw, for individually, feeling the 
 great heat, I had fallen asleep in one of the dark, spacious 
 rooms within. It was announced that the Deputy-Collector 
 wished to speak to me ; and, going out, I found my Italian 
 Secretary friend with a sword, and an assumed warlike look 
 scarcely suiting him. He introduced one or two Mussul- 
 mans with guns in their hands. 
 
 He told me that things were getting very awkward, that 
 there was a growing disposition to disregard authority, and 
 that under these circumstances the principal Mahomedans 
 had armed themselves and their retainers, and were pre- 
 pared to keep the public peace as far as they could ; that 
 they 'had come up to pay their respects to the English 
 authorities, and that nothing but necessity would have 
 caused them to take the law into their own hands. He 
 added that our presence was a great source of irritation, 
 and that if we withdrew for a time he thought the 
 excitement would go down. As for our attempting at 
 present to support the British Government, it was alto- 
 gether out of the question. I said in reply that we were 
 quite willing to credit himself and his friends with loyalty, 
 or at any rate with the absence of any hostile intentions, 
 till we had reason to think otherwise ; that, with regard to 
 our movements, they were undecided ; but that should any 
 emergency occur I should rely on Mahomedan assistance in
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 1 5 
 
 keeping order. As he was turning away I said to him 
 privately : " If I go, it will only be for a month's leave." 
 He laughed and replied : " In that case, we shall meet 
 again." We did meet again ; he in the dock, I in the 
 witness-box. 
 
 There was one more day June the 9th, as I take it. 
 All the forenoon we saw the peasantry rushing about the 
 fields. It gave the idea of a Jacquerie an agricultural 
 tumult with immense excitement but no defined object. 
 The railway engineer of the name of Bews lived within 
 sight of the roof, and though he had his things mostly with 
 him, yet furniture and some closed boxes were left over at 
 his place, and he beheld with anguish swarms of dark 
 figures hovering round his dwelling. He was very anxious 
 to know the law on the subject. u I have no authority, of 
 course," he said ; " but if a man comes into my house, I 
 suppose I may prevent him taking my property 1 " It was 
 held that he had a perfect right to defend his goods, and 
 so, taking his chum with him, he rode off, armed, into the 
 thick of the fray. It was, however, of no use. The 
 peasants fled before him and his friend ; but their numbers 
 were so great that, as he cleared one side of the house, they 
 over-ran the other, and his labours were wholly in vain. 
 It has been mentioned that the subject of a withdrawal 
 across the Jumna had been discussed by the Judge and my- 
 self, and had always met with disapproval from him. Not 
 that he had the slightest belief in our being able to hold 
 out ; but he thought that the move should be made in the 
 direction of Delhi, and that the gallant Subahdar and his 
 men would escort us till we could join our countrymen in 
 the North. The forenoon was naturally one of anxious
 
 16 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 thought. Cawnpore, Allahabad, and Rai Bareilly just 
 over the Ganges, were all lost for the present. Should 
 Banda go, or even that portion of the district of Banda 
 adjoining Fiittehpore, we should be completely caught in a 
 trap. As for saving the treasure, it had really passed out 
 of our custody into that of the Subahdar, and our presence 
 in the district was not contributing in any way to order, or 
 to the protection of life and property. The question was 
 stay and meet the chances of a very hopeless future, or go, 
 whilst the road is still open, and join the fortunes of our 
 comrades in the next district of Banda 1 I do not pretend 
 for a moment that the natural love of new adventures, and 
 the equally natural dislike of being cooped up in a hole, had 
 nothing to say to our decision. But looking back upon it, 
 after a long term of years, it seems to me a proper decision 
 dictated by common sense, and not blemished in any way 
 by unworthy motives. Our plans, then, were fixed and 
 agreed upon after debate, by all except the Judge, whose 
 house was near the guard, and who slept amongst the 
 Sepoys, but often came to meals with us. 
 
 However, that evening, at five o'clock, I got hold of him, 
 and we walked up and down in a little plot grown with 
 oleander, vinca rosea, and so on. He knew my views 
 perfectly, and therefore I had only to tell him that we con- 
 sidered the emergency had now arisen. I had been in- 
 formed that the jail would positively be thrown open the 
 next morning, and, from what had been reported about the 
 Subahdar, there could be little doubt that he was only 
 waiting to throw off the mask. The Judge said that he 
 himself had heard some disloyal language at night; he 
 thought the younger Sepoys were excited, but would obey
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 
 
 their officer, and that he was staunch. He had a great 
 idea we should be insulted if we passed through native 
 States as fugitives from a falling empire. Restoration if 
 restoration was to come at all would spring out of Delhi, 
 and that was the rendezvous. To a certain extent he was 
 right. But to talk of going to Delhi and to get there were 
 different things. I told him our plans, mentioned that we 
 had determined to leave late that night for Banda, and 
 entreated him to join us. But this he positively refused to 
 do, and would not even stay dinner, but made up his mind 
 to go home. He shook me by the hand, wished every 
 success to our adventure, said he hoped himself to be soon 
 on the road to Delhi, and we parted, to meet no more in 
 this world. As this is the most painful recollection which 
 I retain in my mind, I am anxious to dismiss it ; but, 
 upon doing so, will simply relate what occurred to this ill- 
 fated gentleman. The sources of information are reliable, 
 and the account of the Judge's end may be received as 
 authentic. He returned to his house from the guard next 
 morning early, and perhaps in the night had heard some 
 expressions which set the question of the disloyalty of the 
 Sapoys at rest, for he at once sent word to the Deputy- 
 Collector (the Italian Secretary) that he wished to go to 
 Banda, could he assist about horses for the journey 1 The 
 person thus applied to sent back a message that it was not 
 in his power to offer any assistance. It seems likely, as our 
 jail was opened that morning, that the roada were pretty 
 full of rough characters. The Judge mounted his horse, 
 with his rifle slung behind him, and proceeded into the 
 town. Perhaps he intended to call personally on the 
 Deputy-Collector. I think it probable, however, that by
 
 1 8 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 that time there was considerable excitement amongst the 
 lower Mahomedans, and that he met with some contumely, 
 if he was not even attacked. That he used his rifle several 
 times there is no question ; and he was not the man to do 
 so except in circumstances demanding such an extreme 
 measure. Then he returned home and ascended to the 
 roof of his office, a convenient oblong space which he had 
 often said was suitable for defence. Here he spent some 
 time, till a large body of men were seen advancing from the 
 town. They had banners and symbols typical of the 
 Moslem Faith, and a copy of the Koran was carried open 
 before one of the number. They advanced to a space 
 beneath the Judge's office, and several fire-arms were dis- 
 charged towards the gaunt figure standing against the sky, 
 deadened in its colour by the heat. There was a sharp 
 return from the roof. Again a silence, broken only by the 
 monotonously-muttered passages from the Koran. Again a 
 discharge. And struck by a bullet in the forehead, Robert 
 Tucker sank to rise no more. Thus a brave, unselfish, 
 honourable, and nobly aspiring man passed away from 
 earth. An excellent person, the late Dr. Duff, with no 
 wish, I am sure, to cause pain to others, publicly wrote that 
 Tucker alone fell at the post of duty. It was not so. He, 
 in staying with the Sepoys, we, in going to new fields of 
 action, each thought we were doing the thing that should 
 be done. That point does not trouble me. I sometimes 
 think that as we were several and the Judge was one we 
 should have tried to oblige him to come with us. I trust 
 the delicacy of the situation will excuse us in the eyes of 
 good men, if there was here any failure of decision. 1 
 
 1 In the " Kaye-Malleson History," affairs at Futtehpore are not
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 1 9 
 
 The faithful Badul Khan, a table attendant who had 
 been with me from the Srst, prepared us a more than 
 usually careful dinner that night. He was not coming with 
 us, nor indeed were any of our servants, except the syces 
 or grooms. They were anxious, as they might well be, 
 about their families, and their trifling goods and chattels, 
 and leaving the Doab seemed like emigration from their 
 own country. We can only, any of us, relate our own ex- 
 periences in such matters, but I have not the slightest in- 
 gratitude to complain of in the case of native servants. 
 They knew of our going, expressed the warmest wishes for 
 our prosperous journey, and the hope that we should all 
 soon meet happily again. I scarcely like to think of the 
 dressing that night before dinner, and putting on suitable 
 clothes should a prolonged absence from the washerman 
 take place. It was more like being sent to school by one's 
 mother than anything else. For my two Hindoo servants 
 from Muttra were forestalling every contingency. One 
 small bag was taken, but elaborate instructions were given 
 as to where the little knick-knacks of the toilet could be 
 found. " If I put my hand in one corner there would be a 
 
 quite correctly narrated. Small blame, indeed, to the authors of a 
 work where details are so prodigiously numerous. Sir T. J. Met 
 calfe was never with us at Futtehpore ; he was, of course, at Delhi 
 Such mistakes do not matter. But one statement I must notice. 
 At p. 76, vol. vi. (new edition, 1897), this passage occurs : 
 
 " Futtehpore was subsequently the battle-ground whereon Have- 
 lock, three days after the death of Mr. Tucker, defeated the troops 
 of Nana Sahib." 
 
 Mr. Tucker was killed on the 10th of June, and General Have- 
 lock entered Futtehpore on the 12th of July. 
 
 This is of importance, because, if Mr. Tucker could remain in 
 safety at Futtehpore, we ought not to have left. But, in fact, 
 Mr. Tucker's death took place before we readied Banda.
 
 2O DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 comb, and down in another was the shoe-horn," and when 
 it came at last to my saying " That will do, it is dinner 
 time now," they both knelt down, clasped me round the 
 knees, and wept like children, and to speak the truth, I 
 had a good cry myself ; short, sharp, relieving, and un- 
 witnessed by the scornful. With a view to detaching little 
 articles likely to excite cupidity, I gave a large gold seal of 
 my father's, which I was very fond of, to Nekram, one of 
 the bearers, and bade him take care of it. He received it 
 without a word. Some months afterwards, when I was at 
 Cawnpore, and communication with Agra was not yet 
 opened up, I was sitting in a verandah, when a grimy figure 
 in torn clothes, sunburnt and travel-stained, fell, as it were, 
 from the sky at my feet. He took off the greasy coils of 
 his turban, let down the long tail of hair worn by the 
 bearer caste, and from amongst its plaits took out the old 
 family seal ! Nekram had not belied his trust : he had 
 struggled through the turbulent country-side from Agra to 
 deliver this seal to its owner. 
 
 There was one member of the household not told of our 
 departure, and as he afterwards became rather a notoriety 
 in a small way, I may just mention who he was. The first 
 Bishop of Madras, named Corrie, was a relative of mine. 
 Appointing him to Madras was an instance of putting a 
 round man in a square hole, for he had been one of the 
 early Missionary Chaplains, a contemporary and friend of 
 Martyn, Brown, Thomason, and others, and had spent his 
 whole life in Bengal and the North-West. He was fond of 
 proselytising, and having, like other Evangelicals of that 
 day, rather perplexed ideas of the tenets of the Latin 
 Church, had considered it a triumph of the Gospel to re-
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 21 
 
 ceive into his own communion a young Catholic, whose full 
 names were Joseph Emmanuel De Bourbon. The convert 
 was of astounding parentage, his father being a French 
 half-caste in the military service of Bhopal, and his mother 
 of Armenian, or half- Armenian origin. He spoke English 
 very fairly, or, at any rate, with only picturesque inac- 
 curacies ; and, having a certain readiness about him, had 
 been employed by my uncle in preaching, and, indeed, had 
 been taken by him to England, where he had appeared on 
 religious platforms in the capacity of "Our Indian Brother." 
 When I was at Agra he found me out. He was in poverty 
 living, entirely in the native fashion, in the bazaar. His 
 lodging was in Padretollah, a quarter where priests have 
 been located, more or less, since the days of Akbar. It is 
 right, however, to say that though Joseph retained to the 
 last a great love of the priests, he never showed any wish 
 to return to his old Church. There was a slight trace in 
 his manner to me of the sentiment that he was one of the 
 achievements of my family, and as such fairly chargeable 
 on my civil list. So by degrees he often came to eat at my 
 place, and at last to live at it. He regulated his habits 
 entirely after Indian models, with the exception of sitting 
 in a cane arm-chair, and using a small round table. He 
 was now very old, apparently infirm, and capable, moreover, 
 of passing as a native without difficulty. To take him on 
 a wild and uncertain journey was thought impossible, and 
 there seemed nothing for it but to privately commend him 
 to the good offices of Badul Khan, who promised faithfully 
 to look after him, and to keep him in ignorance of our 
 movements. 
 
 The last dinner having been discussed, we drank " To a
 
 22 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 lucky excursion," on the roof of the house. Then we de- 
 scended quietly to the porch. It was past eleven, and a 
 darkish night, and the forms of our horses, and that of a 
 dog-cart, on which our slender baggage and some money- 
 bags were placed, were only dimly discernible. Three 
 sowars, who had promised to attend us, were duly present. 
 To dissemble the gravity of the moment, I said to Badul 
 Khan : " You will be sure to take care of the canary and 
 the little red parrot ! " The answer implied a quite solemn 
 acceptance of the trust. 1 Then " Salam Sahiban " was 
 murmured by many voices, and we slowly moved off. 
 When we got out on the country road, under the trees, 
 there was a sense of relief ! The doubt and anxiety passed 
 for the time ; the step was taken, and we had to make the 
 best of it. I was rather on the look-out for the prisoners 
 from the large jail at Allahabad, for some had been seen 
 about the day before, at Futtehpore, and one of our party 
 had met a man with a cricket-bat, which looked like the 
 proof of some looting expedition. But no, we met no one ; 
 and kept quietly on our way, not caring to reach the Jumna 
 before daylight. The fields lay very still around, and there 
 were no sounds but those of night birds or jackals, or a 
 watchman shouting from a distant village. There was, 
 however, a place some little distance from the river, big 
 enough to be designated, in up-country phrase, a "bustee," 
 and this had a bad character. The people were often im- 
 plicated in boat robberies. It lay off the road, but a single 
 street straggled out, and the traveller advanced for a short 
 
 1 The birds were taken to Allygurh and made over to an old friend 
 of mine, a Rajah in the district. But he, poor man, was himself 
 looted by Mewaties, and my cages passed into that lawless tribe.
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 23 
 
 way between houses on both sides. The word was passed 
 to trot through this. It was still dark, and there were no 
 lights in any of the little shops. The horses' hoofs sounded 
 on the metalled road. Good heavens ! what a hornet's nest 
 we disturbed. We heard afterwards the place was full of 
 convicts. There was a sense of pursuit and the avenger, I 
 suppose, in our rapid passage. From every roof-top there 
 were shouts : men who had been crowded together in sleep 
 sprang to their feet, and cried out as if phantoms were upon 
 them. The change from the silence to this hubbub was 
 very striking. 
 
 However, we held on, and soon left the seething village 
 behind, and not long after there came a dim intimation of 
 morning, and we found ourselves in the sand of the Jumna, 
 working our way gradually down to the summer breadth of 
 water. 
 
 But there was no bridge of boats ; it had been broken up, 
 and the boats taken to the other side. However, we spread 
 ourselves out on the edge of the stream so as to be as con- 
 spicuous as we could manage to be, and shouted to the ferry- 
 men. There was no answer for some time ; at length a voice 
 said with a good English accent, " Who are you 1 " We ex- 
 plained, and then the voice replied : " Wait a few minutes, I 
 come at once." A boat came across, and the owner of the 
 voice turned out to be a clever and pleasant Mahomedan 
 gentleman, who was Deputy-Collector at Banda. He little 
 knew what singular adventures were before him, for up to 
 that time his life had been merely one of official routine. In 
 a year or two from that June morning he was a convict in 
 Rangoon ; and not only so, but municipal officer of the 
 town, and married to a Burmese lady. He explained to us
 
 24 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 that for fear of the village we had hurried through, he had 
 taken the boats to the other side. We, of course, made the 
 best of our story, and said that we had withdrawn for a 
 time from. Futtehpore, and hoped to re-occupy it soon with 
 troops; which re-occupation indeed took place within a month 
 from that date. The Deputy was friendliness itself said he 
 was in tents to watch the river, but on account of the heat 
 occupied a serai in the daytime. This building was at the 
 edge of a good-sized village named Chilatara, on the bank. 
 It was a large enclosure, with brick walls and double gates, 
 and lined with rude apartments. Our host begged us to 
 make ourselves as comfortable as we could, and he would 
 swiftly provide something to eat. We all made such a 
 toilet as was possible, and the little bag reminded me, sadly 
 enough, of my two Hindoos the evening before. Then came 
 tea in little red earthen jars, and some curry and chupatties 
 on plates of the same ware. As the heat was stupendous, 
 I had proposed that we should ride on in the night. But 
 about 1 p.m., when most were asleep, the Deputy came to 
 me and said the village was growing rather uproarious. 
 Whether our sowars had suspected we had money in the 
 dog-cart, and had told the villagers so, I cannot say. But 
 there was evidently an intention to create an alarm, in the 
 hope we should go hurriedly off without the dog-cart. Up 
 to this, though one's orders had not been worth much, still 
 some sort of authority adhered to us, and the behaviour of 
 the people had been respectful. But after the Deputy had 
 gone to see what the state of things really was, two Govern- 
 ment peons, or messengers, came and sat ostentatiously near 
 me. " I say," cried one, " what would you give for this 
 thing ? " holding up his chuprass, or brazen badge. " Four
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 2$ 
 
 annas," his comrade replied. " The brass is worth that 
 but the Government?" rejoined the first speaker, with a 
 sneer. 
 
 The Deputy, on his return, declared that we must start 
 at once for Banda, as the road would not long remain clear. 
 Whether he had really received intelligence to this effect 
 may be doubtful, but we gathered round the dog-cart, and 
 conducted it like the Ark of the Covenant. On getting 
 into the road I looked down the street of the village. 
 There was a considerable crowd of peasants, but most of 
 them were sitting down : some at shops, some on walls, and 
 other elevated places; and there was a tall, stout Zemindar, 
 with a sword in his hand, gesticulating and apparently 
 addressing those present. The Deputy, as he was engaged 
 in ordinary work, including police duties, had with him 
 what is called his "Havilat," or body of persons under 
 trial, and, to take charge of these, a few Nujeebs, with 
 muskets. It was siiggested the Havilat people should be 
 let go, and our movements covered by the Nujeebs. This 
 was done. The Nujeebs, who had previously loaded, were 
 drawn across the road, and stood there, till the dog-cart, at 
 any rate, was in safety. The Deputy's tents were being 
 packed ; but as soon as the Nujeebs turned towards Banda, 
 the villagers ran in and looted the carts. 
 
 However, we moved on. I had been anxious that the 
 sowars should accompany us, not for protection, but to 
 prevent the appearance of our be ; ng deserted by our 
 followers. They had not intended going further, but I 
 would not be denied, and they came. The heat was, of 
 course about all that India can do in that direction ; but I 
 could not complain, for, personally, I obtained some protec-
 
 26 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 tion, as I told the syce to lead my horse, and sat with the 
 Deputy in his little buggy. We reached a large village, 
 and stopped for a few minutes to wash the mouths of the 
 horses, and rest them a little. At this spot, of all conceiv- 
 able places, a European came up and spoke to me. I could 
 scarcely believe my eyes. What was he doing, at such a 
 time, in a remote village of Banda? He said he was an 
 apothecary, and bound for some military station further 
 South. Apparently quite ignorant of public affairs and the 
 state of the country, he seemed to be taking things perfectly 
 easy. However, when matters were explained to him, he 
 went and got his wife, who was in a serai a Eurasian 
 girl and he and she stowed themselves away in an "ekka," 
 or little covered car, and prepared to accompany us. As I 
 was sitting with the Deputy, one of the Nujeebs came up, 
 and nodded significantly towards Banda, as much as to say : 
 "You had better move on." The villagers looked furtive 
 and odd, and exchanged glances in a curious, undecided 
 way They were anxious to know if the Deputy was 
 coming out again, and laughed amongst themselves when 
 he said he was. He took the Nujeeb's hint and proceeded. 
 The great heat declined, and it was about five o'clock when 
 we saw, ahead of us, horses, men, and a carriage under 
 some trees. The Deputy told me he had sent a messenger 
 early in the morning to the Magistrate, to say we were 
 coming : he did not tell me what I believe he had added, 
 that we thought he ought to come in with us. The group 
 under the trees was waiting for us. There was a large 
 coach, a regular drag, in fact, belonging to the Nuwab, with 
 four good horses to draw it, harnessed for four-in-hand. A 
 coachman drove the wheelers with one set of reins, and an
 
 WITHDRAWAL. 2? 
 
 off-hand young Mahomedan, who said he " trained " for his 
 Highness, sat beside to manage the leaders, their reins 
 being quite separate. This strange collaboration worked 
 better than might have been expected. The horses, indeed, 
 were rather full of corn and high spirits, so they occasion- 
 ally got into confusion, being all jumbled together as if 
 they were playing at football, but the crown of the road 
 was kept, and no accident happened. The two men on the 
 box were civil enough ; but two others behind, where I 
 occupied the guard's seat, showed the influence of the hour, 
 and were very sullen. The Deputy stuck to his buggy, and 
 engaged to pilot the apothecary and his wife to a place 
 of safety in the city of Banda. We reached the station 
 when night had fallen, and were taken to the Magistrate's 
 house. 
 
 Mr. Mayne, to prevent alarm, and keep things quiet, 
 very properly assumed an ignorance of the crisis fast 
 approaching his district, and expressed great regret that 
 the Deputy had left his post on the river. He gave us an 
 excellent dinner, and provided us each with a portion of a 
 room. But our night-ride, our exposure to the heat, and 
 the reaction from excitement to comparative peace, turned 
 us into pillars of torpor, and though we got through the 
 meal, Mayne had great difficulty in clearing his dining- 
 room. One man got as far as the sofa, on his way to bed, 
 but was hopelessly asleep on it in two minutes. Another 
 fellow, when pressed to retire, rose up, turned round once 
 or twice, sank back and dozed off again in the same chair. 
 But rest did its work, and in the morning we were all right 
 again. Of course, I told Mayne that I considered myself 
 under his orders, and would undertake any task he liked
 
 28 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 to entrust to me, and the others, I knew, would all help. 
 When, however, the Magistrate was not engaged in keeping 
 up the spirits of other people, I could see that his own were 
 at a very low ebb. 
 
 There was a body of Native Infantry of the first Regi- 
 ment which had given signs of disaffection. The Nuwab 
 was friendly, but at that time without much influence. 
 News of fresh misfortunes kept coming in every form from 
 the different Tuhseelees, or Sub-Collectorates. Either 
 some underling wrote that the Sub-Collector himself had 
 disappeared, or a Sub-Collector wrote that his chest had 
 been robbed, or some busybody sent intelligence that Sub- 
 Collector, chest, and all, had been seized by an aspiring 
 farmer. Certain independent chieftains, however, beyond 
 our border, both continued to send friendly messages and 
 even to supply matchlock-men, so that, for the moment, 
 the station was fairly quiet, and, as yet, in no way un- 
 tenable.
 
 II 
 
 SCENES AT BANDA 
 
 THE Magistrate, as has been said, occupied his own bunga- 
 low, and the three officers attached to the wing of Native 
 Infantry lived in their usual quarters. It cannot be 
 doubted that our passage through the district aided in 
 bringing the brooding mischief to a crisis. Mayne was 
 displeased with the Deputy-Collector for leaving the river- 
 side ; but it is doubtful whether he could have retained his 
 post more than a day or two longer. For, very shortly 
 after, it was reported that a body of Irregular Cavalry had 
 crossed the Jumna at that very place, had raised the green 
 flag in the village, and had had the new proclamation 
 announced by beat of drum : 
 
 Khalk-i-Khuda. 
 Mvlk-i- Padshah. 
 Hukm-i-Sipah. 
 
 That is to say " The World is God's ; the Empire the 
 King's ; the Army is in command." We had a right, of 
 course, to expect all Government servants to be staunch and 
 loyal ; but, perhaps, allowance was not always made for the 
 fact that many of the subordinate officers were not by 
 nature suited for posts of danger, nor had they ever pro- 
 fessed to be able to meet trying emergencies. Mayne was 
 
 29
 
 30 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 a sanguine man, and, up to the time of the disturbances, 
 had had a firm hold of his district ; but he could not con- 
 ceal from himself that his authority was crumbling away, as 
 bad report succeeded bad report, and the Thanas and 
 Tuhseelees were, one after the other, isolated from the 
 sudder or central station. He placed some reliance on one 
 or two native chiefs ; and to a certain extent they did, it is 
 believed, prevent outrage getting the upper hand. At his 
 request some of our Futtehpore party patrolled the city on 
 horseback before bed-time the second night. 
 
 The larger merchants had engaged bodies of matchlock- 
 men, who sat before their doors, or occupied balconies, 
 armed and dressed in a manner highly picturesque, if only 
 of partial efficiency. On the third night, however, of our 
 arrival, just when we were thinking of starting citywards, 
 there was a cry of fire, and going into the garden we saw 
 that a bungalow in the lines was burning. One of the 
 officers, Fraser, soon rode up, and with the most praise- 
 worthy desire to prevent anxiety said he thought the fire 
 was a mere accident, and that, in the hot season, thatch 
 and timber did get uncommonly inflammable, there could 
 be no doubt. This, perhaps, was not very satisfactory, but 
 we thought it would do for the city. When we got down 
 there, however, we found a good deal of excitement ; but 
 we explained to several groups that an accident had 
 occurred through the extreme dryness of the weather, and 
 as the fire really was put out, and no other bungalow 
 caught, after a time some degree of confidence seemed to 
 be restored. 
 
 It was on the third morning, I think, that an astounding 
 spectacle broke upon my view. Who should walk in, im-
 
 SCENES AT BANDA. 3! 
 
 portant and serious, to be sure, but still in an ordinary sort 
 of way, but Joseph Manuel ? It has been said his habits 
 were mostly native, and his dress that curious compromise 
 affected by native Christians, smoking-cap, chupkun and 
 shoes with strings; but on this occasion he appeared in 
 the character of a fukeer a loin cloth, and another miscel- 
 laneous cloth tied round his head. He stated that Badul 
 Khan had been willing to escort him to the West, but that 
 he had dreaded the journey, and had gone into the town to 
 see if anyone would give him shelter. Finding, however, 
 that the Mussulman faction was entirely at the head of 
 affairs, he determined to start at night, and try to join us. 
 It was from him the particulars of poor Tucker's death were 
 obtained, and I have reason to believe they were substanti- 
 ally true. One point only has been omitted from his 
 narrative. He always stated that the Deputy-Collector, 
 Hikmut Oollah, was present, and, indeed, read passages 
 from the Koran. He was probably mistaken in this par- 
 ticular. The Deputy was a timid and wavering man, not- 
 withstanding his abilities ; and there seems no doubt, from 
 what came out at his trial, that he was not at first disposed 
 to take a prominent part in the revolt. Of course, Joseph's 
 appearance filled one with remorse for having left him ; but 
 his restoration to strength and endurance during these 
 troubled times was altogether a phenomenon a possibility 
 upon which no one could have reckoned. He had escaped 
 molestation on the road, passing as a mendicant, and, in- 
 deed, one Zemindar had ordered him food, and begged him 
 to rest himself. Wonders were not to cease, for, scrambling 
 along at night, and purchasing shelter from poor people by 
 day, a young clerk, the only one that had remained at
 
 32 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 Futtehpore, but who, at the last moment, could not be 
 found, and who, as we took it, had made off turned up in 
 Banda, and could only explain hia disappearance by a bout 
 of dissipation, which, at least, seemed strangely unseasonable. 
 Inquiries plainly showing that the bungalow had been 
 fired by the Sepoys, Mayne very properly thought it neces- 
 sary to take certain precautions. Some of the small 
 community had, at the Nuwab's invitation, taken up their 
 quarters in his Palace, and Mayne thought it would be well, 
 for a time, at least, to abandon his house, and move also to 
 the Palace, whither the Nuwab was anxious he should at 
 once come. So we all abandoned the bungalow, and went 
 down to the town. You entered under a handsome gate- 
 way, and then found a large enclosure, on one side of which 
 was one of those picturesque buildings based on Mahomedan 
 architecture, but not devoid of incongruities and hybrid 
 additions. There was one large hall, sufficiently enclosed, 
 and provided with means of cooling the air, lofty and 
 spacious, full of all kinds of old furniture, crockery, orna- 
 ments, and rubbish of different kinds. This was our saloon. 
 Men slept in the verandah around this place, and the two 
 ladies in little inside apartments. The imagery of that 
 Palace was easy enough to take in at the time ; but it has 
 not been so easy to get rid of again, and I suppose it will 
 remain in one's mind, as long as life lasts, connected with 
 the ideas of suspense, anxiety, and mental trouble. The 
 nights were fatiguing, for, in addition to the heat and 
 mosquitoes, there was constant disturbance. Chowkeedars 
 came and bawled, sentries kept shouting out, and patrols of 
 sowars frequently rode by. Memory recalls most vividly 
 the ring of the hoofs, the jingle of the bridles, and the
 
 SCENES AT BANDA. 33 
 
 excited voices asking for and giving the pass words. The 
 Nuwah was very civil, and we were well provided for. He 
 was a youngish man, small and slight, but very active in 
 frame, and with a lively kind of fatuous manner about him. 
 Very badly brought up, and pampered with every indul- 
 gence by his elder female relations, he had gone wrong, 
 morally, pretty well as far as he could ; but his natural 
 disposition was easy and good-natured, and he seemed free 
 from resentment, for Mayne had naturally often had to 
 thwart his wishes to keep his property straight at all ; but 
 he showed no alteration of manner in face of the misfortunes 
 which were threatening the British power. Once or twice 
 he came in the evening and sat with us, and I remember 
 his offering a small contribution to the general entertain- 
 ment. He had a figure, a leopard or something of that sort, 
 whose head was secured by a magnet, and could be separ- 
 ated momentarily from its body. " His Highness," cried 
 one of his household, " will now cut off the head of this 
 little animal." His Highness was scarcely equal to the 
 task, having had rather too much liqueur, aniseed, or what 
 not, and was, moreover, seized with a fit of hiccups. With 
 the assistance of an attendant, however, he at last succeeded 
 in decapitating his leopard, and general applause succeeded. 
 Like most native households, the Nuwab's establishment 
 contained one or two Christians of mixed parentage, who 
 filled different posts connected with the servants or the 
 estates. There was a handsome young man named Bruce, 
 who was Agent in village management, and a stout, dark 
 man called Captain Shepherd, who was supposed to com- 
 mand a heterogeneous lot termed the Palace Guards. 
 
 Matters were growing worse daily between the officers
 
 34 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 and the Sepoys: the former, indeed, went as usual to the lines, 
 but they prudently abstained from giving direct orders, as 
 insubordination was clearly abroad. Mayne had got an 
 idea into his head that an old dismantled fort on the river 
 Cane could be made sufficiently defensible for a refuge in 
 case of an outbreak. And he had been making some pre- 
 parations for supplying it with guns and having tent equi- 
 page taken down there. The idea of retaining his station 
 did him honour, but this particular scheme was scarcely a 
 practicable one. 
 
 Be that as it may, in the course of his arrangements he 
 thought that two old guns, which were located at his jail, 
 had better be removed to the fort, both to be out of the way 
 of the Sepoys and also to be safe in his own possession. 
 But when he sent carts and men to the Darogha for the re- 
 moval of the guns, this ominous answer was returned : " The 
 Subahdar Sahib says 'No.'" There was no mistaking that, 
 at any rate. The Subahdar had come to visit the guard, 
 had observed the carts, had asked their object, and knowing 
 it, had said " Hookum nakin." This news came early in the 
 morning, I think, and naturally agitated Mayne very much ; 
 who felt that there was scarcely room in so small a place for 
 two Kings of Brentford. So he went to the Nuwab, and 
 asked if he would assist in compelling the Sepoys to give up 
 the guns. The Nuwab replied that he certainly would, and 
 the morning was spent in arranging plans. The Sepoys h*d 
 altogether broken with their officers, and these latter i-jid 
 come over to the Palace. We had dinner between three 
 and four, and Captain Shepherd was got up in uniform, and 
 highly important ; but it was observed with some dismay 
 that he was taking a very great quantity of sherry. The
 
 SCENES AT BANDA. 35 
 
 evening came slowly on. The Nuwab had perhaps some 
 twenty-five sowars, got up in the theatrical tag-rag style of 
 Palace troops, and some fifty Sepoys. Arrangements had 
 been made about our different duties. Mayne and his com- 
 peer Webster, a fine, well-mounted man, quite in his element 
 in an emergency, and one or two others were to accompany 
 the party, and, Captain Shepherd having fallen asleep, 
 Bennett, one of the officers, was to command the Sepoys. 
 Others were to look after those left in the Palace. The 
 Cavalry was to be under the Nuwab himself. He got him- 
 self up in a red chupkun, wore a sword on each side, and 
 was greatly amused at his position. " This is strange ! 
 Fancy me in battle ! Of course I have often knocked over 
 things in the jungle, for sport, but I never killed a cat in 
 anger, and now imagine ! killing a man ! " I believe he 
 was quite sincere, and had no idea of what was going to 
 happen. 
 
 The muskets were piled in the courtyard, and everything 
 was prepared for the expedition. The plan was to march to 
 the jail and bring away the guns. If the Sepoys offered no 
 resistance, well and good ; if they did, an attempt was to be 
 made to take the guns by force. The Nuwab got on his 
 horse, and put himself at the head of the sowars, who were 
 all drawn up in a line by the gate. Mayne said : " We are 
 all ready now " ; and Bennett, who was a very tall man, 
 stepped forward and gave the order : " Unpile arms." Not 
 a man stirred ! Bennett turned to the Sepoy next him, and 
 saying : " Do you hear the command 1 " pushed him forward. 
 An old Jemadar of the guard immediately drew his sword. 
 " What ! " he cried, " is a Sepoy to be struck like a coolie?" 
 Then complete confusion reigned for a few minutes. The
 
 36 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 men all rushed to their arms, amidst loud cries of " Deenf 
 Deen!" (the Faith !) and ran tumultuously out of the gate- 
 way. The sowars hesitated for a moment ; but one of them 
 setting the example of decamping, they all galloped out of 
 the enclosure, leaving the Nuwab on horseback by himself ! 
 He dismounted and came up to Mayne. There was no ap- 
 pearance of duplicity about him ; he spoke quite collectedly 
 and to good purpose. " This is no place for you any longer," 
 he said. " When my own servants disobey me I am power- 
 less. I recommend you to go to Nagode. Stay here, if you 
 like, to-night. The Palace is at your disposal ; but I say 
 again, I cannot trust my people any longer." I think it due 
 to the memory of the Nuwab, who afterwards pleaded the 
 excuse, to declare that my impression is that Mayne did 
 say : " If I do go, I delegate my authority to you, and you 
 must hold Banda for the British Government." 
 
 Attendants were clamorous for the Nuwab to go within 
 the private apartments. They closed around him and 
 carried him off. Other influential natives came up and 
 strongly urged Mayne to go before the guards returned. 
 The decision was taken. There was some little hurry and 
 scuffle. A phaeton, a dog-cart, and a buggy were got ready. 
 Someone touched my arm, saying : " Here is your horse." 
 I mounted my grey. Guided by instinct, but under no 
 special orders, we formed a cavalcade. Joseph was promised 
 a lift, together with some office hands, in a miscellaneous 
 conveyance. The ladies came out and got into the phaeton. 
 Mayne had some sowars with him ; but my three Futteh- 
 pore men did not show themselves. The sun had gone down 
 just as we passed out of the gateway.
 
 Ill 
 
 NOMAD LIFE 
 
 OUR departure from Banda came very suddenly at last, but 
 Mayne, though his mind dwelt on his proposed refuge on the 
 river Cane, could not but be aware that chance would likely 
 enough decide our movements, and had felt anxious about 
 Kirwee. For at this outpost Mr. H. E. Cockerell was en- 
 deavouring to keep authority. Mayne had written urgently 
 to him to beg him to come into the station, and we had 
 been expecting him all day. The necessity for our abrupt 
 abandonment of the Palace was that it was obvious the 
 Nuwab had for the time lost all authority. Had his men 
 returned with the Sepoys there is no saying what might not 
 have happened. One or two clerks and others in connection 
 with Mayne's office kept their eyes on his movements, and 
 were quite ready to start with us ; but those employed by 
 the Nuwab had confidence in him, and preferred to remain. 
 We got clear of the town without opposition, and, indeed, 
 without notice, and were passing under some trees in the 
 now fading light, when a crash was heard ahead, and, riding 
 up, I found that the Judge, who was driving a one-horse 
 phaeton, had missed the road, and upset the vehicle into a 
 ditch. There were two ladies in it, and one of them, Mrs. 
 Webster, was obviously hurt, though she made very light 
 
 37
 
 38 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 of it at the time. The carriage was wrecked, and had to be 
 loft, and its occupants distributed in the available traps. 
 
 Some sowars who had accompanied Mayne indeed, two 
 were mounted on his horses took advantage of the im- 
 broglio and galloped off. But two others who were in front, 
 and could not well pass us, shared our fortunes. This is 
 merely mentioned as one instance of many, in which natives 
 seemed to act in the matter of fidelity on the mere impulse 
 of the moment. As we got into the open, the sky behind 
 us began to redden, and then, from the spreading glow, 
 shafts of fire shot up into the air, and the illumination ex- 
 tended to the zenith. The Sepoys had made a bonfire of 
 all the bungalows and public offices. The effect was most 
 striking as we slowly pursued our way along the road, 
 rendered doubtful and gloomy by the sky at our back. 
 Far into the night the fire blazed and quivered above its 
 own smoke, and it was almost morning before the last lurid 
 streaks died out of the horizon. The word was passed 
 down about midnight to be cautious, as a turbulent village 
 had to be passed. But sleep had calmed all passions, and 
 as we moved through the irregular street, there were only 
 the watchmen with their bamboo staves, curious to know 
 who we were, but too excited and frightened to ask. As 
 the first light of the day broke, we reached another small 
 place, where there was a pond, and here we halted for a 
 few minutes, and rode into the water to cool the dusty legs 
 of the horses. Uncertain as the future was, it was an im- 
 mense relief to be free to be out in the open air and no 
 longer subject to apprehensions and anxiety. Scenes in 
 " Gil Bias " and other picturesque fictions occurred to the 
 mind, where the hero had been in a terrible fix lodged in
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 39 
 
 prison, or bound by robbers, and by some sudden turn of 
 fortune found himself his own master again, on the high- 
 way, prepared for new characters and fresh adventures. 
 One's spirits rose, and what was comiag seemed of little 
 importance in the delight of having got rid of the odious 
 past. 
 
 The Sepoys at Banda belonged to the 1st Regiment of 
 Native Infantry, a party of them had been sent with 
 treasure to Nagode, and it was now time they should be 
 back again. But, although they were almost momently 
 expected, little uneasiness was felt, as all our party were 
 armed, and there seemed no reason to suppose the Sepoys 
 would provoke a quarrel in which there was nothing to 
 gain. Still it was just a sensation that it would be 
 pleasanter when the meeting was over. After leaving the 
 village we came to a ridge, from which there was a long 
 slope leading down to far away, and ending in a stream. 
 As we were descending this the declivity was very gradual 
 we saw dust at a great distance, and this developed into 
 a body of men with carts approaching. It was undoubtedly 
 the treasure party. We closed in a little, and awaited 
 events. Sepoys by themselves, on a warm day, get rid of 
 their pantaloons, and array themselves in their comfortable 
 loin cloths. Then they put handkerchiefs under their 
 shakos ; but, somewhat ungirt as they looked, they all had 
 their muskets over their shoulders, and advanced, keeping 
 abreast of the leisurely bullock carts. There were three of 
 the officers of the 1st with us, and Bennett, by his height, 
 was distinguishable from afar. We passed each other quite 
 close. 
 
 The Jemadar saluted Bennett, and, as if explaining his 
 
 D
 
 4O DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 position, said : " We are returning to Banda, Sahib : and 
 you ? " Bennett answered he was going to Nagode. 
 " Shall you be back soon ? " the other asked, as coolly as 
 could be. Bennett replied that his movements were un- 
 certain. The Jemadar then saluted again, and went on. A 
 more singular interview, surely, has not often taken place. 
 There is no wish to add to the numberless pages in 
 which the Mutiny has been discussed, but every eye-witness 
 is bound to testify how far the occurrences struck him as a 
 Kevolt, because this certainly affects the serious question 
 of how the country was governed. People do not revolt if 
 they are happy. Now, in Futtehpore, what had been 
 witnessed was a claim on the part of the Mahomedans to 
 resume an authority which they considered the English no 
 longer able to wield, the cause of this impotence, be it 
 remembered, being the disloyalty of the Native Army. 
 Then, besides this, there were the high jinks of a peasantry, 
 poor and ignorant, intent on loot, and dissatisfied with 
 Government, not because it was the English Government, 
 but because it was Government. And this is the Nemesis 
 of despotism, that the people are bred up to look on 
 Government as boys look on a school-master. To be 
 obeyed, if you must ; and hood-winked and cajoled, if you 
 can. Here, then, on this long slope, where we met the 
 Sepoys, we saw a wonderful sight. The peasantry swarm- 
 ing into empty bungalows at Futtehpore looked like revolt ; 
 but here we saw them literally scampering over the country 
 like so many monkeys, doing mischief in each other's 
 villages, and occasionally having a turn up with lattees or 
 quarter-staves in the open. This was clearly Outbreak, not 
 Revolt. Whether the peasantry were poor in consequence
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 4! 
 
 of the heavy assessment of Banda is another question. 
 All that we then witnessed was the Witches' Sabbath of 
 untaught, needy, unprincipled village roughs not a political 
 demonstration at all aud I believe the case was at bottom 
 the same in Futtehpore. 
 
 It was nearly noon when we reached Kalinjur, and put 
 up at the thana, which was in the centre of the village. 
 We had two doctors with us, one from Futtehpore, and Dr. 
 Clark of Banda, and the first opportunity now occurred of 
 ascertaining how far Mrs. Webster had been injured by the 
 upset. It was found her collar-bone was broken. It is 
 truly wonderful how ladies will endure in silence, sustained 
 by their courage and unselfishness. It was horrible to 
 think what a long night of pain Mrs. Webster must have 
 passed. But she made no complaint. In the village the 
 sweetmeat-sellers were unwilling to serve us, even when 
 money was offered, so that we had to put the coin down 
 and take a reasonable quantity ourselves. In the after- 
 noon, too, a curious demonstration took place. Some 
 Muhajuns, or native merchants, money-lenders, and so on, 
 who had apparently hired men to watch and guard their 
 houses, made them all parade in a procession past our 
 thana. They did not say anything, so the idea evidently 
 was to upbraid us with our loss of authority. There was a 
 disposition, too, in some of the young men towards evening 
 to hang about and interfere with the preparations for start- 
 ing. However, before sunset we were on the march again, 
 and ascending towards hills which lay at some distance. 
 And as we wound along we kept on our left the wonderful 
 fort of Kalinjur, all dismantled, but still displaying the 
 matchless skill with which an immensely strong natural
 
 42 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 position had been seized on, and rendered, for all old-world 
 modes of attack, impregnable. Whilst passing this fort, a 
 rifle fell out of the dog-cart, and, going off, a ball was 
 lodged in the fetlock of a horse belonging to Hutchinson, 
 the Futtehpore doctor. 
 
 He attempted to extract the ball, but finding it embedded, 
 and supposing the horse would suffer exceedingly from 
 movement, he took off the saddle and bridle, and abandoned 
 the animal by the wayside. But Joseph Manuel, who was 
 seated in some strange vehicle, with clerks and one or two 
 old women, thought the occasion not one to be thrown away. 
 There had been no time at Banda to attend to his wardrobe, 
 and, therefore, he was simply dressed in a loin cloth, and a 
 little linen cap ; the heat, indeed, rendered such an airy 
 costume by no means inappropriate. From someone, too, 
 he bad obtained a sword without a scabbard, and borrowing 
 a watering-bridle from one of the syces, he secured 
 Hutchinson's horse and mounted him. The animal was 
 quite able to move, and seemed pleased to rejoin the caval- 
 cade, but old Joseph was a most comical sight. Naked 
 himself, on a naked horse, and with his drawn sword held 
 to his shoulder with an air worthy of Marshal Schomberg, 
 he did much to lighten the journey with laughter. All 
 that night the road lay amongst the hills, and surrounded 
 by scenery unfamiliar to those who dwelt in the Doab, but 
 pretty enough as far as the imperfect light disclosed it. 
 The region was part of the territories of the Raja of Punna, 
 and his people were fairly civil. Water was very scarce, 
 and at one or two guard-posts where it was found, they 
 said it was brought from a long distance. The party were 
 willing to pay for it, and the Punna men to accept the
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 43 
 
 offer. Mayne had managed to write from Kalinjur to 
 Major Ellis, Political Agent at Nagode, and that gentleman 
 had sent out a barouche for the ladies, one stage from his 
 station. The ladies got in, and Mayne and I were asked to 
 accompany them. 
 
 A few words about Banda. The next morning after the 
 party left was a sorrowful and sanguinary one enough. 
 There is no reason to think that the Nuwab was in any way 
 consenting to the proceedings, and indeed it would appear 
 he was so far a prisoner in his own zenana that his relatives 
 and retainers did what they could to keep him there. The 
 Sepoys and Palace guards, and the rabble of the town, 
 made common cause, and riot and bloodshed prevailed. 
 Those we had passed the afternoon with were all murdered, 
 with their belongings. Poor Shepherd and Bruce, the 
 females of their household, and some Christians in the 
 bazaar, met their deaths early in the morning. Cockerell 
 yielded at last to the solicitations that he should leave 
 Kirwee. But too late. We had hoped against hope that 
 he might catch us up at Kalinjur. But he rode into 
 Banda the day after we had left, before the sun had got 
 hot. He reached the Palace gate, supposing he should 
 soon be amongst friends. But having entered this portal, 
 he was attacked and killed at once. It is well known that 
 the Nuwab received and protected several British fugitives 
 when he recovered authority, and that his mother be- 
 haved kindly to ladies. He did very well as long as he 
 kept Sepoys out of the station, and if fortune had favoured 
 him he might have lived to receive thanks and honour from 
 the Government he had seemed anxious to support. But 
 luck was against him. There was, in the end, a great
 
 44 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 gathering of rebels at Banda, and when they went out 
 against General Whitlock they compelled or induced the 
 Nuwab to go with them. I do not know whether the 
 two swords were in requisition again ; but he was taken in 
 arms, was deprived of his estates, put on a pension, 
 and sent to Indore. Thence he wrote to me, 1 being pro- 
 bably afraid of Mayne, and reminding me of the sojourn in 
 the Palace, asked me to exert myself in his behalf. I 
 replied that I had a warm sense of his kindness under 
 trying circumstances, but that it would be mere presump- 
 tion in me to come forward in a political case. And I 
 could not but add that a home and a pension represented 
 treatment so different from what other nobles in actual 
 rebellion against the British power had received, that 
 it seemed clear his hospitality and friendliness had been 
 already taken into consideration. He died not long after. 
 But a few years afterwards his son actually took a long 
 journey to call upon me, and said he had often heard my 
 name from his father. So the unfortunate Nuwab har- 
 boured no resentment. Not being a hero, he did not 
 exhibit heroic conduct ; but I believe, if he had been left to 
 follow his own wishes, he would not have rebelled. Worse 
 men had better fortune. 
 
 To return to the fugitives, who got into the carriage. 
 We were weary enough, and the easy rolling of the vehicle 
 was very pleasant, and so, chatting away, we found our- 
 selves in the street of Nagode. Looking out from under 
 the hood, I was greatly surprised to see people running 
 about in an excited way, some with bundles under their 
 arms, some dragging children along, all in anxiety and 
 
 1 See Appendix No. VI.
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 45 
 
 expectation. It seemed a straggling, stony kind of place, 
 the shops only occurring here and there; but some of 
 these were closed, and at others the owners were 
 busy fastening up the bamboo hurdles that did service 
 for shutters. We were driving slowly, and at last 
 came to a stand-still, when a tall, middle-aged man, in a 
 sola topee, without a coat, but actively girdled up, and 
 with a sword in his hand, came to the side of the carriage. 
 "You are some of the party from Banda?" he asked. 
 " Yes, this is Mayne, and these are the ladies." " Major 
 Ellis will put up some, and I others. I am Cole, Assistant 
 Agent." "I will stay with you," I said, to make a 
 commencement of the division, and I got out. " Come 
 along," cried Cole ; " we will go to my house presently. 
 There is a panic going on, and I like to be here in case of 
 being wanted. I am with the Raja." We went together 
 to some large gates in a native house of considerable 
 extent, and after being subjected to certain watchwords, 
 supplied, of course, by my companion, were cautiously 
 admitted into an archway, and the gates were shut again. 
 
 Drawn down exactly in front of the entrance was a six- 
 pounder cannon, or one, at any rate, that looked of that 
 calibre, and in charge, with lighted port-fires, were servants 
 of the Raja, got up in the odd toggery affected by princely 
 retinues in the East. Cole introduced me to the Raja, 
 a thin, rather forlorn personage, who had selected this 
 stormy period for having a sore nose. That organ, 
 naturally of unusual proportions, and now swollen by 
 internal tires, was out of all proportion to the long, thin, 
 Don Quixote face. His Highness kindly took me into 
 a small darkened apartment where a thermantidote was
 
 46 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 spinning softly round, and supplied, most thoughtfully, a 
 sherbet of pomegranate or other innocuous fruit, wherewith 
 to refresh the inner man. But there was a sort of ottoman 
 there, covered with cool, white cloth, enticing with soft 
 pillows, and I felt that, come what political changes might, 
 I must sleep. We had been on horseback the whole of two 
 nights, and what with heat and dust, and one thing or 
 another, nature now took the matter into her own hands. 
 I lay down, was asleep in two minutes, and did not awake 
 again till the evening. 
 
 The station was garrisoned by the 50th Regiment N. I., 
 and iu respect to this corps, Colonel Malleson, in his 
 " History of the Mutiny," writes as follows : " There was 
 one station in Bandalkhand, and only one, in which the 
 native troops stationed did not mutiny. This was the 
 station of Nagode. The regiment there quartered, the 
 50th Native Infantry, stood firm to the last, fourteen men 
 in the whole regiment having alone shown symptoms of 
 disaffection. Nor was the misconduct of these men dis- 
 played until a later period 27th August." From a 
 testimony so honourable to the corps no one naturally 
 would wish to detract by a single careless word. It 
 remains, however, a fact that the news of the approach of 
 the Banda caravan, exaggerated and distorted, doubtless, in 
 native rumour, had greatly excited the men, though the 
 excitement had been admirably guided and controlled by 
 their officers. But the news of a considerable ferment in 
 the lines spread into the town, and though I believe there 
 were no symptoms of outbreak, a regular panic had set in. 
 This was what we had witnessed in the street, and it was 
 against the possible consequences of this that the Raja,
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 47 
 
 with his exaggerated nose, had taken warlike precautions. 
 But when I awoke all was calm again, and the kindly Cole 
 was present to offer the hospitalities of his house. On 
 reaching his bungalow, I found most of the Futtehpore 
 party ; and a parcel of rough strangers we were, uncouth in 
 appearance, and retaining little of civilisation except a 
 capacity for good food and beer. We were all most ably 
 catered for by Mrs. Cole, and accommodated, obviously not 
 with bedrooms, but with bedding or wrappings, on which 
 sleep was admirably effected in the verandah. Major Ellis, 
 with whom the ladies and some of our party put up (the 
 rest being received by officers), was a scholar of some 
 distinction, and well acquainted with the history of the 
 part of the country in which his duties lay, the legends of 
 the Bhondelas, Bhagelas, and so on. He had accumulated 
 an extensive and valuable library, and, with the natural 
 affection of a student for his books, felt great apprehension 
 for its safety. He might well do so. During the subse- 
 quent troubles of the autumn, the agent only abandoned 
 Nagode for a single night, when he visited the Raja 
 of Punna, who had always asked him to come in case 
 of emergency. On his return, of the volumes and manu- 
 scripts he had sedulously collected for thirty years not 
 a vestige remained. The whole library had been reduced 
 to ashes. 
 
 Kindly treated and comfortable though we were, Mac- 
 naghten and myself were very anxious to push on, and get 
 within hail of our Commissioner. The party that had 
 arrived from Banda in some measure broke up, for the 
 officers of the 1st Regiment who had accompanied us were 
 put nominally under arrest, to enable them to account for
 
 48 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 their absence from their corps. And as the country 
 around was fairly safe, it was not necessary that onward 
 movement should be pursued in absolute caravan fashion. 
 As Macnaghten and I were inquiring who were bound for 
 Rewah, and ultimately for Mirzapur, it was reported to 
 Major Ellis that we were contemplating a start, and, 
 prompted certainly by some good public motive, he wrote 
 an official letter to me saying that, as he might possibly be 
 able to employ our services, he must forbid our leaving 
 Nagode. We wrote back that our move, far from having 
 as its object escape from duty, was simply dictated by the 
 desire to put ourselves at the disposal of our own Commis- 
 sioner, and we felt sure Major Ellis did not wish to 
 transfer officers from one part of the country to another, 
 without definite authority for the purpose. He wrote back 
 that he did not so wish, and we started. 
 
 Old Joseph was still so ill-supplied with clothes that I did 
 not like to take him on, and Cole kindly offered shelter in his 
 compound, so he was left, with sufficient funds to enable 
 him to follow us, if matters got more settled in the Doab 
 The rains were fully due, but still held off, fortunately, for 
 heavy wet would have increased our difficulties. We were 
 still a large party, most of the Futtehpore men, the ladies, 
 Webster, and, for part of the way, Mayne. Night, of course, 
 was chosen for our departure, on account of the heat, and 
 with sincere thanks to our kind hosts off we started. The 
 long hours brought us, before the sun was oppressively high 
 up, to Maihere, a very pretty place, with one or more 
 curious conical hills, which, as in the case of most of the 
 phenomena of nature in India, had been appropriated to 
 devotional purposes, and crowned with venerated shrines.
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 49 
 
 At this place we got on a once celebrated line of communi- 
 cation, the Deccan Road, now greatly superseded by the 
 railway; and on this at stated intervals were staging 
 bungalows, so that without difficulty we proceeded till we 
 reached Rewah, the capital of the independent kingdom of 
 that name. For the sake of accommodation we did not 
 keep always together, but broke up in twos and threes so as 
 to use the bungalows in turn. When the party I was with 
 reached the staging house at Rewah, we were received by a 
 youngish English officer looking indeed younger than he 
 really was well dressed, jaunty and amusing, who gave no 
 sort of impression of being in any responsible position, and 
 did the honours of the bungalow as if the poaching of eggs 
 and the currying of fowls were on the whole as important 
 duties as life presented. But this airy and wholly wonder- 
 ful person was Lieutenant Willoughby Osborne, a young 
 Political, who was performing the astounding feat of keep- 
 ing Rewah quiet, entirely by himself. A solitary European 
 without a comrade a soldier, you may say, without a 
 regiment was by sheer force of character overawing the 
 authorities of Rewah. 
 
 The King had made off to a jungle fortress at that 
 particular juncture ; but shortly before we arrived a Durbar 
 had been held, where the Sudder Ameen, who was a 
 Mahomedan, had spoken against the British Government, 
 and on hearing him (or learning about him, he may possibly 
 not have been present), Osborne insisted on the King 
 putting him under arrest, and was so urgent that his wishes 
 were actually carried out, and the Sudder Ameen found 
 himself in prison. To give the impression of being gener- 
 ally aware of what was going on, Osborne moved about a
 
 50 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 good deal, travelling hither and thither on the mail cart 
 still remaining in these territories. As he was passing a 
 village on one occasion, a Brahmin, who seemed to be a man 
 in authority, took the opportunity of calling him what may 
 be translated as a " blackguard Feringhee," or " Frank." 
 An ill-fated speech ! Osborne stopped the cart, descended, 
 seized the Brahmin, tied him behind with the horse's heel- 
 ropes, and started again. After a long run of some miles 
 the breathless one was relieved at an uncomfortable 
 distance from his home, with the recommendation to be 
 more circumspect in his language for the future. I hope 
 our company was some gratification, after such anxious 
 solitude, to this brave and remarkable man. His society 
 was certainly most exhilarating to us, giving us increased 
 trust in our cause, and a desire to aid it to the best of our 
 powers. 
 
 The rains still held off. One could not but remember 
 how, in former years, one had watched the sky in the over- 
 powering heat for symptoms of coming disturbance, whilst 
 now as great desire was felt that the dry sunshine might 
 last a little longer. It lasted, but the mornings and the 
 evenings were growing overcast, and at length we ap- 
 proached Mirzapore, Bews having given me a seat in his 
 dog-cart, and as we sat there strange figures wrapt in 
 native blankets we could scarcely wonder at the rain 
 which descended in torrents, and danced and glinted from 
 its own puddles on the road. On, on through the stream- 
 ing streets and under the dripping trees till we pulled up 
 at the noble old house then occupied by the Magistrate, but 
 afterwards usually the home of the Judge, till, some years 
 later, during my tenancy, it ceased to be so ; for the
 
 NOMAD LIFE. 51 
 
 hungry river gnawed the banks around it, and left it if 
 more conspicuous uncomfortable, and only moderately 
 safe. We were welcomed by St. George Tucker, brother of 
 the gentleman I had parted from in the little garden-plot 
 at Futtehpore. And standing by him, as his Assistant, was 
 a young man whose subsequent brilliant career is known to 
 all Charles (now Sir Charles) Elliott. I would mention 
 a trifling incident as illustrative of the times. After de- 
 scending that remarkable Steep which separates the table- 
 land of Rewah from the valley of the Ganges, we reached a 
 staging bungalow, where a native Raja, belonging to the 
 Allahabad district, was awaiting our arrival. Eggs in pro- 
 fusion, plenty of milk, all the vegetables in season ; hay for 
 our horses, sweetmeats for our men all were forthcoming. 
 And I " must write a certificate " to say how we had been 
 welcomed ; for of the loyalty of a Prince, who catered for 
 English nomads without even being asked to do so, who 
 could doubt ? " Perhaps I would especially remark that 
 the Raja who held this testimonial had warmly espoused 
 the British side." Would you learn the cause of our host's 
 solicitude 1 Neill had reached Benares !
 
 IV 
 
 MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS 
 
 IT was Sunday, but we had lost note of time, and were only 
 recalled to the fact when St. George Tucker suggested after- 
 noon church. The little fabric used for Divine service was 
 just opposite his gate, and was of the order of architecture 
 which might be called " gimcrack." It looked as if one so 
 disposed might lift it off the ground, put a pastille under it, 
 replace it and allow the fragrant smoke to issue out of the 
 little steeple. However, as Tucker simply remarked, "de- 
 votion was pretty well the only stand-by left." So we, in 
 due course, when refreshed and dried, assembled and heard 
 prayers read. 
 
 The position of Mirzapore was peculiar ; *he Sepoys had 
 not mutinied, and there had been no outbreak in the city. 
 It was said that owing to the suggestions of Colonel Pott, 
 who commanded the regiment the 47th and through 
 whose admirable arrangements it was kept at least from open 
 sympathy with the rebel cause, many of the Sepoys who 
 had saved money had lent it out at interest. Neither a 
 sudden break-up nor a rising of the rabble suited, there- 
 fore, the views of these men. Still, the feeling was very 
 far from being one of security; recent events at Benares 
 had created great excitement, and there was the chance that 
 the Sepoys might break out from apprehension of attack ; 
 
 5 2
 
 MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS. 53 
 
 whilst in the city the merchants and bankers were timid 
 and cold-hearted, and there had always existed, beside and 
 around these, a strong element of bad characters. The 
 atmosphere, however, at the Magistrate's house was one of 
 hope and calmness. 
 
 We had, of course, to keep our onward progress steadily 
 in view, and hearing that a steamer was expected with 
 troops for Allahabad, it seemed a good plan to secure 
 a passage, and let our horses come after us by road. Our 
 party had gradually dwindled; the ladies were moving 
 South; on others Allahabad had no claim; Mayne had 
 gone back Rewah way, to remain near his own district. 
 But we were still five or six, and being informed that the 
 steamer had arrived, and having made arrangements with 
 our servants, we went down to the river bank. The steamer 
 was duly there, and we went on board, and found it full of 
 men of the 64th Queen's. We were just arranging to stow 
 away our traps, when Major Stirling, who commanded 
 the detachment, came up, and though he was perfectly 
 courteous, yet he remonstrated, strongly enough, against 
 our coming on board. He said the crowding was un- 
 comfortable as it was, that the boat had knocked a hole in 
 her bottom, which had only been tinkered up, that she 
 moved very slowly, and any additional weight, however 
 slight, was undesirable. Macnaghten, excellent fellow as he 
 always was, keeping the goal steadily in view, urged that we 
 ought to persevere, notwithstanding the fact that we were 
 clearly unwelcome. But Bews and I thought that if the 
 boat was so slow, the object of our going in it was in 
 a measure removed, and at last it was decided that we 
 should land again, and at once start by road. And this we
 
 54 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 did, returning to St. George Tucker's house, waiting till 
 sunset, and then mounting and riding down to the ferry. 
 
 After crossing the river we proceeded gently along 
 gently indeed, perforce, for we did not intend to stop 
 for more than baiting till we reached Allahabad. About 
 eleven at night we struck the main road from Benares, and 
 found the dak bungalow, at that point, occupied by English 
 soldiers. There were tents in the enclosure, and a couple 
 of officers were still sitting in the verandah smoking. They 
 were rather entertained at the idea of a small party of their 
 countrymen riding about in the night, and were desirous 
 of acting as hosts. Escorted by them, we visited the 
 kitchen, their messman kindly supplied us with food and 
 beer, and we sat under the trees and discussed our welcome 
 provender. On inquiry it was thought I was the lightest 
 sleeper, so the rest lay down under a neem-tree for a snooze 
 from which I was to awake them. I fastened my bridle to 
 my arm, and knowing that my horse, being an Arab, would 
 avoid trampling on me, or hurting me, I slept myself ; but, 
 of course, under my existing responsibility, the sleep was 
 for little scraps of five or ten minutes only, causing me to 
 start each time to wonder why on earth I should be in bed 
 on the ground, and have a horse tied to me. At last it was 
 two o'clock, and I ruthlessly made the others get up, and 
 off we went. I recollect seeing two men hanging on a tree 
 near this place, and in the dim light they looked ghastly 
 enough ; but I believe they had paid a just penalty, being 
 two of the Zemindars who had betrayed and murdered 
 young Moore in their village a few days before. We rode 
 on till daybreak, and then, after a little consultation, de- 
 cided to hold on as long as we could, make one halt, and so
 
 MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS. 55 
 
 push on to Allahabad by night-fall. The weather was 
 overcast, but not wet, and we persevered till past noon, and 
 then pulled up at a dak bungalow Travelling was per- 
 fectly safe ; troops had passed up the road, and, indeed, the 
 journey was melancholy from desolation rather than excit- 
 ing from adventure. 
 
 In the strips of village streets adjoining the highway 
 the shops were latticed up with bamboo hurdles ; other 
 dwellings showed traces of having been fired, and there 
 were very few people in sight anywhere. Some unnecessary 
 violence had, perhaps, been shown by those passing up- 
 wards, but, of course, much excitement prevailed. Many 
 wild stories of the treatment of isolated Englishmen by 
 natives were abroad, and Thomas Atkins, naturally enough, 
 found it difficult to draw distinctions, so the very sight of a 
 black man made him rather uproarious. We were soon in 
 the saddle again, and reached the ferry opposite Dara 
 Gunj, at Allahabad, by sunset. The river had risen a great 
 deal from rain up-country, and we had some little trouble 
 with the young fellows managing the boats. They were in 
 a flighty, disobedient mood, and on our threatening one of 
 them he jumped overboard, so that we had to be a little 
 diplomatic. 
 
 I had written to our Commissioner, Mr. Chester, from 
 Mirzapore, and he kindly came down to meet me in his 
 buggy. Of course he had much to tell, for I was only 
 partially acquainted with the strange events that had taken 
 place at Allahabad. The whole story is so well known that 
 I will not dwell on it for a moment, but I may mention one 
 circumstance 1 have never seen in print. Besides the 
 trouble which the Sepoys, rebels, and bad characters of the
 
 56 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 place had given, some difficulties also had arisen from our 
 own countrymen. Indirectly connected with the railway 
 was one romantic and remarkable young man, the son of an 
 eminent geologist, who could not refrain from eccentric acts. 
 When the town was in its most ticklish state, and the 
 Sepoys only too anxious for any pretext for offence, this 
 youth must needs go and shoot a cow that had strayed into 
 his compound. He seemed quite unaware that he had done 
 anything imprudent, and spoke of the animal rather as a 
 fera naturae which he had discovered in his own domain. 
 After the outbreak had taken place, and as soon as our 
 people began to leave the Fort, this strange man was bitten 
 with a desire to become a pirate. He rigged up a boat, 
 put on board a quantity of loot he found lying about, and 
 cruised up and down the river in his mysterious bark, 
 amusing himself, amongst other employments, with a piano 
 he had picked up in some deserted bungalow. That he 
 would have been heard of generally, for good or evil, seems 
 certain, as he was out of the common run, but death from 
 fever or cholera put an end to his whimsical career. 
 
 Chester drove me to the Red Lion, the name given to a 
 large house which had formerly been occupied by the 
 Judge, but was now used as a civil barrack, and in which 
 were collected a company of local civilian refugees from 
 Oudb, railway engineers, and others. I was introduced to 
 Dr. Irving, who had charge of the mess, and who was good 
 enough to admit my comrades and myself to the privilege 
 of the Club as long as we stayed. We soon sat down to 
 dinner, and then, of course, we heard the current news. 
 Havelock had arrived, and was only awaiting carriage to 
 proceed to Cawnpore. Renaud, of the Madras Fusiliers,
 
 MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS. 57 
 
 had started with his detachment to prepare the way for the 
 coming brigade. We were all talking without special know- 
 ledge, and as people do talk who are not behind the scenes, 
 freely and critically, and it may perhaps be added, foolishly. 
 But the general feeling was one of regret that Neill should 
 have been superseded. He had established a reputation 
 for great decision of character at Benares, and he seemed so 
 especially suited for the work in hand. 
 
 Then, too, as some delay was now taking place about 
 transport, for which, probably, General Havelock was in no 
 way responsible, it pleased us uninstructed critics to think 
 that Neill would not have bothered about carts and bearers, 
 and that the hitch was the fault of the new Commander. 
 All our beds stood side-by-side ; there were five or six in 
 the verandah where I lay, so one could not complain of lone- 
 liness. 
 
 After breakfast, the next morning, I and another strolled 
 out. It was quite cloudy and overcast, and coming at 
 length to an open space we found a gallows on which nine 
 men were hanging. The odd thing was there was not a 
 soul in sight. There was a bazaar not far off, but it was de- 
 serted, and these nine dead men were absolutely by them- 
 selves. The state of affairs, when reprisals began at 
 Allahabad, has been described by others, and I have no wish 
 to judge of actions that were doubtless intended to make 
 short work with the disaffected, and so speedily end the 
 necessity of punishment at all. But something was said 
 about " making examples " by stringing up people for slight 
 offences. The nine coolies by themselves seemed to answer 
 that notion. The native community would not have cared 
 a straw if a thousand coolies had perished. It was, I think
 
 58 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 on our return from this rather uncomfortable walk that we 
 saw a well-horsed mail phaeton driven by a veterinary 
 surgeon known for his turns-out. By his side was sitting a 
 tall, broad, and full-fleshed man in Khakee uniform dress, 
 and a turbaned helmet. He descended to see the Magis- 
 trate, and make some inquiries on business. Very free- 
 spoken, animated enough in his manner, and defiant rather 
 in gesture, he was a man about whom interest was at once 
 excited. As it was the first time I had seen him, I did not 
 know who he was. But the rumour soon spread that it was 
 Neill who had come. Of course, one looked more minutely 
 at him then, for he was quite the hero of the hour, and 
 certainly for decision, command, dash, and all that is neces- 
 sary to inspire confidence and insure obedience, he looked 
 every inch his reputation. 
 
 Chester told me that afternoon I was to go with General 
 Havelock when he started, but it was not certain whether 
 he would be able to march the next day or not. It had not 
 rained since the day we reached Mirzapore, but each even- 
 ing clouds were thickly collecting, and we went to bed 
 usually expecting a torrent. But the clouds blew off again. 
 Two days, if not more, passed ; and at last one morning 
 positive tidings came that the General would start that 
 afternoon. The camp had been sent on a mile or two out 
 of Allahabad, and on the afternoon of the 7th of July the 
 troops left the Fort of Allahabad. I had made all the little 
 arrangements I could : chiefly with the view to great wet, 
 which we knew was upon us. A sergeant's "paul" had 
 been assigned to me, and Bews, with whom I had left 
 Futtehpore, was to share it. A large curtain over an ex- 
 aggerated clothes-horde will do for a description of a "paul."
 
 MAKING FOR HEADQUARTERS. 59 
 
 We sent on two horses, and, after luncheon, borrowed a 
 buggy for it had come on to rain outrageously and drove 
 to camp. The fields where the camp was set up were a sea 
 of mud, and as evening was coming on we struggled into our 
 tent, where we were very uncomfortable indeed. There was 
 nothing to eat or drink ; the earth steamed up, and we sat 
 on our beds, drenched as if in a vapour bath. Insects of all 
 sorts were attracted by our light, and either dashed into the 
 flame, or singed their wings and fell on the table. All the 
 noises of the rains were present : frogs and earth-crickets 
 with, at intervals, the splashing of showers and bubbling of 
 water-courses. Bews and I were laughing at our plight, 
 when I heard my name called. It was Lynch, an officer 
 I had known in the hills. By rapid travelling he had 
 just managed to catch the advance, and he was accompanied 
 by another officer, named Sheehy. They had got leave to 
 march with the force, but no sort of arrangements could be 
 made for them, and so, portmanteaux in hand, they had 
 come to ask for shelter. Four men in a sergeant's " paul " 
 is close packing ; but Bews and I said : " If you can put up 
 with the space, you are welcome to it." They would have 
 slept under a parasol, and were quite satisfied. But the 
 night was wretched. When the bugle sounded at two in 
 the morning the idea of any change was a relief.
 
 HAVBLOCK'S ADVANCE; 
 
 THE depression of the night wore off when one was in the 
 saddle again, and as the rain had ceased, and the air was 
 pleasant, by the time the bugle sounded for a halt for 
 " little breakfast," we were all in high spirits. The camp 
 was in a garden of trees, and it was bright and dry, and the 
 soldiers seemed very happy, though they would go out 
 without any covering on their heads, and chose to look on 
 the sunshine as indicative of agreeable haymaking weather 
 in England. I had to assist, of course, as much as possible, 
 in getting up a bazaar for the camp followers, as soon as 
 we reached an encampment ; and the difficulty was to pre- 
 vent the grain and sweetmeat sellers being looted the 
 moment they arrived. However, some help was forth- 
 coming ; one or two men had joined as adventurers, think- 
 ing there might be posts to fill up if we got settled at 
 Cawnpore. A tall, handsome sowar, who looked very un- 
 likely to be loyal, was attached to my fortunes by Chester, 
 and a very nice young Mussulman, who, by his manners, I 
 should think was of good birth, came to me the first 
 evening in camp, and remained till he met a horrible death 
 a week or two afterwards. Also a capital table : servant 
 volunteered. These little points are mentioned because it 
 
 never can be remembered sufficiently in the East how tho 
 
 60
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 6 1 
 
 general mind is affected by disaster or success. A defeat 
 and everyone deserts ; a victory and all throng to con- 
 gratulate and support. 
 
 At first we marched rather slowly, and there was one 
 very sad point about the whole expedition. Sir John Kaye 
 has thus expressed it : " It was a grand movement in 
 advance; but, like many of our grand movements, the 
 heart-breaking words ' too late ' were written in characters 
 of darkest night across it." We had, indeed, left General 
 Neill at Allahabad, refusing to believe that Cawnpore was 
 lost. But Havelock knew better. On the 12th of July 
 we started very early indeed, soon after midnight of the 
 llth and presently we came up with Renaud's detachment. 
 The men were drawn up along the side of the road. I re- 
 member being struck, in the moonlight, with the yellow 
 colours of the Sikhs. Then we all marched on together, 
 and at last halted a little short of Futtehpore. 1 Barrow 
 had a wonderful Madras servant, who was a good rider, and 
 stayed near him on a spare horse. This man kept a small 
 kettle and teapot slung by him, and sugar and milk in 
 bottles in his cummerbund, or waistband, and was game to 
 make tea in no time. He dismounted and made a fire. 
 Willock, of my service, had gone on with Renaud, and, as 
 we had never met, we were making acquaintance. As we 
 were standing together, General Havelock went by the 
 erect, slight figure, handsome features, grey hair, with the 
 white covered and curtained cap, and the easy seat on the 
 natty Arab a vignette very familiar to us all afterwards. 
 I think we had got the tea, when bang went a gun, and 
 
 1 Col. Barrow commanded Havelock's handful of Cavalry. He 
 kindly allowed me to join the Mess.
 
 62 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 certainly not very far off. There was a complete trans- 
 formation scene in a moment. Barrow hurried off to the 
 head of his Cavalry, and we saw the Infantry being collected 
 and led straight on ahead, and the guns, eight in number, 
 pushed forward. There were two officers with whom I 
 often found myself Dr. Domenichetti, in charge of medical 
 stores, and Sibley, an old officer of the 64th, who had grown 
 grey in long regimental service, was, perhaps, of West 
 Indian extraction, and may be called, par excellence, " the 
 Old Campaigner." He had charge of the Military Treasure 
 Chest. We heard our guns opening, got on our horses, and 
 proceeded along the road. As we went along we came to 
 the dismounted gun at the culvert, and presently to the 
 dead elephant the results of Maude's two first shots now 
 historical ! 
 
 One of our tent companions, Sheehy, was acting as Aide- 
 de-Camp for that morning, and came and told me the 
 General wanted to ask me some questions. So I rode up 
 and told him what the town was like inside, and as he 
 passed into a field near the garden walls skirting the 
 suburbs, I went too, and with me my bearded sowar, Azim 
 Ali. 
 
 The General was apparently recognised, for some people 
 behind the walls were plainly taking shots at him. Azim, 
 who was close to me, said, in an undertone : 
 
 " Yih achcha jagah nahin ! " (This is not a suitable 
 place !) 
 
 The remembrance of this afterwards made one laugh 
 very much, and in subsequent adventures, when matters 
 occasionally got awkward, the phrase recurred, "Yih achcha 
 jagah nahin ! " The enemy made no stand whatever, and
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 63 
 
 really behaved like poltroons; but they were taken by 
 surprise, which perhaps shows that they were not always 
 much helped by the villagers. For they ought to have 
 known exactly where Havelock was. Notwithstanding the 
 barricade, the Sepoys all cleared out of the streets, our 
 troops marched right through, and the camp was set up on 
 the Cawnpore side. I rode through my own little town, 
 and laughed at some pottering improvements which had 
 been thought of, and which seemed such rubbish now. 
 Moreover, they called to mind what I had said to Hikmut 
 Oollah, the Deputy-Collector, that I was going "on a 
 month's leave." I had kept my time very fairly. Here, 
 perhaps, one word about this unfortunate man may be per- 
 mitted. I see in Kaye's History that, on Joseph's evidence, 
 I accused him of being an active partaker in the murder of 
 poor Mr. Robert Tucker. I was afterwards at his trial, 
 and think it exceedingly unlikely, both from his craven 
 demeanour on that occasion, and from the testimony ad- 
 duced, that he ever took a prominent part in any active 
 proceedings against the British. He was thoroughly dis- 
 loyal, and in one of his letters to the Nana, as far as I 
 remember, expressed regret that he should have violated 
 his conscience (iman) by serving the English, an odd state- 
 ment for one of the elect to make to an idolater ; but for 
 acts of boldness, daring, or cruelty, he was constitutionally 
 unfit. He died in prison of a collapse of mind and body 
 not long after his case was decided. There was hardly 
 a person in the town. One young fellow, a jogee or mendi- 
 cant devotee by profession, was under the preposterous idea 
 that our soldiers would be interested in his religious 
 freedom from partisanship. I tried to get him away, but he
 
 64 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 was obstinate, and met his fate, receiving two or three balls 
 into him before he succumbed. Through the town, a little 
 way up the road, I saw some people sitting under trees, 
 and Stuart Beatson, whom I knew, called out to me. So I 
 pulled up, and discovered the General regaling a little, and, 
 being kindly told to join, found a leg of chicken by no 
 means unpalatable. Then came a ride with Colonel Fraser- 
 Tytler to the Tuhseelee, or Sub-Collector's office, just to 
 examine the Chamber where the treasure used to be kept. 
 On this journey we saw a good deal of wine and beer being 
 distributed from a merchant's godown, and the General, I 
 fancy, soon ordered it into charge of the Commissariat. 
 
 About mid-day, or shortly after, I got back to my tent, 
 and there found some rather unpleasant neighbours. It 
 was understood that Palliser's Irregulars had behaved that 
 morning, when opposed to the 2nd Cavalry, with very luke- 
 warm loyalty ; but a small group of them were quite firm, 
 and of these some were killed. Palliser, and Simpson who 
 was with him, were near our tent, and, in honour of the 
 fidelity of those who had fallen, their bodies were laid out in a 
 conspicuous place. Three black-bearded men, olive- coloured 
 in death, with their rigid boots sticking up, were festering 
 in the sun. Sleep came on in the afternoon, and sitting up 
 afterwards, at the door of the tent, I observed a large 
 strong man, with a red beard, lying near, with his head on 
 his arm, and a blue handkerchief with white spots propped 
 on two sticks to make a little shelter for his face. 
 
 He was a man of the 78th Highlanders, and some of his 
 mates came presently to look after him. They tried to 
 rouse him, but, alas ! he was beyond all appeals. He had 
 been, it appeared, indulging rather freely in the stores
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 65 
 
 which had been found in the town, and, lying down to 
 sleep, had passed away in apoplexy. His name was 
 Campbell. They went and fetched a charpoy, and laid him 
 gently on it, covering his face up in the blue handkerchief 
 he had stretched on the sticks. Then there was something 
 said of another Campbell, and I gathered that he of the red 
 beard had a brother in the same regiment. After a time this 
 man appeared. He, too, had been indulging in more liquor 
 than the weather sanctioned ; but he was soon sobered 
 sufficiently tc understand the sad calamity. I was forcibly 
 reminded of the grief over the dead fisherman, depicted so 
 powerfully in the " Antiquary." The second Campbell, a 
 younger and slighter man, was distracted with the loss 
 that had befallen him. He sat on the ground, and wrung 
 his hands. " Oh, brother dear ! " he cried, " shall I never 
 see you more ? Speak to me. Speak to me. Will you 
 never speak to me again 1 What have you left me all alone 
 for? Brother, brother, come back to me." The bystanders 
 made motions that they would remove the body on the 
 charpoy. Then the younger Campbell threw himself on 
 his brother, clasped him in his arms, and in this way, 
 wrapped in a last embrace, they were both carried away 
 together, I heard the bagpipes soon after, droning in the 
 distance, as the body was taken to the grave. 
 
 The station where we had all lived was perhaps a mile 
 off, and I was not able to get up there But others went, 
 and they found the skeleton of the Judge, which was duly 
 placed within the precincts of the Christian churchyard. 
 The General thought it right that an example should be 
 made of Futtehpore, and the Sikhs were left behind for the 
 not unwelcome task of looting and burning the place. But
 
 66 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 other work demanded our swift advance, and in the small 
 hours of Tuesday morning the force moved on again. I 
 had, during my brief incumbency of Futtehpore, become 
 acquainted by name with one of the tuhseeldars, or Sub- 
 Collectors of revenue. He was a young Brahmin of high 
 family, and had been brought to notice as an officer of ex- 
 ceptional promise, displaying a laudable and apparently 
 natural desire for everything that was progressive and 
 elevated. He had probably less difficulty than others 
 in following his own bent, as his sacerdotal rank screened 
 him generally from coercion. But he seems never for 
 a moment to have hesitated in the matter of loyalty. He 
 made over his treasure chest to an influential Zemindar, 
 and ensconced himself in the same man's mud -fort, till 
 times should look better. When Renaud advanced, he put 
 himself in communication with the force, and, after the 
 evacuation of Futtehpore by the mutineers, sent word to me 
 that he was coming to join us. Unfortunately, though so 
 good a fellow, he did not at all look his character. He was 
 immensely stout, and had a vast crop of hair, with a beard 
 that gave him quite a Saracen's Head appearance. Added 
 to this, he wore a large, untidy turban, which he hitched 
 up in a manner closely simulating rebellion. And before he 
 reached me I am afraid he did not altogether escape rough 
 treatment from the soldiers, who could not understand how 
 a man, whose effigy might have passed in a puppet-show 
 for that of the Nana himself, could be a staunch well- 
 wisher to the British cause. However, when I had got him, 
 I knew his value too well not to try earnestly to soothe any 
 chagrin he may have felt. His unwieldy form and odd, 
 rolling gait soon became familiar in camp, and Thomas
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 67 
 
 Atkins and he fraternised in a manner which their first 
 meeting gave no grounds for expecting. 
 
 The morning we left Futtehpore, as it grew light, people 
 thought more than once that they saw the " twinkling 
 feet " of retreating Sepoys in the hazy distance. And as 
 the day wore on, so strong an impression prevailed, that the 
 enemy's Cavalry were watching our movements under dis- 
 tant trees, as to produce the order for a halt. The objects, 
 though puzzlingly indistinct, were, doubtless, cattle feeding 
 at the edge of groves on the new grass. 
 
 Before the halt there had been the tramp of feet, the 
 rattle of the gun-carriages, the creaking of cart wheels, the 
 hum of human voices, and the sudden pause was very 
 striking. For, as the guns were unlimbered, and field- 
 glasses sedulously applied to the distant trees, expectation 
 arrested speech, and there was a dead silence. 
 
 At this rather interesting moment there sounded from a 
 neighbouring copse the cry of " Cuckoo ! " It was Words- 
 worth's " wandering voice," the companion of the spring- 
 time of our youth, the veritable cuculus canorus not often 
 heard, in my experience, so far south in the Provinces of 
 India. 1 Visions of village greens, shady dingles and dells, 
 and the faces of pretty girls were, doubtless, brought into 
 many minds by the familiar note. At any rate, a soldier 
 close to me called out to his mate, in a tone about whose 
 heartiness there was no mistake, and in words whose frank- 
 ness need not be modified : " I say, Bill, who'd ha' thought 
 o' the likes o' that ? Blest if it was not a damned old 
 cuckoo ! " 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day it was deemed proper 
 
 1 Jerdon, however, says it travels as far as Central India.
 
 68 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 by the General to disarm and dismount the Irregular 
 Cavalry, who were considered to have behaved with more 
 than apathy at Futtehpore. General Hav clock superin- 
 tended the operation himself. It was, doubtless, a most 
 unwelcome duty, and everybody felt sorry for their com- 
 mander, Palliser. If weakness it is, the weakness is more 
 creditable than some strength to believe that those who 
 have often gallantly followed you, will follow you to the 
 last. One or two of the native officers, handsome fellows, 
 with that Jewish type of face so common in the extreme 
 North, who looked sorrowful with a haughty, wounded 
 sorrow, refused altogether to avail themselves of the oppor- 
 tunity of going away, and rarely allowed Palliser, or 
 Simpson, out of their sight. Palliser 1 afterwards greatly 
 distinguished himself; but E. H. C. Simpson died in 
 Ireland at the early age of forty-seven. He had a brother 
 who was so embarrassingly like him that mistakes such as 
 overtook the two Dromios were common. It was much 
 easier to manage supplies for the camp bazaar since the 
 Brahmin Deputy-Collector had joined us, and the farmers 
 began to appear. Ploughing, too, for the autumn crops 
 was going on generally, and it was encouraging to think 
 that confidence was being restored. Jt is quite easy to 
 understand how, after the events that had occurred at 
 Allahabad, the first force under Renaud looked upon their 
 mission partly as an avenging one. There was a slight 
 failure, perhaps, of logic in the idea, because the rebellion 
 was being sternly put down, on the ground that the 
 country was ours ; and reprisals, which, against the enemy's 
 property, would have been appropriate, were not so advis 
 
 1 Sir Charles Palliser died in 1896.
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 69 
 
 able against the property of our own subjects. The enemy 
 was the Sepoy Army, and, as far as I saw, throughout, 
 though many of the farmers, in whose veins the old lawless 
 blood still flowed, were against order, and in this way, 
 against the British Government, they were not in favour of 
 any other Government. l 
 
 The " Old Campaigner," when we reached camp, used to 
 come up and say in an undertone something of this kind : 
 "Any sort of vegetables a little fresh milk an egg or 
 two, and, of course, if there should be a duck going so 
 much the better." 
 
 The march on the 15th of July brought us to the out- 
 skirts of a pretty large village called Aoug. The houses 
 ;vere off the road, but there were walled gardens running 
 towards it, at no great distance, and it became evident that 
 there was a considerable force of the enemy at the spot, 
 and that they intended to try and oppose the advance of 
 the column. Here took place what is known as the battle 
 of Aong and the Pandoo Nuddee., fully described by Sir 
 John Kaye. The Pandoo Nuddee was one of those streams 
 which, in the hot weather, present only a thread of flowing 
 water, but are flushed in the rains, their own torrents being 
 augmented by runnels through every ravine. The camp 
 was set up on the Cawnpore side of the river. 
 
 And here a strange incident happened. When we were 
 at Futtehpore, just before the outbreak, Bews, himself a 
 railway engineer, was in the habit of hearing from a brother 
 engineer at Cawnpore. The latter was a married man, and 
 it was a curious instance of how our countrymen kept their 
 
 1 Farmers, who had been dispossessed by auction sales, were, of 
 course, against us to a man.
 
 7O DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 spirits up, that he wrote very amusing accounts of what 
 was going on, which Bews read out to us. It must be 
 remembered that the intervention of the Nana, and his 
 bringing the Sepoys who had actually started for Delhi 
 back again, was a thing which neither Wheeler nor anyone 
 else had ever calculated upon. Therefore, what was appre- 
 hended was the first outbreak, and the general impression 
 was, that, if this were got over, all would be well. The 
 last letter Bews received from his friend was to the effect 
 that a row was imminent, but, said he, " we are quite pre- 
 pared, and if the fellows break out there will be wigs on 
 the green." It was now nearly six weeks since that letter, 
 and though the most ominous reports were current, there 
 was no real certainty as to the details of what had occurred. 
 The spot on the river bank where our little tent was going 
 to be set up was a level area, just below some slightly 
 higher ground, formed accidentally by the action of rains, 
 but suggesting itself as a convenient resting-place, and, as 
 such, it had been apparently used by an outpost of the 
 enemy's Cavalry. For there was some of their rubbish 
 lying there, ropes and straw, and earthen pots, one or two 
 blankets, saddlecloths, etc. Bews had hardly entered this 
 enclosure when his eye caught amongst the litter what he 
 thought was a book. He took it up ; it was a leather case. 
 He opened it ; it was a miniature of his friend's wife. 
 When I came up I found Bews naturally greatly cut up at 
 the discovery. There was something so very appalling in 
 the mystery of the affair. We never had reason to think 
 the poor lady lived to reach the horrors of the Beebeeghur, 
 and it is not improbable that, in the confusion of moving, 
 the miniature was left at the bungalow, was looted, and
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 71 
 
 accidentally came into the trooper's "possession. But that 
 the one man in the force, to whom the fate of the lady was 
 of deep interest, should find this sad memorial of her, was a 
 remarkable coincidence. It would really have been a relief 
 to know that she was dead, and beyond earthly trouble. 
 But the amount of knowledge possessed by the best-in- 
 formed was only that Cawnpore was no longer holding out. 
 And now, as we all turned in that evening, we felt that we 
 were on the eve of an historical day. Exaggerated accounts 
 of the numbers of the enemy, their force of Cavalry, and 
 the strength of their Artillery, were, of course, abroad, as 
 they always are on such occasions ; and it was obviously of 
 the utmost importance to the rebel cause that Cawnpore 
 should not fall into the hands of the British. 
 
 We marched at the usual hour, and by the time it was 
 daylight, it became evident that it was going to be fearfully 
 hot. On passing through a village, the Zemindars came 
 out with vegetables and other little offerings, and promised 
 to send supplies on after us for the camp followers. Before 
 noon we reached a small grove through which the road 
 passed, and here a halt was ordered. All the waggons were 
 drawn up, and a kind of zareba * was made. In the midst 
 of this a tent was pitched, and here poor Major Renaud was 
 laid on a charpoy with his wounded leg. The fighting men 
 were hastily provided with breakfast and their grog, and 
 after a brief delay, guns and troops moved on. Non-com- 
 batants were ordered to remain in the zareba ; but my 
 coadjutor, Henry Willock, who was chumming with a 
 doctor, accompanied his friend in the advance. 2 There 
 
 1 This good word is Maude's. 
 
 2 It seems unaccountable that Willock received no decoration. 
 
 F
 
 72 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 were a good many of us in our grove the officer command- 
 ing the baggage guard, Commissariat officers, a doctor or 
 two in charge of the sick, a Post Office Agent, and so on. 
 A gun, one of those taken at Aong, was left with us, and 
 was ready to be served by some miscellaneous persons who 
 sufficiently understood the art, and who, in point of fact, 
 did, under excuse of distant objects, fire it once or twice in 
 the afternoon. When the last soldier was out of sight 
 down the road, the curiosity as to the opening of the battle 
 was, of course, great. We had not to wait long. There 
 soon came to us the sound of guns ; and, mingled with 
 those of smaller calibre, the deep boom of heavy ordnance. 
 Once we saw some men in the distance, and going a little 
 way out to meet them, found them a small body of five or 
 six soldiers, who had got separated, in some way, from their 
 comrades. They could, however, give no news of how 
 matters were going on. The afternoon wore away, and one 
 good sign was, that the firing, before dying out, was much 
 more distant. Then, as the sun set, we stared at the 
 furthest point of the road we could see, but no figure 
 appeared. Nor, indeed, as far as the eye reached in any 
 direction, did we detect a human being. The " Old 
 Campaigner," who was with us in the grove in charge of his 
 Chest, had, of course, like the rest of us, been on the qui 
 vive all the afternoon ; but he had reserved a place in his 
 mind for dinner, so that when seven came, and it was dusk, 
 and silence was setting in around us, we were invited to a 
 
 He was present at twelve actions with General Havelock ; after- 
 wards at the taking of Calpee, and, finally, with General Berkeley 
 in Oudh. A fighting civilian, if ever there was one. He is alive 
 and well, why not decorate him now ? The best excuse for mistakes 
 is to correct them.
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 73 
 
 table under a tree, close by the door of the tent, where poor 
 Renaud was lying. I hope our presence was of some good, 
 for people, in the excitement of moving hither and thither, 
 sometimes made as if they would have passed through the 
 tent, not knowing, doubtless, who was within ; and this in- 
 trusion we strenuously opposed, for the smallest concussion 
 of the charpoy would have been agony to the patient. 
 After dinner, some little chat on current events, and then 
 to sleep pretty well where we were not in the last-century 
 sense of falling under the table, but fidgetting into comfort- 
 able attitudes on the chair, and at last deserting it for the 
 ground. There were occasional rows in the night, from 
 horses getting loose, and other contingencies; but the 
 morning came at last, and heedless of human conflicts and 
 cares, the birds, finding it was getting light, knew they 
 ought to chirp, and so set to work briskly, though their 
 season of music was ending. 
 
 But still no sort of communication from the force, so the 
 Commissariat officers, growing anxious as to how they 
 might be getting on for provisions, determined to start a 
 string of camels. An officer named Thompson being there, 
 and having a horse, agreed with me to move on in search of 
 our friends. We rode a long way, as it seemed to us, with- 
 out seeing anyone at all. It was an exceptionally hot 
 morning ; the rising sun struck us obliquely, and we were 
 much troubled with what the elder Lord Lytton would have 
 called the "glint of the beam." Whilst riding along on the 
 look-out for any traces of conflict, of which the most pro- 
 minent was a trench dug right across the road, in which big 
 guns had been firmly placed two of them as in a battery, 
 I suddenly saw, far in the distance, a great tongue of fire
 
 74 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 fluug up towards the sky, and immediately afterwards, 
 what looked like a vast black balloon ascended, as if in pur- 
 suit of it, showing us, in its dispersion, that it was snioke. 
 Then after a perceptible pause there was the noise of a 
 violent explosion, and at the moment I felt a pluck at my 
 knees that made me involuntarily sit tighter. This com- 
 pression was the passage of the great air-wave, for the 
 Cawnpore Magazine had just been blown up. We were 
 almost beat with the morning sun. I remember I dis- 
 mounted at a well, and poured water on my head, then got 
 some neem leaves, soaked them, and put them in my sola 
 hat. But even then I was so giddy I could scarcely manage 
 to proceed. However, we approached the cantonments, and 
 found the soldiers all under temporary shelter in the 
 barracks round about, and soon got amongst friends. I saw 
 some men I knew in the verandah of an empty bungalow, 
 and went and talked with them for awhile, and then, pass- 
 ing into a chamber, lay down on the threshold, and in a 
 moment was fast asleep. When I awoke I looked up, and 
 beheld the General entirely by himself, sitting down close 
 by. I scrambled up, and begged pardon for having intruded 
 into the house, which I had no idea had been selected for 
 him. But he was in a most gracious mood, begged me not 
 to go, and said he had read accounts of the war in the Pen- 
 insula, and a life of Wellington, by an officer of my name ; 
 and then, when I told him it was an uncle cf mine, Moyle 
 Sherer, he asked me if he was still alive, and so on. Then 
 he launched a little into the events of the last few days, and 
 spoke with great satisfaction of what had occurred. I re- 
 member, especially, he divided the occurrences into grades 
 of importance. " The affair at Futtehpore, the engagement
 
 HAVELOCK'S ADVANCE. 75 
 
 at Aong, and what will be probably known as the battle of 
 Cawupore." Though exceedingly interested in what he was 
 saying, I took an early opportunity of making my bow, as 
 I was clearly an unbidden though a politely-treated guest. 
 And now, having shaken off the effects of the sun, and got 
 some tea, it began to occur to me that I ought to go into 
 the city. So having found my horse, I went to Colonel 
 Barrow to ask him if he would give me a trooper to take 
 care of me, as I wanted to visit the Kotwalee, the head- 
 quarters of town government, a name still retained under 
 the new police, though the ancient office of Kotwal is 
 abolished nominally, the people insisting on using the word. 
 Barrow consented at once, and as the trooper was Bews, we 
 started, alertly enough, on our mission.
 
 VI 
 
 OAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED 
 
 As Bews and I entered the city, we were met by a man 
 with a small kettle-drum ; and, without orders, he put him- 
 self just before us, and proclaimed the restoration of the 
 former rule. Whether he had in a similar manner pro- 
 claimed the Nana cannot well be known ; but he diligently 
 rattled away, sonorously shouting an intimation, framed on 
 the same lines as the one mentioned to have been used by 
 the rebels In Banda, but worded as follows : 
 
 Khalk-i-Khuda 
 Afulk-i-Kampani Bahadur 
 Hukm-i-Sahiban alishan. 
 
 We passed through some streets till we reached the princi- 
 pal thoroughfare the Chouk at the head of which stood 
 the Kotwalee, a two-storied building, with arches in front, 
 forming a balcony above. Here we dismounted, ascended 
 to the upper story, and were almost immediately surrounded 
 by a crowd of people, many of them Bengalees. They pro- 
 fessed themselves delighted with our return ; but were 
 rather afraid of the soldiers, and thought that, if measures 
 of retaliation were taken, the innocent might be confounded 
 with the guilty. We said that, as far as we knew, no indis- 
 criminate punishment was at all likely to be inflicted ; and 
 
 76
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 77 
 
 told them the best way of showing their loyalty would be 
 to offer their services for useful work. Bengalees are always 
 ready to write ; and one of them improvised paper, inkstand, 
 and a table, and commenced writing placards, somewhat as 
 follows : " This house belongs to one Mokerjea, very loyal 
 subject. Please not to molest." I was requested to sign 
 these, and they were supposed to be talismans, which, when 
 presented to the excellent Thomas Atkins, would assuage 
 that warrior's angry disposition Fortunately for all parties, 
 Atkins was not permitted to roam into the city ; and my 
 talismans were never put to a rude practical test. 
 
 Amongst those at the Kotwalee was a tallish Hindoo, of 
 an able but rather forbidding face, who was pointed out by 
 some of the others as the " former Deputy-Collector." I 
 knew nothing about him and had never heard his name be- 
 fore ; and, therefore, when he came forward and bowed, and 
 said he hoped our return would be fortunate, I bowed back, 
 and replied that I hoped it would ; which, under the cir- 
 cumstances, was a safe, if not striking remark. A rather 
 energetic Baboo, who had been in the Co:nmissariat, having 
 put himself forward, I asked him to remain with me, and 
 help in making arrangements ; under his guidance we 
 pursued our way from the Kotwalee, down the Chouk, and 
 out of the town by another way. In course of time we 
 reached Mahomed's Hotel, which had been, as we were told, 
 the headquarters of the Nana ; and on stopping, were re- 
 ceived by the landlord. I have often thought since, that 
 considering this man had not left his house when the Nana 
 was there, that the building was close to the scene of the 
 massacre, and that English feeling was not in its calmest 
 mood, it showed wonderful presence of mind on his part to
 
 78 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 pursue his occupation exactly as if nothing had happened. 
 He was quite frank and confident, and from first to last in- 
 curred no suspicion, and underwent no troubles, Of course, 
 some months later he had to fly before the Gwalior Contin- 
 gent for a few days ; but he returned immediately after- 
 wards ; and I left him, in I860, hotel-keeping with the 
 utmost composure. Mahomed showed us over the house, 
 and we saw where the Nana had slept, and how another 
 bedroom had been fitted up with choolees for the preparation 
 of his food. This word signifies a small structure in wet 
 mud, of nearly horseshoe shape, which, when dry and firm, 
 supports a brass pot over burning sticks. 
 
 From the hotel, not a hundred yards' walk led us to the 
 celebrated Beebeeghur. First let me say that this appella- 
 tion does not mean the "ladies' house," as indicating the 
 spot where the ladies were killed; the building had the 
 name previous to the Mutiny. It was understood to have 
 been a dwelling provided by a European for his Indian 
 mistress, and was therefore constructed in the Oriental 
 style. It was of one storey, with a court in the middle, 
 and a tree grew in the court. Bews aud I were certainly 
 among the first who saw it ; but Colonel Fraser-Tytler had 
 been there, and one or two others. But there is no ques- 
 tion that the aspect of the place, when we entered, was 
 entirely unchanged. It was precisely in the same condition 
 as the first Englishmen who did see it found it to be in. 
 The whole story was so unspeakably horrible that it would 
 be quite wrong in any sort of way to increase the distress- 
 ing circumstances which really existed. And I may say 
 once for all that the accounts were exaggerated. The 
 attack had evidently been made from the front entrance,
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 79 
 
 and there is reason to suppose that it commenced by 
 muskets being pushed through the Venetians, and dis- 
 charged. There had been a rush across the court to the 
 opposite side, and a mass of human beings were collected in 
 the arched chamber facing the entrance. And thither, 
 doubtless, they were pursued by the assassins with swords. 
 For the whole of the pavement was thickly caked with 
 blood. Surely this is enough, without saying " the clotted 
 gore lay ankle deep," which, besides being most distressing, 
 is absolutely incorrect. Then, as to what was lying about, 
 both of us thought it wonderful that the small litter 
 we saw could be the traces of the numbers who had been 
 shut up there. There is no question in my mind that when 
 the bodies were taken away the place had been tidied 
 a little and painful objects had been removed. There were 
 certainly a few odds and ends of clothing, some locks 
 of hair, some little shoes, straw hats, and so on. Of 
 mutilation, in that house at least, there were no signs, nor 
 at that time was there any writing on the walls. It is well 
 known that there were one or two books, and in them some 
 notes, which have long since been communicated to the 
 public. 1 From this dreadful place we passed down the 
 garden to the narrow well into which many of the bodies of 
 the victims of the assassination were thrown. I say many, 
 
 i A memorandum by a native apothecary was picked up. In this 
 was an entry of a death, thus given : " A baby, of itself." By 
 mistake the vernacular word got printed blbi, and Kaye (vol. ii. p. 
 257, Longman's edition) rightly remarks that blbi means lady. The 
 memorandum or list was in my possession for some time. It was 
 written in the Hindee character, and the word in question took this 
 
 form, <a . English transliteration is not possible, but in French 
 MM would correspond. Phonetically, it would be bay-bay.
 
 8O DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 because the receptacle was far too small for all, and there 
 can be little doubt that bodies were dragged across the 
 open space to the river, which was at no great distance. 
 Indeed, we were told as much at the time. When we got 
 to the coping of the well, and looked over, we saw, at no 
 great depth, a ghastly tangle of naked limbs. I heard a 
 low cry of pain, and saw Bews almost crouching with 
 a sickening anguish. There is no object in saying more. 
 
 The next day, which was Saturday, the General moved 
 the troops to the north-western point of the cantonment, 
 beyond Nuwab Gunj, 1 and near what had been a Mis- 
 sionary establishment. Conversation had been held about 
 the state of the well, and it seemed very desirable that it 
 should not be left as it was ; so, when going over to the 
 new encampment, I thought I would try and see the 
 General on the subject. 
 
 The tents had not come up, and I found him sitting on a 
 chair, in a field by himself, with an umbrella over him. I 
 asked him about the well, and said that for one thing, of 
 course, it would soon become very pestilential if something 
 were not done ; and he replied : " Please at once procure 
 coolies, and have it filled up with earth," So. getting hold 
 again of Bews, and the Commissariat Baboo whom I 
 nominated as Kotwal for a temporary arrangement, we 
 
 1 1 have mentioned in the introduction my visit to the Hillersdons 
 at Nuwab Gunj. When the camp was there I visited the site of 
 their bungalow. Fire had reduced the house to bare walls, and 
 these, again, were stained by the wet weather. I went into what 
 had been a room ; the floor was heaped with debris of the fallen 
 roof. Amidst some broken china I found a scrap of paper. On it 
 was printed the single word " Spirituoso." I thought of the music 
 I had heard in the spring.
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 8 1 
 
 visited the horrible spot once more, and had the well filled 
 up in a rough manner, and not a moment too soon, for the 
 effluvia was becoming excessively bad. General Neill, on 
 the 25th of July, which was exactly a week afterwards, 
 published an order containing these words : " The well in 
 which are the remains of the poor women and children so 
 brutally murdered by this miscreant, the Nana, will be 
 filled up, and neatly and decently covered over to form their 
 grave ; a party of European soldiers will do so this evening, 
 under the superintendence of an officer." But this refers to 
 making the earth thrown into the well level with the 
 surface, and forming a memorial mound to mark the spot. 
 The bodies had, as I say, been covered up a week before ; 
 indeed, if this had not been done, the place would have 
 been unapproachable. 
 
 Meeting with Willock, I heard of poor Beatson's illness. 
 He had been taken with premonitory symptoms the very 
 day of the battle of Cawnpore; but with indomitable 
 courage he managed to keep with the force, and reached 
 Cawnpore in the evening dreadfully exhausted. Cholera 
 had seized him, and though he pulled through the actual 
 attack he was too enfeebled to rally. I saw him for a few 
 minutes at Suvada Kotee, where a temporary hospital had 
 been established. He was dreadfully altered, but still 
 prepared with his kind smile and an outstretched hand. 
 This must have been Friday evening, and he died, I think, 
 in the night. At the same place (Suvada Kotee), poor Major 
 Renaud had his left leg taken off, high up the thigh ; an 
 operation which he only survived one day. Both Beatson 
 and he were buried near the camp at the north-west corner 
 of the station, where their tombs serve not only as
 
 82 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 memorials of themselves, but as an historical reminiscence 
 of Havelock's position. It was chosen under an idea that 
 an attack might be expected from Bithoor; and though 
 this was a mistake, the distance from the bazaar was 
 favourable for restoring discipline, which had naturally 
 enough been partially relaxed. Stuart Beatson was in the 
 prime of life ; and there seems little doubt that, had he 
 lived, his clear head, and high spirit, would have carried 
 him to great distinction. 
 
 Willock told me some of the incidents of the day of the 
 battle of Cawnpore. He was close to poor Currie, of the 
 84th, when he received the terrible wound from a round- 
 shot in the lower part of the body, to which he succumbed. 
 I believe I am able to throw light on one little event of that 
 day, and am glad to do so, because it explains a point 
 which led to some misunderstanding, and it also renders the 
 story, as related by Sir John Kaye, intelligible, which, as it 
 stands at present, some would surely say is not the case. 
 The present Sir Henry Havelock-Allan is mentioned by the 
 historian as having greatly distinguished himself by per- 
 forming the following action : " The Infantry prepared to 
 advance right upon the death-dealing battery of the enemy, 
 the 64th Foot, led by Major Stirling, in front. At this mo- 
 ment, the General's Aide-de-Camp, ' the boy Harry,' wheeled 
 his horse round to the centre of the leading regiment, and 
 rode straight upon the muzzle of the twenty-four pounder." 
 
 It must strike anyone reading this for the first time that 
 what the younger Havelock is related to have done was an 
 altogether astounding thing. Why should he have volun- 
 teered to ride in front of a regiment, unless it wanted lead- 
 ing ? And what call is there for any one, when a corps is
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 83 
 
 gallantly advancing, to get between it and the enemy's 
 guns ? Now for my elucidatory note. People who had got 
 horses were very lucky. They were not easily to be pro- 
 cured. And some of the officers on the march picked up 
 ponies which farmers, or others, were willing to sell. The 
 north provinces' " tat " is an animal of astonishing endur- 
 ance ; but if he be of at all a troublesome disposition, his 
 vices are strongly developed. When of the masculine 
 gender, and untampered with by precautionary operations, 
 he delights in making himself prominent ; and he is equally 
 objectionable in his expressions of love and jealousy. 
 Squealing, rearing, kicking, and biting, are amongst his 
 resources ; and moments occur when remonstrance and 
 punishment are alike unavailing ; and master of the situa- 
 tion, he will neither advance nor retreat, and nothing will 
 please him but pawing the air, lifting his gums off his teeth, 
 and behaving altogether in a manner at once outrageous 
 and unbearable, Now, it so happened that Major Stirling 
 had bought a particularly misguided and undisciplined 
 pony, and the day after we crossed the Pandoo Nuddee, I 
 saw this animal advancing on its hind legs, determined to 
 bite some other horse, if possible. Everybody got out of 
 the way, and I remember the younger Havelock, in joke, drew 
 his sword to defend his own steed. Now, I was told that 
 Stirling was on this beast, that it turned brutally restive, 
 and he, with the intention of sending it at once to the devil, 
 dismounted, There was the briefest space, during which, 
 by a pure accident, the leader was not in front of his regi- 
 ment. " Come on, then, with me," cried the A.D.C., who 
 happened in that second to ride up. If this incident has 
 been told before, I must beg pardon for repetition ; but Sir
 
 84 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 John Kaye certainly did not know of it. I believe it to be 
 true, and it is agreeable, because it puts everything right. 
 The 64th needs no eulogy from anybody, Stirling was 
 romantically brave, as his death, a little later, amply 
 showed ; while " young Harry " was well worthy of the 
 honours he won, and which he has since increased in other 
 fields of action. 1 
 
 From the position which General Havelock occupied at 
 the north-west corner of the Cawnpore station, he despatched 
 a force to Bithoor. The buildings which had constituted 
 the Nana's palace were, for the most part, destroyed, as well 
 as the residences of his dependents, This is not an inappro- 
 priate place to say a word about the Nana Sahib, his habits, 
 and so on. When the massacre became generally known, 
 the Nana grew positively into a European notoriety, The 
 French, with their taste for melodrama, and their perception 
 of the artistic value of contrast, seized on the idea of con- 
 cocting his personality out of cruel instincts, exceeding 
 those of ordinary barbarism, on the one hand, but with 
 delicate and luxurious habitudes on the other. So that, in 
 their hands, the Nana became a scented sybarite, who read 
 Balzac, played Chopin on the piano, and, lolling on a divan, 
 fanned by exquisite odalisques from Cashmere, had an 
 English child brought in occasionally, on a pike, for him to 
 examine with his pince-nez. In England, again, the desire 
 was rather to make out the Nana to have been one of those 
 extraordinary monsters of ferocity and slaughter who were 
 
 1 This anecdote was labelled, soon after its publication, by a 
 military weekly, as "camp gup." But it only professed to be 
 gossip, and is left in as such quantum valeat. Particularly, as 
 Kaye's perplexing account of the incident is retained, intact, in 
 Longmans' Silver Library edition of his history, 1897.
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 85 
 
 favourite characters in the earliest dramas; in which, as 
 Charles Lamb drolly said, " blood was made as light of as 
 money in a modern sentimental comedy, and as this is given 
 away till it reminds us that it is nothing but counters, so 
 that is spilt till it affects us no more than its representative, 
 the paint of the property-man." 
 
 I remember, when in England, in 1860, seeing a large 
 canvas daub in a show at a fair, which was said to 
 represent the Nana, and he really was a terrific em- 
 bodiment of matted hair, rolling eyes, and cruel teeth. 
 But the reality was extremely unlike the romance. I 
 have heard from several who knew him, and especially 
 Dr. J. N. Tresidder, who had attended him professionally, 
 that Doondoo Punt was an excessively uninteresting person. 
 Between thirty and forty years of age, of middle height, 
 stolid features and increasing stoutness, he might well 
 have passed for the ordinary shopkeeper of the bazaar, had 
 it not been for the Mahratta contour of his turban, of 
 which, however, he did not effect a very pronounced type. 
 He did not speak English, and his habits, if self-indulgent, 
 had no tinge of poetry about them. He was particular about 
 his ghee ; loved the eyes of dancing girls rubbed round with 
 lampblack, and their lips rosy with the juice of betel-nut ; 
 whilst his ear for music was satisfied with the rude viol 
 and tom-tom (or small hand-drum) that accompanied their 
 slowly-revolving petticoats. But of any of the refinements 
 of sensual enjoyment he was wholly ignorant. It was, 
 apparently, a pleasure to him to receive occasional visitors 
 at Bithoor ; and he used to come into Cawnpore and give 
 general entertainments, all the arrangements of which he 
 placed in European hands. But his daily life at home was
 
 86 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 carried on amidst surroundings of expensive discomfort. 
 He was wont to repose on a charpoy (a framework laced 
 with broad strips of cotton cloth, and standing on four legs, 
 whence the name) in a small private apartment, where a 
 loose heifer roamed at will, watched by an attendant, who, 
 in a roughly-wrought silver vessel, caught droppings which, 
 to us, would be disgusting, but to our Hindoo brethren are 
 replete with national, and, indeed, sacred associations. 
 Many months after this July expedition to Bithoor, Lieu- 
 tenant Malcolm, * of the Royal Engineers, with a great deal 
 of trouble, and no small amount of ingenuity, fished out of 
 a large well what was called the Nana's gold plate. This 
 was immensely valuable, because it really was of solid and 
 very pure gold ; but it had no artistic importance of the 
 slightest degree. The trays and bowls were of the rudest 
 shapes that were compatible with the purposes for which 
 they were intended, and, in mean material, would not have 
 attracted attention, if discovered in a South Sea Island. 
 The Nana was a heavy, dull man, with a grievance. He 
 thought Lord Dalhousie had treated him very badly by not 
 letting him have the full allowance which was bestowed on 
 the Peishwa, who had adopted him, and this wrong rankled 
 in his mind. 2 Writers who blame Lord Dalhousie for his 
 
 1 Now Colonel Malcolm of the retired list, one of the Malcolms of 
 Poltalloch. 
 
 2 The Nana's claims were unquestionably invalidated by a fallacy. 
 He seemed to think that Bajee Rao's pension was the result of a 
 contract : he to give up his territories, and the Company, in con- 
 sideration of the fact, to make him a grant. Nothing could be less 
 true. The Peishwa took the field against the forces of the Company, 
 was completely defeated, and had his territories taken from him. 
 Then the Company, in pity for his fallen fortunes, made him a most 
 munificent provision for life.
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 87 
 
 aversion to recognising adoption always go off into the 
 religious necessity with the Hindoos of having a son to 
 perform the funeral ceremonies, and to attend to the 
 annual commemorations of the dead, and are astonished that 
 he did not take this view of the subject into consideration. 
 It seems much better to recognise adoption ; but the argu- 
 ment about the funeral ceremonies is not, perhaps, a sound 
 one. The validity of an adoption, as far as its religious 
 aspect is concerned, does not depend on the recognition of 
 Government. In point of fact, the Nana did perform the 
 funeral rites over Bajee Rao, and kept up the commemora- 
 tion, though he did not succeed to the pension. 
 
 The character of the Nana is so far of importance that it 
 affects the wisdom of Sir Hugh Wheeler, Mr. Hillersdon, 
 and the others who called in his aid, and gave over the 
 powder magazine into his charge. If he had been a far- 
 seeing, ambitious man, of administrative abilities, who was 
 sure in a disturbance to come to the front, the simplicity of 
 those who trusted him can scarcely be called less than 
 culpable. "Almost as soon," writes Mr. Justin McCarthy, 
 "as the Nana's presence became known in Cawnpore, he 
 was surrounded by the mutineers, who insisted that he 
 must make common cause with them and become one 
 of their leaders. He put himself at their disposal." From 
 everything I have heard, I do not think this is an accurate 
 statement. It is possible, and perhaps probable, that the 
 Nana saw a way to getting his pension by putting the 
 English under a great obligation; and certainly he could 
 not at first come to any agreement with the Sepoys ; or at 
 least did not. Critics of Sir Hugh Wheeler's conduct 
 should bear in mind that the revolted Sepoys left Cawn- 
 
 G
 
 88 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY, 
 
 pore, and made two marches towards Delhi. And Wheeler's 
 entrenchment, which seemed so miserable when we came to 
 look at it, particularly when the mud ramparts had been 
 reduced by the rains, proved really enough for what he was 
 guarding against, namely, the confusion incident on an out- 
 break. But the advisers of the Nana induced him to send 
 messengers after the Sepoys, and offer them ample 
 monetary remuneration if they would return. They did 
 return, and all the world knows with what results. Then 
 the Nana's name became the one to conjure with ; but of 
 his individual influence there seems no trace throughout. 
 We know something of what Azimoollah did ; and the hand 
 is not difficult to discover, at times, of Jowala Pershad, 
 Baba Bhut, Tantia Topee, and the rest; but the stolid, 
 discontented figure of the Nana himself remains in the 
 background, rejoicing, doubtless, in the success of the 
 treachery, and gladly consenting, probably, to the cruelty ; 
 but inanimate, incapable of original ideas, and more elated, 
 perhaps, with the present glory of a hundred guns fired in 
 his honour, than with any distinct idea of future dominion. 
 It remained so to the end ; his death even was indistinct 
 and insignificant, shrouded by the malarious Nepaulese 
 forest, and producing little effect but the dispersion of a 
 band of moribund vagabonds. 
 
 Henry Willock accompanied the expedition to Bithoor, 
 and brought back two of the Nana's pets, a Wandaroo 
 monkey, and a squirrel quite as big as a small rabbit. The 
 monkey became well-known in camp, and ultimately reached 
 the Zoological Gardens in London, where I afterwards 
 called upon him. The costly squirrel was made over to me ; 
 but whether owing to undue excitement, or perhaps change
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 89 
 
 of food for ignorant of his habits I could only ask, in a 
 helpless way, like the gentleman in " Dombey," whether 
 " something temporary could not be done with the teapot " 
 he died poor, beautiful creature. 
 
 General Neill (he had just been made Brigadier-General) 
 arrived on Monday, the 20th of July, and as he was to re- 
 main when Havelock went on, the local command was made 
 over to him, and he began to try and establish order and 
 discipline in Cawnpore itself. It must be remembered that 
 he had been greatly praised ; everywhere it was noised 
 abroad that Neill was the man for the emergency Neill 
 would not stand any nonsense, and so on. And of course he 
 could not but suppose that whatever position he was in, 
 something marked would be expected of him. Hence some 
 of his orders, particularly the unfortunate one about the 
 cleaning up of the blood ; but it remained almost a dead 
 letter, carried out, I think, in two instances. It is, however, 
 preposterous to suppose that men in scenes of great excite- 
 ment can behave exactly as they would on calm reflection in 
 ordinary circumstances. 
 
 Since the publication of Malleson's history, it is now known 
 that Neill carried his exaltation so far as to write a cen- 
 sorious letter to Havelock, when the latter decided to fall 
 back on Cawnpore ; to which Havelock replied that nothing 
 but considerations of the public service prevented his order- 
 ing Neill into arrest. Impulsiveness was, of course, a facette, 
 so to speak, of that general boldness which made Neill what 
 he was. And he sometimes said things which others would 
 have kept to themselves. He would laugh and declare, not 
 heeding who was present, that " the old gentleman (Have- 
 lock) looked upon himself (Neill) as the heir-at-law, so he
 
 go DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 could not expect to be liked more than heirs-at-law usually 
 are." But this was mere manner : and people are too ready 
 to dwell on these little surface blemishes, not taking the 
 trouble to look for hidden good qualities. I have been told 
 since, that with all his martial bearing and off-hand speech, 
 General Neill devoted much time in private to serious read- 
 ing, and was interested in questions which we should have 
 thought at the time were more in General Havelock's line. 
 
 Two operations were going on simultaneously ; every effort 
 was being made for crossing the river, and an entrenchment 
 was being formed on the bank for the garrison that was to 
 be left at Cawnpore. About this time, a resident of Bithoor, 
 a Mahratta, named Narain Rao, wrote to me from there, to 
 say that he had always been on the English side, had been 
 put into confinement during the supremacy of the Nana, 
 and wished to pay his respects to the General. I showed 
 his communication to General Havelock, and he directed a 
 Persian answer to be prepared, stating that he must be 
 quick about it if he did not wish his loyalty to be suspected. 
 The title or sobriquet Nana is not uncommon amongst the 
 Mahrattas, and this man Narain Rao was also called the 
 Nana, and it was, in consequence, rather difficult to procure 
 him a civil reception with those who could not make out who 
 he was. He was no relation whatever to Doondoo Punt, 
 but was the son of an adherent of the Peishwa's, called 
 the Subahdar Sahib, whom I well remember in Mr. Thoma- 
 son's time. He sometimes visited Agra, and was always 
 treated by Mr. Thomason with great respect, as having 
 been acknowledged as a good soldier in his younger days 
 by Sir John Malcolm and even, I believe, by the Duke of 
 Wellington. The son was very Mahratta-looking. I have
 
 CAWNPORE RE-OCCUPIED. 9! 
 
 mentioned this gentleman's name because some of the 
 stories of the Nana's doings are based upon what he said. 
 But though I make no question of Narain Rao's loyalty, his 
 wish to represent himself a sufferer was so mixed up with 
 the hope of discrediting his brothers, with whom he had a 
 quarrel about a will, that his adventures seem to me apo- 
 cryphal now that one can think of them quietly. He had 
 entreated me to get a vehicle for him, as he declared him- 
 self destitute of all equipments, and a tradesman in the 
 town lent a carriage, but no one would drive it The young 
 Mahomedan of education and nice manners, who had come 
 with me from Allahabad, was standing by when the dilemma 
 arose. "I will go," he cried, and jumping on the box he 
 whipped up the pair of horses into a brisk trot, and took 
 the road to Bithoor. 
 
 We all, naturally, wanted to do something, to show that 
 we were helping the general restoration, and as the city was 
 getting well into our complete control, I consulted the 
 Brahmin Deputy-Collector as to whether we could get men 
 to establish a thana a few miles out of the town. We found 
 people quite willing to take service, and the young Maho- 
 medan seemed the very fellow for the post. Full of go, and 
 anxious to bring himself forward, I asked him if he would 
 try and form a little nucleus of British authority out in the 
 village where it was proposed to place the thana, and he jumped 
 at the idea. He had got a horse of his own, and he started at 
 the head of his little band, who were all armed, and was to 
 engage other men out there if necessity arose. Of course he 
 was told that he was not expected to fight, and if Sepoys 
 approached he was to fall back. But for all purposes of ex- 
 ercising his authority amongst the peasants he was, we
 
 92 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 thought, strong enough, aud he himself was quite confident. 
 He had hardly been there two days when a large body of 
 Sepoys, stealing across from Calpee, and endeavouring to get 
 over the Ganges into Oudh, came suddenly upon his thana 
 in the night. His men made some resistance, but the idea 
 of Sepoys carried a certain terror with it, and the darkness 
 was a temptation to try and escape. The plucky fellow, 
 notwithstanding, held out, and at last fell into his assailants' 
 hands. They bound him, cut his throat, and hung him by 
 his feet on a tree. There are honoured mounds above brave 
 Englishmen all over the world ; but that young hero's grave 
 demands a leaf of laurel too. He espoused our cause ; he 
 was faithful to it to death ; he fell fighting.
 
 VII 
 
 THB RAINS OF 1857 
 
 THE wet season had thoroughly set in : the great river was 
 rapid and swollen. And the difficulties General Havelock 
 had to encounter were great ; for the boats had to be col- 
 lected, and boatmen to be procured. This class of men 
 were shy of coming forward, in consequence of the com- 
 plicity of some members of their craft in the treachery at 
 Suttee Chowra Gh&t. The little steamer, however, was of 
 great service, and the crossing was effected in some four days, 
 notwithstanding every obstacle. Colonel Fraser-Tytler was 
 indefatigable. I remember seeing him, one evening, in a 
 little native building by the river side, soaked and daubed 
 in such a manner as rather to resemble a Nubian stoker in 
 the Red Sea than his own thoroughly military and 
 distingut self. Of course the troops were moved gradually 
 down towards the Ganges, from the north-western corner of 
 the station, and were passed across the water in turn. 
 
 It was before the Force had got fully across, I think, 
 that one morning, when I had returned from riding, I 
 found a middle-sized, strongly-built man, dressed in Khakee 
 (ash-coloured) uniform and a helmet, who had come to look 
 me up, and who asked if I was a civilian who had arrived 
 with the Force. I replied that I was, and he then said : "I 
 am Herbert Bruce, I hope we shall be friends, and work 
 
 93
 
 94 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 cordially together." He had rather a colourless face, light 
 hair, and very pale blue eyes; but a determined mouth, 
 and altogether an expression of much intelligence. I knew 
 nothing about him, but he told me he belonged to the 
 Bombay Army, and that he had come up to be with Neill, 
 who was very anxious to establish a military police, which 
 would not only act as ordinary city constables, but could be 
 used, on an emergency, for any outpost duty required. 
 From that morning, for some months I was with Bruce 
 every day, and sometimes more than once in the day. 
 
 I waited upon General Neill in due course, and he told 
 me, very civilly, that he had communicated to the Govern- 
 ment his wish to have charge of the city himself, and, as it 
 was so immediately near his entrenchment, he wanted the 
 town people to understand that its occupation was, for the 
 present, a military one. He kindly wrote me a letter later 
 on, which I possess, 1 to the effect that the plan was not in 
 any way suggested by the inadequacy of such arrangements 
 as had been made, but merely from his own views of 
 military necessity. 
 
 It may as well be said here that the extraordinary 
 rumours that Mr. Grant (afterwards Sir John) who was 
 directed at this time to assume civil power, as far as it 
 could be assumed, in the districts East of Cawnpore 
 desired to thwart Neill's plans, were quite certainly without 
 foundation of any sort. Our instructions were to co-operate 
 in every possible way with the military ; and no one was so 
 foolish as to suppose it mattered who did any particular 
 work, so long as it was done ! Dear Heaven ! it was not a 
 time to bicker amongst ourselves. 
 
 1 See Appendix II.
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 95 
 
 We had got hold of a great number of papers from the 
 office of Baba Bhut, who was the member of the Nana's 
 entourage to whose administration the district of Cawnpore 
 had been intrusted. It was entertaining to read his orders; 
 some of them exactly the sort of directions one had given 
 one's self when in some doubt what to do next. In the 
 margin of a report on some village disturbance, he would 
 have written : " Make strict inquiries and report again in 
 three days." Deliciously make-believe energetic ! These 
 papers, however, gave us a clear idea of who had deserted 
 us and joined the Nana amongst our old officials. One of 
 the most prominent of those who had cast in his lot with 
 the so-called Peishwa was the Deputy-Collector who had 
 received Bews and myself politely at the Kotwalee, and as 
 he had no sort of excuse to make for himself he was 
 condemned. 
 
 The site having been chosen by Fraser-Tytler for an 
 entrenchment on the bank of the Ganges, the work was 
 pushed forward as fast as circumstances would permit, and 
 by the time the troops had crossed, the place was in some 
 measure defensible. I got a more comfortable tent, and 
 had it pitched on the glacis, near one of the entrances 
 of the fort. Hard by, some dismantled houses were occu- 
 pied as outposts. 
 
 We seemed a small body, indeed, when Havelock was 
 gone. At first he stayed four days at Mungulwar, a village 
 about three or four miles on the Lucknow road, and 
 naturally some communications were held with the camp 
 during that time. But the force moved away, and though 
 we heard the firing at Onao, no distinct news of what was 
 going on reached us. There were one or two houses more
 
 96 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 or less in repair within close proximity to the entrench- 
 ment, and these were occupied, at least during the daytime, 
 by those remaining with the garrison who had duties to 
 perform. News reached us that the rebels were gathering 
 again at Bithoor, and Neill armed the steamer and sent it 
 thither to destroy the boats, and thus prevent the crossing 
 over of troops. But parties of Cavalry were said to come by 
 night even into the suburbs of Cawnpore ; and certainly 
 more than once I heard the clatter of hoofs as of a body of 
 horse on the road. The nights were disturbed, for from the 
 villages, both on our side and in Oudh, there was constant 
 matchlock firing. 1 It was perhaps intended more to 
 frighten intending marauders than anything else ; but 
 it produced a general effect of disquiet. The very stout 
 Brahmin who had been a Tuhsildar with me in Futtehpore, 
 and had taken our side so warmly, Umurnath 2 by name, had 
 shown plenty of courage in joining us on the march, 
 and took up his quarters close to mine, making himself use- 
 ful in every way. But the idea of Cavalry roaming about 
 by night disturbed him a good deal. There was so much of 
 him such vast protuberances both preceded and suc- 
 ceeded what may be called the original kernel of the man 
 that a dread of sabres set in with him, and he provided him- 
 self with two of what he termed pahlaioans, or "champions" 
 as the dictionary is pleased to call them. I believe such 
 
 1 On night, when the matchlocks were unusually still, Bruce and 
 I distinctly heard firing at Lucknow. So that I chanced to be an 
 ear-witness of attacks both on Wheeler's entrenchment and the 
 Bailey guard. 
 
 2 By an unaccountable slip, called in the "Memories," Kasinath, 
 which was his brother's name. Umurnath was, however, generally 
 known as the Pundit.
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 97 
 
 persons are got from Rajpootana by shroffs and bankers, 
 and perhaps Umurnath had procured these two from 
 monetary friends in Cawnpore. They were most extra- 
 ordinary creatures huge frames with exaggerated muscles, 
 broad tawny faces, surmounted with long hair hanging in 
 thick strips, necklaces of large wooden beads, ferocious 
 moustaches, steel caps under red turbans, voluminous waist- 
 bands in which were thrust two horse pistols, a leather 
 strap holding a sword, and a long matchlock carried in the 
 hand. Intending one evening to dine with Bruce, who had 
 bis meals in one of the empty houses, I got a tradesman to 
 lend me a mule carriage. I was just getting in when 
 Umurnath came up and asked where I was going. When 
 he learned, he said it would be dark when I returned, and 
 he could not let me go without the pahlawans. So he 
 went and fetched them. First, one of these alarming 
 warriors got into the carriage, and established himself in a 
 corner, then I took my seat, and the other warrior sat, with 
 the carriage door open, on the floor. Their hirsute legs, 
 with knotted fibres (or it may have been varicose veins), 
 were wonderful to behold, and emerged from loin cloths 
 with a worked border, terminating in red shoes very much 
 turned up at the toes. I was of course received with shouts 
 of laughter; but my grotesque friends considered me in their 
 charge, sat solemnly in the verandah during dinner, and 
 afterwards escorted me back to my tent. 
 
 I had lost my companions : Bews had gone on with 
 Barrow's Cavalry ; Willock had got himself attached to the 
 advancing column, and the two Queen's officers had de- 
 parted too, having had work assigned them. We still 
 heard firing on the Lucknow road ; it had got very distant
 
 98 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 at one time ; but on the 31st of July we were surprised by 
 some horsemen riding in, and found that General Havelock 
 was again at Mungulwar. Many sick men came in, and 
 amongst them poor Bews, who had fallen ill with dysentery. 
 He came back to my tent, and rested for a day or two, till, 
 as he was worse instead of better, he took an opportunity of 
 getting to Allahabad, and so our adventures together ended, 
 for he was not able to appear again on the scene. Marriage 
 cards, received long afterwards from New Zealand, were the 
 only token of his existence I could afterwards obtain. 
 
 Havelock held on at Mungulwar, and some Infantry and 
 guns arriving from Allahabad, Neill pushed them at once 
 across the river, and thus reinforced, the relieving column 
 again advanced towards Lucknow. Neill was dreadfully 
 disappointed at the first putting back, and, as his manner 
 was, did not hesitate to denounce the movement in ener- 
 getic terms. There is no question that, elevated as he then 
 was by the general opinion of him, he would have gone on 
 had he been in command ; and, however imprudent it 
 might have been, perhaps he might have succeeded. One 
 of those transformation scenes so common in Asiatic politics 
 might have taken place. Nowhere is success so successful 
 as in the East. But still, judging by what did happen when 
 Outram went, perhaps if Neill had got into Lucknow he 
 would not have been able to get out. 
 
 Days passed, and we heard distant firing, and firing more 
 near, and it was all very puzzling to make out ; when at 
 length the mysteries were explained, and back came the 
 whole Force, taking up quarters in the barracks on the 
 eastern side of the town. Prospects were getting rather 
 gloomy, the ominous word Calpee began to be mentioned
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 99 
 
 for the first time, a word afterwards to cause constant 
 anxiety and trouble. What was called the Gwalior Con- 
 tingent was a thoroughly efficient body of troops, particularly 
 strong in Artillery, which nominally belonged to Scindia, 
 but had been organised and trained by the British. The 
 rumour was that this small army had shaken itself free of 
 control, and intended to march on Cawnpore, crossing the 
 Jumna at Calpee. Why they did not come is not known. 
 The fact that they shilly-shallied all the autumn, and at 
 last only crossed the river to break themselves to pieces 
 against Colin Campbell, is one of those singular events in 
 which, if the devout think they see the hand of Providence, 
 they may well be excused their belief. Bithoor, too, had 
 become a perfect nest of rebels ; and Havelock was no 
 sooner across the river than he made an expedition there, 
 in which there was some stiff fighting. 1 After this there 
 
 1 " Bithoor was defended by several regiments of mutinous Sepoys, 
 including Cavalry and Artillery They had thrown up entrench- 
 ments with some skill, and, besides fighting with halters round 
 their necks, the Nana was defending what was left of his household 
 gods and altars. Havelock's march to Bithoor occupied eight hours, 
 under a Bengal sun, at the end of which time the engagement was 
 severe. The Madras Fusiliers and 78th Highlanders, with my 
 battery (I was ill in Cawnpore), formed the right wing ; while the 
 left wing was composed of the 64th, 84th, and Sikhs, with Olpherts's 
 Battery. The force advanced in 'direct echelon from the right' 
 (Havelock's favourite movement). As the Fusiliers moved in ex- 
 tended order on the right, they were suddenly assailed by a sharp 
 fire from a high outwork that had been thrown up in front of a 
 village. Major Stephenson, then in command of the ' Blue Caps,' 
 Neill having remained in Cawnpore, at once wheeled three of his 
 companies to the right, and came to close quarters with the 42nd 
 B.N.I., who really fought with great resolution from behind their 
 moorcha.' Havelock said that 'he had not seen fire kept jap so 
 well since the days of Ferozshuhur ' (in the Punjab). Our Artillery
 
 IOO DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 was a little respite ; the Calpee rumour remained a rumour, 
 and there seemed no immediate work to be done. The pro- 
 mised reinforcements had to be waited for. All appeared 
 calm, but there was one heart that was suffering, in noble 
 silence, a great disappointment. Havelock was to be super- 
 seded. There was probably not the slightest intention of 
 
 meantime carried on their usual duel with the enemy's, but had un- 
 usual difficulty in silencing the latter, owing to the protection 
 afforded by the earthworks ; so that the rebels had to be driven out 
 of their works mainly at the point of the bayonet ; and the princi- 
 pal credit of this hardly-won success was certainly due to the In- 
 fantry. The troops bivouacked that night at Bithoor ; and, after 
 razing most of the buildings to the ground, returned the next day, 
 in a deluge of rain, to our camp on the Cavalry Parade at Cawnpore. 
 Here is a characteristic story about Anjoor Tewaree, which occurred 
 during the above action. Our famous spy was constantly bringing 
 us the minutest description of the enemy's movements, and especially 
 of those of the Nuna and his following. Indeed, the attack was 
 mainly undertaken on his information. But our excellent Q.M.G., 
 who, although a Scotchman, has a pleasant wit, had often rallied 
 Anjoor Tewaree as to his sources of information, asking him where 
 he picked them up, and pretended to disbelieve that he had ob- 
 tained anything from ocular observation, 'All right,' said the 
 spy, ' one day I'll prove it to you.' As the column were in the 
 heat of the attack of Bithoor, and Fraser-Tytler, as 'tjBual in the 
 frcst, was calmly observing the position and movements of the 
 enemy, he felt a tug at his foot, and Anjoor whispered to him : 
 ' Do you see that bit of white kupra on a tree in front of you ? 
 Well, take it down quickly, and put it into your pocket ! ' Almost 
 mechanically Tytler reached up to the branch, pulled down what 
 seemed to be a piece of cotton cloth, and pocketed it. After the 
 enemy had been driven out, and the action was over, Tewaree came 
 up again, and asked Fraser if he had kept the bit of rag. ' Yes,' 
 said the Q.M.G., and pulled it out of his pocket. 'Just see if it 
 fits this,' said the spy, and, untying the end of his loin cloth, he 
 matched the piece which had been torn from it. Thus the brave 
 spy had fully proved that, on the previous night, he had taken his 
 observations himself,' [This valuable note was written by Colonel 
 Maude. J. W. S.]
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 
 
 putting a slight upon him ; to many there seemed a peculiar 
 propriety in Outram's appointment, but still there it was ; 
 with whatever motive earned out, or by whatever circum- 
 stances justified, there was the thing, a supersession. 
 
 Illness was frightful. Cholera, dysentery, and fever 
 were raging. A most accomplished and agreeable man, a 
 Captain Young, occupied the next tent to me. He went 
 down to dinner one evening at the hotel, which held on 
 with comic pertinacity, and partook of some tinned pro- 
 visions. The next morning he came out to early tea, but 
 said he felt poorly, and would lie down. He died about 
 noon, and was buried in the evening. An excellent linguist 
 and manager of natives, it would have been his work, had 
 he lived, to keep the road well open to Allahabad. He was 
 to have been a travelling policeman. Sheehy, too, who 
 came up in our tent, died of cholera. And the case of 
 Brown was a very sad one. When we were at Banda, 
 Mayne heard occasionally from Mr. Lloyd at Humeerpore. 
 This was a place west of Banda, on the Jumna. Lloyd was 
 there with an assistant, and two or more officers of a native 
 regiment, one being Brown. He wrote with courage and 
 submission, but without hope. They were in a pokey hole, 
 whence they had no escape, and they had to wait for the 
 outbreak. They kept a boat at the bottom of the garden, 
 and all stayed together. One day they were at luncheon 
 the crisis came. Shouts in the air ; the noise of feet ; 
 muskets firing; the heavy hum of a crowd. They ran 
 down the garden, and took to their boats. Towards night, 
 I think, they put in to shore. They were surrounded. 
 Lloyd and another were carried back. Two of them, Brown 
 was one, got across the water, and into the fields and
 
 102 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 jungles. At length Brown was separated from his com- 
 panion, and, half dead with hunger and fatigue, was taken 
 in by a kindly Zemindar. When Havelock passed up 
 towards Cawnpore, at one halt Brown was sent into camp 
 in a litter. He was lame and lacerated, and in a strange 
 condition of nerves, in which he found speech difficult ; but 
 being a strong, naturally fleshy, and well-grown young 
 fellow, he soon recovered, but only to die of cholera. There 
 was another officer, who, it was understood, was engaged to 
 a young lady, then amongst the besieged in Lucknow, so 
 that he was fighting like a Paladin to recover his Princess 
 from the Saracens. But it was not to be. The barracks 
 got inundated one day, and, curiously enough, we observed 
 that several who took off shoes and stockings and paddled 
 about got cholera, Alas ! the Paladin was amongst them. 
 There was the gloom of the weather, gloom of the news for 
 Delhi was not taken gloom of death ; we thought the 
 soaking neem trees smelt of the blood of the massacres ; but 
 hope springs eternal in the human breast, and a paper was 
 handed to me one morning, headed Cawnpore Summer 
 Race Meeting ! 
 
 Brown's arrival had, at the time, created much interest, 
 but, in due course, two much better known refugees arrived 
 Mowbray Thomson and Delafosse and with them Private 
 Murphy and Gunner Sullivan, who had shared their fate. 
 Delafosse was then a pale, wiry, young man; Thomson, 
 though his ample ruddy beard showed maturity, had the 
 bright face and laughing eyes of an undergraduate in his 
 first term. Both struck me very much in one way : they 
 took the events which had happened to them, events almost 
 surpassing the most romantic adventures of fiction, as if
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 103 
 
 they were ordinary circumstances to be looked for in the 
 day's work of life. Some years after, a London banker, 
 sitting next me at dinner at Cambridge, began talking 
 about Thomson, and asked me if I had met him. I told 
 him I had seen him every day of my life for a year or two. 
 " Well," he replied, " I met him in London once, and I 
 shall never forget an answer he made to a question of mine. 
 I asked him : ' When you got once more amongst all your 
 countrymen, and the whole terrible thing was over, what on 
 earth was the first thing you did ? ' ' Did ] ' cried he, ' why, 
 I went and reported myself as present and ready for duty.'" 
 The wonder created in the banker's mind was exactly what 
 arose in mine. It did seem strange, indeed, that men 
 should be able to resume ordinary life, after such an 
 episode, as if nothing had happened. 
 
 There must, of course, be more of this kind of thing in 
 the world than one would suppose. For instance, when one 
 comes to think of it, probably the next morning after the 
 earthquake at Lisbon, those who had any crockery left 
 made coffee as usual. Thomson, being a handy fellow, 
 able to turn his hand to any trade, was employed on the 
 entrenchment, and might be seen rushing after the coolies 
 any morning, as if he had been born to it. 1 
 
 So the idea of the races was really a good one, for the 
 men wanted cheering; and, as a mere sanitary measure, 
 some small excitement was necessary. We often found 
 horses. They had, perhaps, been taken by Zemindars, and 
 
 1 Sir George Trevelyan charmingly said of htm : " This officer did 
 his best to lose a life destiny seemed determined to preserve, in 
 order that England might know how, in her exceeding distress, her 
 sons had not been unmindful of their ancient honour." 
 
 H
 
 104 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 let loose, for fear of the condemnation involved in possess- 
 ing them, should discovery be made. There was, too, an 
 old Arab merchant in Cawnpore, who replied to all inquiries 
 as to his loyalty by stating that he was a Freemason ; and 
 he in some wonderful way got hold of horses every now and 
 then. Amongst the officers who had come up with the 
 84th was one named Blake, who was Petulengro, as George 
 Borrow has it, or master of the horse-shoe. Everything 
 connected with the noble quadruped delighted him, but 
 especially driving. Palliser and Simpson, 1 the two Cavalry 
 officers whose regiment had melted away, lived close to me 
 on the glacis, and, Blake consorting with them, I was 
 referred to as to the feasibility of a four-in-hand for the 
 races. I have mentioned the Nana Narain Rao. Though 
 he had come in to pay his respects to General Havelock, he 
 had gone back to Bithoor, relying, I suppose, for personal 
 safety on his high Brahminical rank, and being anxious to 
 defeat any attempts of his brothers, who were declared by 
 him to be rebels, to get away family property. But the 
 last time Bithoor was filled with Sepoys and malcontents, 
 he really did get harrassed, and had his little daughters 
 taken from him, so that when Havelock cleared the place 
 he determined to come into Cawnpore. He was fond of 
 
 1 Simpson accompanied Captain Gordon in a steamer expedition to 
 Bithoor (August 8), and amused ua afterwards with an account of 
 his adventures. They had two six-pounders and a mortar with 
 them ; but the shore offered much shelter to the rebels, and 
 amongst them were many men of the 42nd Regiment. Thus pro- 
 tected, the enemy kept up a very sharp musketry fire. In coming 
 back, the steamer ran aground, and could not be moved all night. 
 Fortunately, the sand-bank was pretty well in the middle of the 
 river. The Sepoys brought guns down to the spot ; but in the 
 morning the strong current carried the boat through
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857 
 
 horses, and had a great deal of harness ; and, one of the 
 merchants offering to lend me a barouche with a high box, 
 and a very fair pair of horses, Narain Rao turned out the 
 leaders, and found some four-in-hand traces and reins. So 
 Blake was set up with his drag. He could drive anything, 
 and kept the four together as if they had always run in a 
 team. But we wanted a cornet to give completeness to 
 the equipage ; and I was told of Bandsman Jones, who had 
 been hidden during the entrenchment troubles by some 
 compassionate villager. He had belonged to one of the 
 native infantry regiments, and was a tall, slimly built 
 Eurasian. So I sent for Jones ; and, when he came, I said . 
 " Mr. Jones, I want you to go to the races with me." He 
 said he should be delighted. I told him I also required 
 him to contribute to the hilarity of the occasion by playing 
 on the horn. And to this I understood him to agree, too, 
 "Oh, he could play, certainly, some lively air which would 
 be approved." So the drag was quite ready on the morning 
 of the races. And Jones appeared, but without his horn. 
 We inquired the cause of this omission. " I do not play on 
 the cornet," he replied ; " but I shall give some nice music 
 on this," producing that pensive instrument the flute. 
 We were prepared for most emergencies, but a four-in-hand 
 accommodated with a flute-player was too much for us, and 
 we were compelled to explain to the obliging Jones that 
 there were pastoral associations connected with the flute 
 which rendered its introduction into the more robust scenes 
 of horse-racing unsuitable. 
 
 The races served their purpose of rousing the men from 
 the low spirits into which the prevailing sickness had 
 thrown them. One of the best horses, the best I think, was
 
 106 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 an Arab that bad come with us all the way from Banda, 
 under the guidance of Dr. Clark, and either then, or 
 shortly afterwards, Major Stirling of the 64th appeared on 
 the handsomest Arab I ever saw. It was a bright bay, not 
 very large, but beautifully shaped, and had the most high- 
 caste and lovely head ever carried on shoulders. After the 
 sad events of November, it became the property of Mowbray 
 Thomson, and " Adonis," as he was called, developed into 
 quite one of the notorieties of the station. I remember 
 another little scene at the races. General Havelock was 
 of course there, with his son and Colonel Fraser-Tytler, and, 
 just as the party were passing a tent, a most extraordinary 
 figure emerged. He was dressed in a wild billycock hat, 
 had a huge spotted belcher tied round his throat, and was 
 muffled in a vast dressing-gown. He looked for all the 
 world like the man in the circus who has a great number of 
 suits on, and gradually strips till he comes to flesh-coloured 
 tights, and a blue ribbon securing his hair. The eccentric 
 figure made as if it would address the General ; and, as the 
 figure, in addition to its own oddity, led a bull-dog in 
 a string, the spectacle was very funny. It ended by some 
 of his comrades dragging him out of sight. The hero 
 of this little escapade was a young fellow in the Madras 
 Fusiliers, who was much liked, a very well-informed man, 
 agreeable and spirited, and one who would certainly have 
 got on. Indeed, there had already been some talk of the 
 V.C., but the mischief was, he could not keep away from 
 the fire-water, and, before the advance to Lucknow, he was 
 obliged to send in his papers. When it was too late, he 
 carried out total abstinence with complete success for 
 a period, and got employment in the Commissariat, or some
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. IO/ 
 
 other department ; but, in the course of time, feeling some- 
 what out of health, he went down country in the hope 
 of getting home. Unfortunately, he met one of his former 
 kidney at Benares, and they had what is euphemistically 
 called a " wet evening," The ex-Fusilier retired to bed in 
 the Da\vk bungalow at a late hour, and the next morning 
 was found dead. 
 
 Bruce was invested with full powers by the Government, 
 and with the assistance of Baba Bhut's papers, and the 
 evidence of informers, got the names of many persons who 
 had joined the Nana, or, at least, had acquiesced in his 
 rule, had paid him complimentary visits, or had sent him 
 presents. One of the informers was a tall, stout man of the 
 sweeper caste ; and though Bruce had certainly made him 
 no kind of promise of immunity, he had taken so prominent 
 a prosecuting part, that he quite thought himself established 
 as a Government agent. It came out, however, quite 
 clearly that he had jewellery in his possession which had 
 belonged to some of the lady prisoners. I have all along 
 supported the idea that there was no mutilation of our un- 
 fortunate countrymen and countrywomen before death, be- 
 cause there was no proof of it ; it was not likely ; and it 
 seems such gratuitous self-torture to suppose a thing which 
 everyone would desire to be untrue. But some mutilation 
 after death may have taken place ; and in one visit to the 
 garden in which the well stood, shortly after our arrival, I 
 found a hand under a bush, which I took, by the slender- 
 ness of the bones, to have been that of a female. The busy 
 ants had made all clean and white,, and the hand looked 
 like a plaster cast in an anatomical museum, It lay on the 
 direct road to the well ; and when I heard of the jewels, it
 
 108 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 at once occurred to me that it was probably severed for its 
 rings. Bruce was pledged to no leniency ; and he would 
 not forgive this stout sweeper, who, I make no doubt, had 
 actually joined in the massacre. He and his mates had 
 served as hangmen in disposing of some of the rebels whom 
 Bruce had tried. And now his own hour was come. His 
 mates turned on him, when ordered, with a readiness that 
 must have been very bitter to him, and led him, bound 
 and trembling, to the scaffold on which he had himself 
 stood so often as executioner. I was with Umurnath in 
 the verandah of a little house which he had to pass, and, 
 seeing me, he cried at the pitch of his voice, " Dohai 
 Collector Sahib," and entreated his guardians to allow him 
 to stop and speak to me. But they were inexorable, and 
 hurried him to his fate. 
 
 That I may not have to return again to this disagreeable 
 subject, I will add a word or two about executions. As a 
 rule, those who had to die died with extraordinary, I was 
 going to say courage, but composure is the word ; the 
 Mahomedans, with hauteur, and an angry kind of scorn ; 
 and the Hindoos, with an apparent indifference altogether 
 astonishing. When the London steamship went down, 
 south of the Land's End, the Captain that noble fellow 
 who, when offered a seat in the boat, said, " No, thank you, 
 I will stay with the passengers," about noon assembled 
 all who could come into the saloon, and gave notice that he 
 thought the ship would keep afloat till two o'clock. One 
 who escaped related that, in answer to this notice, an old 
 gentleman appeared at about half-past one having arranged 
 his dress for a journey, strapped his wrappings together, 
 and put his money into a girdle. Even in that supreme
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 109 
 
 moment the Captain could not restrain a smile. Some of 
 the Hindoos treated death exactly as if it were a journey. 
 One man, positively under the shadow of the fatal tree, 
 with only three or four minutes to live, when his waist-cloth 
 was searched (for the benefit of his friends) did not object 
 to one or two articles being taken out, but demurred, 
 peevishly enough, to giving up a few apples of the jujube 
 tree. Of all who had to meet their end, I only remember 
 one who died craven. He was a Mahomedan, and, whether 
 his memory was charged with upbraiding circumstances, or 
 whether he had never looked the subject fairly in the face, 
 when it really came to the last scene, he was unprepared to 
 go through it. He declared that he only nominally 
 belonged to Islam, but was at heart a Christian ; that he 
 was prepared to eat pork and drink wine, in order to show 
 how sincere his conversion was ; and that he thought little 
 or nothing of Mahomed. All this not availing, he grovelled 
 on the ground, screamed} cried, and piteously entreated for 
 life. He would betray his cause, would turn informer, 
 would deliver hundreds, now in security and honour, to the 
 shambles life, only life ! And the poor wretch, fainting 
 and foaming, had to be lifted within reach of the rope. 
 
 One more of these dark scenes and I have done. It was 
 after Peel with the Naval contingent had arrived, and late 
 one afternoon, verging on sunset, Bruce had tried with great 
 patience, if with little emotion, a Mahomedan who was a 
 person of some consideration. It was not uncommon for 
 officials, who had made money by some of the more than 
 doubtful methods in vogue during the administration of the 
 King of Oudh, to withdraw across the boundary with their 
 gains. There was consequently at Cawnpore a small coterie
 
 110 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 of families, not necessarily of good birth, who had, for 
 periods of greater or less duration, occupied positions of em- 
 inence about the Lucknow Court, and who, enriched by the 
 emoluments or opportunities of their office, had settled in 
 this frontier city of our territory. Here, with the vices 
 often enough gathered in the emasculate capital in which 
 they had made their fortunes, they fell gradually into 
 narrower circumstances, partly through extravagance and 
 partly through increase in numbers. The head of one of 
 these families, a man who, I was told, had in former days 
 hardly ever left his own house, was considered by Bruce to 
 have been shown to have taken an active part in aid of the 
 rebel Government which had prevailed at Cawnpore. He 
 was believed to have especially attended to the wants of one 
 of the batteries directed against Wheeler's entrenchment. 
 And it ended in his being condemned. Passing near the 
 place of execution, and observing a considerable tumult, I 
 thought I had better go and see if I could, in any way, help 
 to keep order. The confusion arose from the interest taken 
 in the man, which had drawn a crowd of Mahomedans from 
 the city, as also from the accidental presence of a body of 
 sailors. When I got there I found these latter very anxious 
 to take the executive portion of the proceedings into their 
 own hands, but a little explanation induced them to resume 
 the character of spectators. The condemned man was timid, 
 but not without self-possession. He said something which 
 I understood to be that Jesus was a forgiving prophet ; and 
 that even if he had committed a fault, it should be over- 
 looked for the sake of Jesus. He spoke very low, and it was 
 not easy quite to make out his words. But the sacred 
 name was certainly mentioned more than once. When all
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. Ill 
 
 was over, one of the sailors got up on a wall to address tho 
 public. The speech was in English, and therefore failed of 
 effect in any way, but it was a singular harangue. The 
 following may represent it : " First of all, understand," he 
 said, " that you are all rascals ! And now you have seen a 
 rascal die. But what is one rascal ? My opinion is that 
 not only one black rascal should be hung, but every black 
 rascal in the country ! And then you black rascals would 
 learn how to behave yourselves." This view of the question 
 was at least free from obscurity, though it was difficult to 
 conjecture whence the regenerated remnant could arise. 
 Balzac, in recording an axiom of " La Boheme," added : " Le 
 texte de cet article est plus vigour 'tux ; mats comme, selon moi 
 I' esprit en est /at&r, je ne tiens pas & la lettre." And I may 
 make the same remark with regard to the funeral oration of 
 our Naval friend. 
 
 Though sickness was still prevalent, the men were recover- 
 ing their spirits. Large reinforcements were known to be 
 coming, and an onward movement under more favourable 
 circumstances was in prospect. The officers, too, were full 
 of spirit and impatience. At a dinner got up at the con- 
 clusion of the races, Olpherts spoke with gieat animation 
 and effect ; many leaped to their feet, and looked as if, under 
 the enthusiasm they felt, no task would be too great for 
 them. One morning, the first of September, after breakfast, 
 a messenger brought word that some Sahibs had arrived in a 
 boat. I hastened from my tent to the river bank, and found 
 George Probyn (brother of Sir Dighton), his wife, two chil- 
 dren, Mr. William Edwards, and Mr. Gavin Jones. They had 
 been saved from the massacres at Futtehgurh by the kindly 
 offices of a Zemindar. Edwards, indeed, did not belong to
 
 112 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY, 
 
 Futtehgurh ; but had, after many adventures, joined the 
 Probyns. The lady, wonderfully brave and calm, and 
 neatly dressed, too, notwithstanding all deprivations, stood 
 on the bank, the soldiers attending co the children and 
 trying to reassure them. There was, however, one subject 
 that had to be carefully avoided ; there were two children 
 with their mother, but two had been left behind. Buried in 
 ground close to the shed, which was all the shelter the Ze- 
 mindar could safely give they rested from their little joys 
 and fears for ever. Mr. Edwards I knew well by name, but 
 had never seen. Mr. Gavin Jones had a bad wound, which 
 he had never been able to get attended to ; and was obliged 
 to carry his arm out of his sleeve. 
 
 Owing to the droll circumstance of friend Mahomed's ad- 
 herence to his profession, the hotel was available for the new 
 coiners, and its eeedy equipments seemed to them, of course, 
 a dream of comfort and luxury A curious physical experi- 
 ment worked itself out. Edwards was of a mercurial 
 temperament, capable of going through anything, whilst 
 his nerves were bi'aced by hope and expectation. Probyn, 
 less excitable, looked in poor health from insufficient food. 
 As soon, however, as he was restored to English diet, he 
 picked up at once. But the other, when the tension was 
 relaxed, was visibly enfeebled and worn down. A day or 
 two after this arrival, there came another company from 
 Calpee, Messrs. Thornton, Passanah, and Griffiths, Eurasian 
 gentlemen in Government employment across the Jumna, 
 who had gone through many dangers and annoyances. 
 With them, too, was found a Mahomedan Tuhsildar, Gholam 
 Hussain Khan, through whose fidelity their escape had been 
 partly effected. He came to call, and I was much struck
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 113 
 
 with his fine appearance and honest face. He was a bluff 
 man, outspoken and frank ; but a thorough specimen of the 
 best type of Pathan. Some of his connections and acquaint- 
 ances had gone against us, but I never could make out that 
 he had even wavered. I told him at once that if he would 
 wait patiently I would certainly find a post for him, and 
 from that time we trusted each other, and I think it may be 
 added that neither ever repented of the confidence. 
 
 Hardly anything could be done in the district ; several, 
 indeed, of the Zemindars wrote and said they would bring 
 in money when the roads were safe ; and one or two offered 
 to try and keep order in their own neighbourhood. It was 
 necessary, however, of course, to have some guarantee that 
 they were really loyal. After the mishap at the first Thana 
 established, caution was necessary, especially as Bruce had 
 had a similar misfortune at Bithoor. It had been repre- 
 sented that this place also required to be under military 
 control ; and Bruce had been directed to send some of what 
 he called his sweeper police. As far as, in some measure, 
 disregarding caste goes, the idea was sound ; but the en- 
 gagement of exclusively low-caste men was, perhaps, carry- 
 ing things too far. Curious adventurers turned up from 
 time to time ; and a tall, well-built Hindoo had appeared, 
 who spoke English admirably, and had attached his fortunes 
 to those of Bruce. Men were required to go to Bithoor, and 
 I was sitting one afternoon with Bruce, who was enlisting 
 volunteers. They had to give some reference, and this 
 Hindoo questioned them with great acuteness. At length 
 one man was brought up, and the Hindoo said : " This 
 fellow relies on his face, and the reference is very unsatis- 
 factory. I had better tell him to pack ? " A person capable
 
 114 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 of conducting business in so lively a manner was not to be 
 overlooked, and when the Thana was established at Eithoor, 
 he was sent over to preside. But he was a regular scamp ; 
 and, after a day or two of business, determined to have a 
 frolic ; and so sent for wine and dancing girls, and had the 
 Thana laid with carpets, and lighted up, and devoted the 
 night to music and the flowing bowl. A spy, however, sent 
 word to the other side of the river, and a party of Sepoys 
 and rebels got across, came quietly up, and made an attack 
 on the revellers in the small hours. All outlook and precau- 
 tions had been neglected, there was an attempt to get to 
 arms, but of an ineffectual kind a fight took place several 
 were killed. Our lively friend had taken too much to escape, 
 or indeed to be fully aware, perhaps, of what was going on. 
 He was murdered, and his body thrown into the street. 
 
 One duty, which was by no means an unpleasant one, was 
 the endeavour to keep open communications with Agra. 
 We always found men who were willing to take the risk. 
 They would, perhaps, not have been killed, if the letters had 
 been found ; but very probably mutilated. Later on, several 
 of our adherents had their noses and hands cut off. The 
 letter was written on a small piece of paper, and put into a 
 quill ; the quill, again, sealing-waxed at the end, or sewn in- 
 to a little case of wax cloth. The object was so small, it 
 could be popped into the hair or held behind the teeth in an 
 emergency. One of these tiny scrolls brought the last hand- 
 writing of Mr. Colvin. Mr. (afterwards Sir William) Muir 
 was the best correspondent. Sometimes Neill got notes 
 direct from Delhi ; these were generally in French. As the 
 communication was fairly open to Calcutta, friends of those 
 in the fort at Agra began to write overland, via Cawnpore.
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 
 
 When a good number were collected, Umurnath and I set 
 about making them as small as possible, and then got a 
 Kossid to dress as a travelling beggar. A miserable pony 
 was procured for him. It had to be a mere bag of bones, 
 and yet to walk to Agra. We could not give it corn, as that, 
 doubtless, would have brought on inflammation of the 
 stomach ; and when turned loose on the fresh grass, its old 
 teeth produced effects much like those following the mowing 
 of a lawn by a person unacquainted with the art. On this 
 sorry brute was bound a most moth-eaten and weather- 
 stained pad, tied roughly with a rope. But deeply inserted 
 in the mouldy lining were the overland letters taking com- 
 fort and refreshment to many a heart. We daubed the 
 Kossid into a filthy and odorous fukeer; and giving his 
 Rosiuante a meal of some kind of thatch, the cereal it 
 most affected, we started Her Majesty's Mail on its journey. 
 It arrived, I am glad to add, in perfect safety. 
 
 Notwithstanding all drawbacks, the time was not un- 
 pleasant. The works at the entrenchment were pushed 
 forward, and at length presented the appearance of a strong 
 little fort ; those who lived there had constant intercourse 
 with the Force, occupying the barracks to the east of the 
 town. We lived from day to day, receiving and discussing 
 any item of news that turned up ; but I suppose, from a 
 military point of view, the position was anything but re- 
 assuring. The black cloud at Gwalior still lay, with its 
 presages of storm, on the horizon. But it might move any 
 day. There were also symptoms of disturbance on the 
 Ganges, between Cawnpore and Allahabad ; and an attempt 
 seemed threatened to occupy Futtehpore, or some other 
 place near, so as to intercept communications. The
 
 Il6 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 steamer, which had been so wonderfully useful already, was 
 sent down the river this time, and did good work in captur- 
 ing boats and rendering crossing more difficult. Notwith- 
 standing all, however, the enemy actually did cross, and 
 endeavoured, as Outram was advancing, to occupy his rear, 
 and cut off his communications. How that General gave 
 them a blow, which sent those that escaped flying back into 
 Oudh, is a matter of history. Sir James Outram arrived on 
 the 16th of September; and, of course, his coming made a 
 great change in our comparatively small society. The 5th 
 Fusiliers, the 90th Light Infantry, appeared on the scene. 
 The 64th was largely reinforced. Celebrities were there : 
 Eyre, who had done such wonders at Arrah, and others 
 and there was the Bayard himself. 
 
 I felt somewhat nervous on entering a room in the large 
 house on the bank, where he had taken up his quarters a 
 little out of conversation, as one does find oneself when ftrst 
 in the presence of a person of whom one has heard much. 
 The kindly face, the friendly hand extended, the entire 
 absence of stiffness, or self-consciousness reminding me 
 greatly, in this noble and natural simplicity, of Mr. Thom- 
 son soon brought re-assurance. He took the trouble to 
 show me a map of Lucknow, and to explain some of the 
 difficulties of reaching the Residency. And never neglect- 
 ing an opportunity of encouraging what he thought was 
 right, he told me he had not failed to observe how harmoni- 
 ously all efforts for the objects in view were working 
 together. There was a bridge of boats 1 building at a 
 
 1 Lord Canning kindly had a private letter written to me about 
 this bridge. He was very pleased when it was finished. The 
 flautist, Jones, was appointed toll-man.
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857. 1 1 7 
 
 tremendous pace across the Ganges ; and, of course, friend 
 Umumath and I had had to assist as much as possible with 
 coolies and materials, and so on. 
 
 And now for a few days all the bustle, noise, and anima- 
 tion of a moving camp were around us. I met some whom 
 I had known before. Colonel Cooper of the Artillery was 
 one. A fine, tall, stalwart man, he had been once chosen, 
 some years before, for Front de Boeuf in " Ivanhoe " tableaux, 
 and I remembered consultations as to his dress. The 
 Artillery was now put entirely under him, and in the ad- 
 vance he was a Brigadier. Proud of the opportunity, come 
 at last, of prominently distinguishing himself, and ardent 
 as all the rest, there was about him, or I thought there 
 was, a certain repose, a certain silence at times, which 
 struck me then as foreboding. Does coming death cast a 
 shadow ? I recollect General Neill saying one morning : 
 " Come out of the sun ; I do not want to expose myself 
 before my time" The last words were spoken with a smile 
 and a look of his usual dauntless manner, but not untinged 
 with sadness. When I heard of his fall at the Gateway, 
 the words and the look returned to me with painful vivid- 
 ness. And here, while I am with General Neill for the last 
 time, let me add what pleasant remembrances I have of his 
 kindness. A man originally of a self-confident character, 
 excessively praised and flattered for acts indicative of firm- 
 ness, it was natural he should be positive, and natural that 
 he should be brusque towards those who in any way 
 opposed him. But the notion that got into the newspapers, 
 that he was overbearing to persons who were not of his own 
 profession, and that he set his face against all attempts to 
 re-establish merely civil institutions, was not only incorrect,
 
 Il8 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 but was contrary to the fact. I have said that the idea that 
 there was the least want of unanimity between Sir John 
 Grant and himself was absolutely untrue ; and I can only 
 add that, as a civilian at Cawnporo, I received nothing but 
 cordiality and consideration from him. He constantly sent 
 for me to hear news he had received ; and when small 
 packets reached me from Agra, I took them down to open 
 in his presence, that he might be the first informed. In 
 this way I read out Nicholson's splendid surprise march on 
 the rebel camp at Nujufgurh, when the attempt was made 
 from Delhi to get to the rear of our Force. It was 
 received, as may be supposed, with a genuine enthusiasm 
 by NeilL He was very kind to the soldiers, and attentive 
 to their wants and comforts ; and those officers whose 
 appointments brought them into daily intercourse with him 
 were all attached to him. General Outram, as soon as lie 
 reached Cawnpore, issued the memorable, and it may surely 
 be added, extraordinary order, in which he left the chief 
 command with Havelock. That it did honour to his heart, 
 no one, of course, could dispute. But there was no ques- 
 tion of Outram's heart. He was known to be the most 
 generous man alive. The difficulty that oxercised many 
 military minds was of a different kind. Can an officer, en- 
 trusted with a taiik by the Queen, make that task over to 
 another person? I have mentioned, further on, what 
 Outram himself said on the point, in a room where I 
 happened to be present, after having plenty of time to 
 think over the past events of 1857. 
 
 And now, we who were to remain, stood on the river 
 bank. From the same spot, a day or two before, we had 
 seen small parties of the enemy leaping and scuttling as the
 
 THE RAINS OF 1857, 
 
 shrapnel fell near them. A hero on an elephant had dis- 
 played undignified anxiety to get beyond the reach of 
 shells, when he had inadvertently come within their range. 
 Outram reined up his mottled roan horse on the mound 
 where we were the same which carried him soon after- 
 wards in the charge with Barrow's Cavalry. He was 
 bearded and sat erect, as if his youth had returned. The 
 long array wound down to the water, and slowly crossed 
 over inlo Oudh. Men of history were there : Havelock and 
 Napier, Neill and Eyre; and many others. The pageant 
 passed us ; and by night-fall the troops were spread out on 
 the opposite shore. Next day the heavy guns were taken 
 over a task of some trouble, of course and on the 21st of 
 September, early in the morning, amidst one of those down- 
 pours that mark the end of the rains, we heard the 
 cannonading at Mungulwar.
 
 VIII 
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS 
 
 THE throb of guns, ever and auon, was all that told us of 
 the host growing more distant hourly. We seemed to be a 
 very small party when left alone. Our new Commander 
 was Colonel Wilson of the 64th, a type of the soldier now 
 passed away. Well-bred, comely in appearance, of active 
 and regular habits, a great stickler for all the traditions of 
 the Service, a disbeliever in modern ideas of warfare, an 
 opposer of reforms, he was on a small scale what Sir George 
 Brown was on a large one : but withal a man of kindly dis- 
 position, and with much of the courtesy of an elder chivalry 
 about him. The Probyns and Mr. Edwards had departed, and 
 Probyu had been appointed magistrate of Futtehpore. But 
 we had a few additions to our small society. Though death 
 had, in the earlier autumn, been very busy amongst the 
 troops, and there was more than one somewhat secluded 
 spot, where the simple, rounded heaps told of the unknown 
 but not inglorious brave sleeping beneath, no minister of 
 religion had appeared to console the last moments of those 
 who fell for their country, But with the last reinforce- 
 ments a Baptist minister, a Mr Gregson, came up, as also 
 a priest of the Latin Church, Father Conti. The Non- 
 conformist was a man of considerable ability, and free from 
 sectarian prejudice j indeed, he often dwelt with satisfac- 
 
 120
 
 .ANXIOUS WEEKS. 121 
 
 tion on the circumstance that he had never been called 
 upon to sign any especial " Credo," though of course his 
 general acquiescence in what is understood as Christian 
 orthodoxy was pre-supposed and actually existed. The 
 priest was a Capuchin missionary, who had temporarily 
 given up his particular vocation under the emergency of 
 circumstances. He brought with him several copies of the 
 Rheims Testament, and some of these reached Protestants 
 also who were devoid of all religious books. I received, 
 too, a coadjutor in a Mr. George Benson, a man of much 
 ability, who had got himself appointed to Cawnpore, to 
 relieve in some measure a great anxiety felt for relatives 
 who were shut in at Lucknow. 
 
 Bruce's position, without the support of General Neill, 
 was, in a degree, anomalous ; but a commission he had re- 
 ceived to correspond with Outram strengthened his inde- 
 pendence. Still, of course, he was under the orders of 
 Colonel Wilson, and it was not part of the latter's idea of 
 military administration to exercise any divided authority, 
 so that circumspection was necessary. As for the position 
 of civilians, the old disciplinarian took an early opportunity 
 of telling me that all the difficulties of India bad arisen 
 from weak attempts at holding the country by other than 
 military tenure ; and that, for his own part, he was quite 
 unprepared to recognise any other functions than those under 
 his own control. I could not help thinking of Balzac's Prince 
 de la Boheme, who refuses to admit that a person with so 
 unchivalric a name as Godin has any perceptible status, 
 " Godin I cela n'existe pas, vous n'etes rien, Godin ! " But, 
 as soon as it was perceived that official annihilation, if 
 theoretic only and not practical, was not objected to in any
 
 122 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 way, all resentment evaporated, and we became very 
 friendly. Sometimes I got little scrolls from Agra, and the 
 Colonel much liked their being read to him first, as, of 
 course, it was proper they should be. The only difficulty 
 was the telegraph, because Mr. Grant had decided that from 
 time to time telegrams should be sent to him. But, how- 
 ever, Bruce played into my hands, and an opportunity oc- 
 curred, of which I was glad to avail myself, when something 
 in return could be done for him. The fall of Delhi, though 
 it created an immense sensation throughout the country, 
 of course let loose a vast body of ex-Sepoys and ruffians 
 who started South. And some little time after Outratn 
 had gone to Lucknow, we heard that a considerable force of 
 native troops was advancing down the Grand Trunk Road, 
 they being determined, as it was said, to die in the Cawn- 
 pore khet, or fields of Cawnpore, where many of them, 
 perhaps, were born. Bruce was anxious that something 
 should be done to prevent this force actually advancing to 
 within " measurable distance " of Cawnpore. But the 
 Colonel had received strict directions, and shook his head. 
 And as a diversion seemed to him advisable, to relieve him- 
 self of hints and suggestions, he took the opportunity of a 
 convoy, starting for Alum Bagh, to appoint Bruce to take 
 charge of it. Bruce galloped over to my tent in consterna- 
 tion, for it did not suit his book, in the least, to leave 
 Cawnpore; and yet, of course, he had to obey the Com- 
 manding Officer, So, on an understanding, I went over to 
 call on Colonel Wilson, and gradually worked the conversa- 
 tion round to Bruce. If I had said a word of remonstrance, 
 I should certainly have been asked to walk out ; but I 
 merely spoke in the most general way of Bruce's position ;
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 123 
 
 said how useful he was making himself to Outram, by keep- 
 ing kossids on the road, and how he had now got the threads 
 of communication in his hands, which another person would 
 find it difficult to take up. And, moreover, I dwelt on the 
 point that General Neill had obtained special orders for 
 Bruce to remain at Cawnpore. All this was said quite 
 casually, as if it had no bearing on present events,* and 
 Bruce himself also wrote in the same casual way. In the 
 evening Wilson sent for Bruce, and said : " On second 
 thoughts I scarcely think I can spare you." Bruce was a 
 man who was confident if he thought he was right, and so, 
 no sooner was he relieved from fear of extinction, than he 
 began hammering again at the expedition. I find no notice 
 of it in Malleson ; but all the same the expedition came off. 
 Wilson, with a handy little body of troops, and two guns, 
 and accompanied by Bruce, went two marches up the Delhi 
 road, and drove the rebels out of a village they had just 
 reached. They fled towards the river, and he pegged into 
 them as they were crossing, and came back with his object 
 effected, and in high spirits. Stirling, of the 64th, com- 
 manded whilst he was away. The convoy I have mentioned 
 as nearly blowing Bruce's candle out is not remembered 
 without sadness. George Benson, who had recently, by the 
 way, given a little dinner at the Hotel, on his birthday, 
 was constantly anxious to get nearer Lucknow, and he 
 wanted leave to go with the convoy. On a point of this 
 sort Wilson was all complacence. It seemed to him about 
 as important as if a black beetle had desired to crawl along 
 the road in the wake of the guard. Benson went and hung 
 about the Alum Bagh, undergoing many hardships, till Sir 
 Colin came through. Then he pressed on to Lucknow,
 
 124 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 which he had so earnestly desired to reach, and was shot 
 dead at the attack on the Secunder Bagh. Being iu no re- 
 cognisable position, I do not think his name was ever men- 
 tioned ; but he was a brave fellow, and had he done under 
 orders what he did for affection, he would not have filled 
 such an unnoticed grave. 
 
 The rains up-country generally finish, at the latest, by 
 the first week in October, and, though the sunshine is very 
 intense, yet mornings and evenings are balruy, the light 
 golden, and the distances dream-like with the luminous 
 haze. Rising very early on the morning of the 26th 
 October, and accompanied by the faithful Azim All, I 
 cantered on the soft side of the Delhi road, as we called 
 it (for that had been the place our minds had dwelt on 
 so long), and after a mile or two, fell in with the van of 
 a large force. I soon met George Campbell (afterwards 
 M.P.), whom I did not know then, but who stopped to ask 
 news, and presently afterwards saw three men riding abreast, 
 two of them being Harington, 1 -of the Legislative Council, 
 and Herbert Harington, telegraphist. These were relatives 
 of mine, and of course the meeting was pleasant enough. 
 We had all of us been through trials ; but we were quite 
 well and hearty, and looked forward, not behind. The 
 troops now entering Cawnpore formed the well known 
 flying column under Greathed, that had such strange 
 adventures at Agra, but were now commanded by Hope 
 Grant. This gallant officer, socially celebrated before as a 
 musician and performer on the violincello, had at last found 
 
 1 Afterwards Sir Henry Byng Harington, Member of Council, and 
 appointed Lieuteuant-Governor of the N.W.P. Hia medical man, 
 however, would not allow hjin to fill the post,
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 12$ 
 
 the opportunity so long expected, so nobly availed of, of 
 coming to the front. My especial Harington was at the 
 Hotel, and we had plenty to talk of; indeed, everywhere 
 the conversation was most interesting, stories of Delhi, 
 stories of Agra, stories of the march, all full of romance. 
 Herbert Harington was with his brother Hastings, the 
 young Artillery officer to whom his fellow gunners by 
 acclamation assigned the Victoria Cross, for siege operations 
 at Delhi. There was a Cross to be given, and the officers 
 were allowed to choose the recipient. This was a double 
 honour : " for valour " from the Queen, " for worth " from 
 his corps. The career of Herbert Haringtou so well illus- 
 trates the temper of the times, that I may be excused for 
 briefly noticing it. 
 
 He was at Oxford pursuing his studies. The Crimean 
 War came. Studies seemed derogatory at such a crisis, and 
 he volunteered for service ; "but the authorities would only 
 allow him to go out in the transport. He went out and 
 worked hard at Kertch, and other places, came home in 
 1856 by Varna, Rustchuk, Ratisbon, and reached at 
 last the old parsonage where he had been bred. But from 
 Brussels to Wiltshire 26 hours no commissariat but what 
 three coppers could supply, so that glory did not prove a 
 paying concern. Then he returned to Oxford and finished 
 his college course, with a view to starting as a coach. But 
 the charms of adventure had been tasted, and the quiet 
 academical career seemed impossible. He must go some- 
 where. " To India," said O'Shaughnessy, " in my telegraph 
 service, the finest service in the world." (This expression 
 was, in a measure, hyperbolical.) So in the telegraph he 
 came, arriving at Agra in the cold weather, and taking his
 
 126 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 sword off the roof of the dak carriage, with the expression : 
 "My old Crimean sword, I shall not want that again." 
 However, the summer found him in the Volunteer Cavalry 
 only too glad to possess the old Crimean sword, and use it, 
 too, in some very hazardous encounters. And so here 
 he had turned up again as a telegraphist. The column 
 stayed a very short time in Cawnpore, crossing over 
 into Oudh, and following the host we had seen wind out of 
 sight, and had traced a little further by their guns. Har 
 ington went down to Calcutta to take his seat in the 
 Legislative Council ; Herbert went on towards Lucknow. 
 But in the meantime reinforcements had been coming 
 steadily up, and a constant stream of soldiers was upon 
 us. 
 
 The merchants in Cawnpore had recovered their confi- 
 dence, and would supply money in any amount; and my 
 new coadjutor, Mr. James Power, who had come with 
 the Agra column, and myself had a great deal of treasury 
 work to do, paying the troops, etc. And though the 
 district was still very disturbed, owing to certain causes 
 the chief being the absolute certainty that the Contingent 
 was about to leave Gwalior a belief began to spread that 
 the tide was turning, and many communications from the 
 Zemindars was received. 1 Gradually one or two of the 
 principal farmers, within fair distance of the station, con- 
 sented to become Sub-Collectors, and to gather in the 
 
 i One Zemindar was insolent. He sent word he had two guns, 
 and if I would lend him a buffalo calf (meaning an elephant), he 
 would forward them to our aid. I think he joined Kunwur Singh 
 and disappeared. A repartee had been prepared, but was nevei 
 delivered.
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 
 
 revenue. It seemed better that there should be no mis- 
 understanding, and therefore, though it was certainly true 
 that the Nana had taken some of the summer revenue, it 
 was intimated, from the first, that such payments would 
 not count, and must not be mentioned. The Eurasian 
 gentlemen who came from Calpee all helped in what work 
 there was, and one of them, Griffiths, was a fine rider, and 
 would occasionally gallop out and visit some of our Zemin- 
 dar adherents. Still, of course, it was the day of small 
 things. 
 
 On the 3rd of November Sir Colin Campbell reached 
 Cawnpore, and the next day James Power and I went to 
 pay our respects. I had been told to expect rather a sharp 
 fire of chaff, and therefore approached with an extra 
 provision of equanimity. As far as mere manner went, we 
 found the Chief rather elaborately polite, but he soon went 
 off into sarcasm. He was very angry with George Camp- 
 bell about an expression he had used in reference to one of 
 the regiments, and he was exceedingly sore about the 
 battle of Kujwa. Probyn, the magistrate of Futtehpore, 
 had brought very prominently to the notice of Colonel 
 Powell of the 53rd, the fact of a large body of rebels headed 
 by Kunwur Singh, from Dinapore and Behar who had 
 collected at a village to the south-west of the station, and 
 Powell had taken upon himself to go out and attack them. 
 He was killed, and the command fell into the hands of 
 Captain William Peel, R.N., who, by a really brilliant 
 movement, gained a complete victory. The enemy suffered 
 severely, and three guns and three tumbrils were taken. 
 But the battle had been fought against general orders, and 
 Sappers had been used as common Infantry, and the Chief
 
 128 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 was displeased ; angry even that Powell's attention had 
 been drawn to the presence of the rebels, saying with great 
 contempt that if "General" Probyn would mind his own 
 business, it would be better for all parties. After this, a 
 quarter of an hour with the calm, intellectual, diplomatic 
 Mansfield, who gave some hints as to supplies and other 
 points, ia a very courteous way. He was a man with 
 a striking face, dark thoughtful eyes, and a fine forehead. 
 
 A moment of trial had arrived for Sir Colin, whom it will 
 be more convenient to call by the name he is now re- 
 membered by, that of Lord Clyde. At the very time 
 a sufficient force had been gathered together to render the 
 Relief of Lucknow certain, the black cloud that had lain, 
 a sullen mass, on the horizon, sped on apace to the zenith. 
 The Gwalior Contingent moved to Calpee. It was not 
 known then, but it is known now, that it did so under the 
 orders of Tantia Topee, the Mahratta, who, in the absolute 
 dearth of able men produced on the rebel side, has been 
 credited, somewhat too generously perhaps, with high gifts 
 of generalship. Lord Clyde had to decide which task 
 to undertake first : meet the Contingent, or go to Lucknow. 
 He determined to relieve the long-beleagured garrison ; and 
 he left for the defence of Cawnpore a force of 500 men 
 afterwards increased by Madras troops. But we were no 
 longer under the command of Colonel Wilson ; we had 
 a new chief in the person of Redan Windham. He was 
 quite a different type of man from the old regimental 
 Colonel; he was handsome and debonair, very talkative, 
 fond of a good story, dressy, and fashionable. But those 
 who knew Colonel Wilson had grown to like him very 
 much ; he was not possessed of intellectual power, but
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. I2p 
 
 he had a great deal of that worth which always makes itself 
 felt. Just before he gave over command, he had mentioned 
 to me the pleasure he had received from a letter assuring 
 him of the health and safety of his wife. I asked where 
 she was, and he mentioned a station in Western India. I 
 observed that the countersign that evening was the name 
 of the place, and it struck one forcibly enough as a casual 
 proof of the quarter to which his thoughts naturally turned. 
 With a detachment coming from the East, Joseph 
 Manuel turned up one morning, having gradually got 
 round from Nagode, and being determined to follow the 
 fortunes of his family friend, as he regarded me His 
 name for me was " my superior," a title which was found 
 rather embarrassing, suggestive of Mr. Barlow, the moral 
 tutor, and seeming to call for some weighty aphorism to be 
 delivered occasionally, such as : " You see, my dear Joseph, 
 that in the long run, virtue secures that self-satisfaction 
 without which the most splendid accidents of life would be 
 tasteless and unprofitable," etc The girl, Georgina Ander- 
 son, too, a Eurasian of some sixteen or seventeen years, 
 who had been badly wounded at Humeerpore, and taken 
 charge of by a native doctor, was brought in. Bandsman 
 Jones was found to have a wife, and with this family 
 Georgina was placed, where she seemed to be as happy as 
 possible. With the Force that came from Agra, an 
 Engineer officer named Major Norman Chester Macleod had 
 appeared, and to him the entrenchment was made over. 
 He was a man who, perhaps, was not very good at office 
 work, had an impatience of details, and very likely, in those 
 endless returns so affected by the Government, was some- 
 times behind-hand. But he had, nevertheless, a streak of
 
 130 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 genius : seized on the weak points of the position, and made 
 many remarkable improvements, which, when the hour 
 of trial came, were highly appreciated. Having, in early 
 surveying work, caught a fearful jungle fever, he was only 
 able to sustain health by hydropathic appliances and a 
 vegetable diet. It seems odd, but it is perfectly true, that 
 a person who has strength of mind enough to adopt habits 
 at variance with usage, in the certainty that they are 
 beneficial to himself, does not escape the charge of eccen- 
 tricity. And then to the observation, u What a good officer 
 such an one is," comes the wretched depreciation, "Yes, 
 but he is singular, he has a bee in his bonnet," and so on. 
 Add to this that Macleod was of a very modest disposition. 
 Years and years after the siege of Ghuznee in Lord Keane's 
 time, it was found that Macleod was the man who laid the 
 gunpowder against the gate in the night. I have heai'd 
 him tell the story. Of course, after it was done, escape had 
 to be immediate and precipitate. To him, all eagerness 
 about the result, came suddenly lightning in his eyes, a 
 numbness in his face, a confusion in his head, a forgetful- 
 ness of what he was doing and where he could be, dust in 
 his mouth, blood on his hands. He had fallen head over 
 heels into one of the ravines forming the rough ground 
 around the fort. Death has removed him long ago from 
 the scene, but the great ability and brilliant readiness with 
 which he secured the safety of that entrenchment at Cawn- 
 pore seemed to show that in any independent and un- 
 embarrassed position (and he required this freedom), he 
 would have become a distinguished officer. 
 
 I had a correspondent in Calpee, and news was obtained 
 also through Messrs. Passanah and Thornton, who had
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 13! 
 
 come from that bank of the Jumna, and the tidings were 
 bad enough. The town swarmed with soldiers, and pre- 
 parations were in full vigour for crossing over the 
 guns two eight-inch howitzers forming part of the 
 battery. 
 
 General Windham had had orders to send on all Infantry, 
 and portions of regiments coming up to Cawnpore, towards 
 Lucknow, and loyally he did it. I remember him on the 
 other side of the bridge, where planks had been laid down 
 in the sand, early in the morning, seeing parties off. 
 Seated on a handsome horse, and full of spirits, he was 
 a fine specimen of a hearty English soldier. But some 
 heavy work was before him. There seemed to us who had 
 remained all along at Cawnpore to have been so many 
 starting and none returning. We could watch them mov- 
 ing along the bank, and at last reaching trees which hid 
 them and then this wretched Oudh engulphed them. 
 Even when Windham got leave to retain some of the 
 reinforcements, he sent on a small Force with guns on 
 hearing of the taking of Bunnee bridge. I and my com- 
 peer, James Power, had moved our tents off the glacis, and 
 got them placed in a rather better situation for easy 
 reference, as people were often wanting money, and here we 
 saw all the world. There were many officers who could 
 not get up-country to their own corps, who were anxious to 
 obtain employment somehow. A very old friend, Campbell 
 Clark, of what was then the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, turned 
 up, and also no less a person than Coverley Jackson. He 
 had held a very high post once at Lucknow, and thought he 
 should be wanted again. A Zemindar had come one day, 
 on a great, stout, rounded horse, such as you see painted in
 
 132 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY 
 
 battle pieces, with a flowing mane, and he consented to sell 
 it, and it was secured for Jackson's use. 
 
 And now came on the three momentous days, the 26tb, 
 27th y and 28th of November. Even if I had the necessary 
 power and knowledge, it would be out of character with 
 these pages to attempt to produce an outline of the mili- 
 tary events that crowded themselves into this short space. 
 Malleson has given them clearly enough, only he does not 
 seem to me to have borne in mind that though the move- 
 ments of the enemy have become known now, they were 
 very indistinctly followed then. Information as to the 
 number of men or guns, in any particular place, could not 
 be obtained with any accuracy ; and Windham neither had, 
 nor could have, much notion of what the rebel leader was 
 really intending. The General had come into my tent on 
 the 25th, and had been talking about what he meant to do. 
 :t I am certainly not going to let these fellows think we 
 cannot act on the offensive," hs said and then he added, 
 " these small engagements are awkward things, very little 
 glory gained in winning them, and perhaps some valuable 
 life is lost, and people say it was wasted." That night, on 
 an intimation from Brigadier Carthew, he rode out to the 
 camp, which had been formed on the Calpee road. The 
 next day the battle took place near the Pandoo Nuddee, 
 and a very brilliant affair it was, and completely successful, 
 it must be remembered. The two howitzers of which we 
 had heard were taken, besides a 6-pounder. As evening 
 fell, several who had been present appeared, and we heard 
 full accounts of the various incidents of the day. Early 
 the next morning all was bustle and excitement the troops 
 had to stand to arms at 11 o'clock. The enemy, however,
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 133 
 
 did not immediately appear, and we now know that the 
 Force moving along the Calpee road was waiting for the 
 advance of their comrades by the Delhi road. Those who 
 had been living outside had some of them moved into 
 the entrenchment, and we had made arrangements for 
 striking our tents in case of necessity. 
 
 It was about noon, and I had gone intc the entrench- 
 ment, and was standing with some officers on the grass, 
 when we heard a heavy cannonade open from the direction 
 of Nawabgunj, where the old civil station stood. From 
 that moment, of course, all was excitement and confusion 
 for hours. From time to time we got scraps of news which 
 sounded encouraging. Carthew, as is well known, held the 
 right and the approach from Bithoor successfully for a long 
 time. However, we moved our tents and traps, and got them 
 quietly into the entrenchment, so as to be prepared And as 
 the afternoon ended, the better things we had hoped for in 
 the morning seemed passing away. Windham, on his way to 
 see how the right was faring, received false intelligence 
 that the entrenchment was being attacked, and sent orders 
 for his left to fall back. There was a stampede amongst 
 the few non-combatants still outside to get into the en- 
 trenchment, and then a very disorderly entry of military 
 with bullock-drivers, camp-followers, and what not. 
 Mowbray Thomson, Power, and myself, got up on a 
 rampart and surveyed the scene, which was one of inde- 
 scribable confusion. It is pleasant to think our soldiers do 
 not withdraw well ; they fortunately have very seldom to 
 do it. And now night fell, and the whole Force which had 
 held the left was inside the entrenchment. There were 
 fires burning in one or two directions, and altogether it wag
 
 134 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 rather an awkward time. The non-combatant portion of 
 those enclosed had a large shelf of ground between the 
 river and the bank assigned to them, and here the tents 
 were placed close together. Just beyond was the Commis- 
 sariat, and then a path led to a temple hanging over the 
 water. There was an exit, by which a large house could be 
 reached ; this had been in a measure fortified, and was 
 occupied by Windham and his Staff, Bruce, and others. 
 We retired, as it grew dark, to the shelf where the tent 
 was, and found all our acquaintances. Umurnath, the fat 
 Brahmin, and Azim Ali, had made friends with some Com- 
 missariat people. Bandsman Jones and Mrs. Jones were 
 close by, and Georgina Anderson, and Mr. Gregson, the 
 Baptist minister. With the astonishing irnpassiveness of 
 native servants, our table attendants had managed to cook 
 dinner (as if a siege were a sort of picnic), and, like 
 Swiveller's Marchioness, we made pretence of being very 
 happy, and found it answer. Afterwards, being up in the 
 open part, I caught a form I knew ; it was Colonel Wilson. 
 He was, of course, rather annoyed at what had happened, 
 but still spoke with confidence of going at the enemy next 
 day. " Straight at them, sir," he said ; " it is the only way 
 with these rascals. Good-night." "Goodnight, Colonel." 
 Sleep calmly, old soldier ; it is thy last night on earth. 
 
 There was a determined little task to be done in the 
 iarly hours of this night. One of the two big guns taken 
 out had been left in the town, in the middle of the streets. 
 There was no reason why the enemy should not have come 
 into the city if they had liked, but they were cautious, and 
 waited till the next day. This, of course, could not be 
 ascertained then ; and, therefore, the band that sallied forth
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 135 
 
 to bring in the gun thought the project might be rather a 
 hazardous one. However, after midnight it was in the 
 entrenchment. The General had to make all his arrange- 
 ments over night. Poor man ! He had caught a frightful 
 cold, and it had taken away his voice, so, when he desired 
 to be especially emphatic, a wheezy earnestness was all that 
 could be produced. I expect he never lay down or thought 
 of sleep, and was only too glad when morning came, and he 
 could set about retrieving matters. The next was a terrible 
 day. We, non-combatants, had got an idea into our heads 
 that Brigadier Carthew had been the hero of the 27th. He 
 had been the only victorious one, and at night had stayed 
 out, holding the Theatre. When we heard afterwards his 
 exploits had received a reprimand, we were greatly astonished. 
 He, it will be remembered, occupied a position on the right, 
 but between this ground and the river there was sufficient 
 space for the rebels to advance towards the entrenchment, 
 and to post guns on a rising bank. When this was per- 
 ceived, Windham sent word to Colonel Wilson, who was in 
 command of the entrenchment, to sally out and occupy a 
 place parallel with that held by Brigadier Carthew. The 
 old Colonel, only too glad, doubtless, of an opportunity of 
 carrying out the policy he had propounded the previous even- 
 iug, issued forth at the head of his own corps, the 64th 
 Regiment. On what a little matter serious issue may turn 
 at a critical moment ! Often and often since have I walked 
 over the road he took. It ran in a line with the river for some 
 ittle way, and then forked. One branch wound gently down 
 below an old burial-place, the other descended more abruptly 
 beneath rising ground, which, at the top, became quite steep. 
 
 If the Colonel had known the difference of the roads, and 
 
 K
 
 136 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 had taken the one nearer the river, to his right, and, skirt- 
 ing the grave-yard, he would have come to a place whence 
 he could have peppered the rebels at the guns they had 
 pushed forward, without exposing his own men. It was, of 
 course, not the least his fault ; but he took the wrong turn, 
 went down the more abrupt road, and so under the bank 
 recently occupied by the enemy. His skirmishers climbed 
 up the steep part, and got possession of the guns, but these 
 could not be retained. Major Stirling, waving his sword, 
 jumped across one of the guns, and shouted encouragement 
 to the men embarrassed with the. ascent. He was cut down 
 by troopers coming up. The enemy rallied to the spot, six 
 of the officers of the 64th were killed, and the endeavour 
 to carry the height failed. In consequence of this, the 
 mutineers closed up, and occupied the ground by the river, 
 approached close to the entrenchment, and, from a sheltered 
 position on the bank, opened a peculiarly misdirected fire 
 on the bridge ; and at a later stage made a feeble attempt 
 to loose a fire-boat clown the stream. Poor Campbell Clark 
 had been brought into hospital, dangerously wounded; 
 another friend, Parsons, I had seen go by with his arm all 
 shattered, and I think it was late in the afternoon when, 
 wandering near a gate of the entrenchment, I heard a voice 
 reciting words, and looking round saw Moore, a chaplain 
 recently come, in his surplice, moving slowly along. And 
 then there passed, stretched on a hospital dhoolie, reverently 
 covered up, and attended by a favourite Portuguese servant, 
 all that was left of poor Colonel Wilson 1 
 
 The sun was setting, or had set, when Power and I went 
 down to see how the bridge was faring. It had never been 
 in real danger, so inadequate had the attempts of the
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 137 
 
 enemy proved. We crossed over, and were standing by the 
 palisade at the end, when we saw a cloud of dust on the 
 Lucknow road. This was soon recognised to be a small 
 knot of horsemen, the central figure of which was peering 
 across the water, as he turned his large-limbed horse on the 
 quivering planks of the bridge. 
 
 The figure was Lord Clyde. When we went to bed that 
 night, we felt that all real anxiety was at an end. 
 
 Early the next day Captain Peel took up a position on 
 the Oudh bank, above the bridge, and pounded away into 
 the enemy's left, with his big guns worked by the sailors. 
 When the troops had passed over, and this occupied the 
 whole morning, the convoy commenced to cross, and their 
 transit was not complete till the next evening. To witness 
 this transit was, as may be conceived, a spectacle full 
 of interest, ladies and children and servants, and the 
 wounded lying in their dhoolies, all went by in an ap- 
 parently endless string. Colonel Malleson appears to think 
 favourably of the abilities of Tantia Topee ; but it is 
 difficult to understand, if he was the " astute " leader he is 
 represented, why he never attempted to interrupt the 
 passage of the convoy. The river was comparatively low ; 
 above Cawnpore both banks were entirely in the hands of 
 the Mahratta, and he had plenty of boats ; why, then, did 
 he not send Horse Artillery and Cavalry across to harass 
 Lord Clyde's rear ? But nothing whatever was done. The 
 British Force went safely over, was stretched from our 
 entrenchment far away along the east side of the canal ; 
 but the rebels occupied the town, and their left, having the 
 shelter of trees and old houses, was pushed close up to the 
 entrenchment
 
 138 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 Standing at the ascent from the bridge, as the convoy 
 passed, many familiar faces were recognised. One or two 
 of the wounded had themselves carried on to our shelf 
 in the entrenchment ; amongst them, Colonel Fraser-Tytler, 
 who had been such a type of activity ; he had a nasty 
 wound, and was quite helpless. The younger Havelock 
 also by this time, indeed, alas ! the only one was down. 
 We could get out now to the east, not simply as before to 
 the fortified house where Windham was, but on to the 
 plain. Indeed, you could drive. The convoy was behind 
 the camp, and in comparative quietude. I went to call on 
 Mr. Martin Gubbins, and saw his wife arid sister-in-law, who, 
 with that extraordinary calm courage English ladies possess, 
 did not give any idea of having been through a frightful 
 siege. The sight of children again was very pleasant, and 
 they, true to their character, were wholly absorbed in their 
 dolls, or some sort of knotted handkerchief which passed as 
 such, or perhaps an empty sardine-tin drawn by a string, 
 and enjoyed the cheerful weather, without thought of 
 Tantia Topee, or any other bogie. When I returned to our 
 tent, the noise seemed very great ; but it was not continu- 
 ous, only spasmodic ; and perhaps some of it was, in a 
 measure, unnecessary. If any of the enemy came within 
 sight, there began a discharge of musketry on our part, 
 which did not leave off for a long time. Why the rebels 
 did not shell the entrenchment seems unaccountable. 
 Occasionally a bullet came whizzing across, and one officer 
 just sitting down to a cup of tea was killed in his chair. 
 Once or twice, too, they began to fire round-shot at a 
 central building used as an hospital, and considerable alarm 
 was felt about the wounded. I tried to see Clark, but
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 139 
 
 a doctor said : " He has only one chance which is, quiet 
 pray let him have the benefit of that." We heard, too, 
 that Parsons was very bad, and would lose his arm. 
 
 The convoy did not start for Allahabad till the 3rd 
 of December, and then Lord Clyde was unwilling to move 
 till news had reached him of its safety. The enemy 
 occasionally became very audacious, mistaking, doubtless, 
 the reason of the delay in attacking them. One day, when 
 a friend and myself were in the large camp, they managed 
 to get the range of Lord Clyde's quarters, and knocked all 
 the breakfast things over in his cooking-tent. Not long 
 before the end came, Bruce, who was in the fortified house, 
 with Windham and his staff, sent a little note to me, to say 
 that he was to have an appointment, and that after this 
 crisis had passed, the abnormal state of things at Cawnpore 
 would, of course, cease, and the military management of the 
 city terminate, and that he was directed to make over 
 charge to me. So I got out of the entrenchment by 
 the little temple on the river side, and reached the house. 
 That particular morning, the rebels had taken it into their 
 heads that this house was a place of some importance, and, 
 after some very bad shots, had got its range. The inmates 
 had been driven out of the south verandah altogether, but 
 the other side of the building was safe. As the house stood 
 unevenly, there was on one side a small chamber partially 
 underground, and Bruce said : " Go down there, and I will 
 get pen and ink," I went into this hole, and, finding some 
 bread and bacon on a shelf, was improvising a luncheon, 
 when Bruce brought his papers. In this queer way I took 
 charge. The incident did me a good turn afterwards, for 
 incurring some rather hasty criticism I was enabled to
 
 I4O DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 represent the time and occasion as rude enough to excuse 
 any executive deficiencies. 
 
 I have said that the enemy came close up to the entrench- 
 ment, on the extreme right. John Power, of my service, who 
 had been distinguished in the early part of the Mutiny by 
 holding on at Mynpoorie with his brother James, and De 
 Kantzow, when all the others withdrew, had come down 
 with the Agra column, and had gone on to Lucknow 
 
 He was back again now, a fine tall man, who delighted in a 
 Kind of fantastic calmness which was very entertaining. At 
 his invitation, Mr. Gregson, the Baptist minister, and I went 
 one evening to visit the posts on this extreme right. Of 
 course most of the way we skirted along the bank, which had 
 been thrown up, and where at short intervals soldiers were 
 seated, ready to start up and fire if occasion called. It was 
 not one of the stormy intervals, and therefore, besides being 
 safe, the walk seemed also quiet. But there were occasional 
 spaces patches lighted up with the shining moon, where 
 one's figure came out very distinctly, and might have formed 
 a good mark for anybody in the trees, or buildings near. 
 Mr. Gregson, as a minister of religion, and I, as the father 
 of a family, thought it advisable to cross these patches at 
 the double ; but nothing would induce our friend tc accel- 
 erate his saunter " What are you afraid of ? " cried he. 
 " Oh," I answered, wishing vaguely tc justify the action. "I 
 do not care about myself." " Then please to say," continued 
 our imperturbable companion, stopping in one of the bright 
 patches to dispute the point, " for whose sake you do run ! " 
 At the extreme end down by the river we came to the wall 
 of a small shrine which had steps to the water's edge, and 
 here palisades had been put by our people. It was very
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 141 
 
 curious to hear the rebel Sepoys talking inside this temple, 
 and it could be done without difficulty for they were, in 
 space, only a foot or two from the English soldiers. 
 
 The operations at Cawnpore are described by Tantia 
 Topee in his journal, or statement, in the following curious 
 words : " Having arrived at Cawnpore, there was a battle 
 which lasted eleven days After eleven days, the revolted 
 army was defeated, and we all ran away," The idea of the 
 long battle pleased the insurgents very much, for one of the 
 Contingent being taken afterwards in a village near, and 
 brought in, said to me ; " We performed a great action, and 
 the fame of i* has probably reached Vilayut " [foreign 
 parts]. So completely are precautionary measures misunder- 
 stood by Asiatics. Of course, it is easy to think what a 
 source of anxiety the convoy was to Lord Clyde. However, 
 at length, it reached Allahabad, and the General's hands 
 were no longer tied. It is, I believe, a fact that the rebels 
 had begun to doubt of success, and to anticipate that they 
 would soon be attacked in earnest } for, before the 6th of 
 December, some movement of return towards Calpee on the 
 part of a portion of the Force had certainly commenced 
 Those who desire to know what occurred when Lord Clyde 
 considered the proper time had come for clearing Cawnpore 
 of the host that had invested it, will find the account clearly 
 narrated in the pages of Malleson. Some of the reviews 
 found his language too magniloquent, and thought a 
 defence of Lord Clyde for " risking his centre " rather un- 
 necessary, when, in point of fact, the rebels were quite un- 
 prepared with any plan for resisting the attack which they 
 could scarcely have thought would not ultimately be made. 
 But, at any rate, it is easy to see what really took place by
 
 142 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 reference to the map, and by following the statement. And 
 this surely is something. 
 
 About nine o'clock a tremendous fire was opened from the 
 entrenchment. Malleson speaks of a " great artillery duel." 
 It was scarcely that, for every one remarked how slack the 
 return was. And though the rebels certainly had no idea 
 how soon their right would be forced, and their camp 
 actually taken, just as it stood and had been tenanted, there 
 is reason to believe they had fallen back from their extreme 
 left. The batteries in the entrenchment were very interest- 
 ing, being worked by different races, one by Sikhs, one by 
 Madrasees, and so on. I had formed the acquaintance of 
 one Madras Artillery soldier. He was a little chap, but 
 wiry and strong enough. He spoke English well, and was, 
 I suppose, a Roman Catholic. He said : i' You have never 
 seen, I dare say, a native soldier like me. We are much 
 nearer the English than the fellows up here. There is very 
 little difference; we can eat any meat we choose, and drink 
 wine." " And fight, I suppose 1 " I said ; " the English are 
 thought to be very fond of fighting." " Oh, fight," he cried, 
 " I should think so. We are j ust English over again, only 
 a different colour." 
 
 That forenoon was certainly one of the noisiest conceivable, 
 where we were. What took place need not be repeated 
 here. Malleson has spoken very plainly about the events at 
 the Subahdar's Tank ; and friends of General Mansfield 
 have found great fault with him for saying what he has 
 said. Camp reports are not of much value, perhaps, by 
 themselves ; but where there is other evidence, they may be 
 held corroborative. Certainly there was very much discon- 
 tent felt. There was a sense of an opportunity lost. But
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 143 
 
 no one seemed to think that any oversight had occurred. 
 The words attributed to General Mansfield, when he checked 
 the attack, were : " What is the use of intercepting a des- 
 perate soldiery, whose only wish is to escape ? " The belief 
 that this phrase was used, added to the singular expression 
 in the despatch : " I could have taken the guns," leads to 
 the idea that he did not think the jeu worth the chandelle, 
 deciding that it was better to spare precious British life than 
 destroy worthless mutineers. And if he could have been 
 sure that the guns would be easily taken in pursuit, perhaps 
 the forbearance would have been excusable ; it would cer- 
 tainly have been intelligible. But we know that the gung 
 were very nearly got away ; for Sir Hope Grant, who 
 followed up the enemy afterwards, says himself that he only 
 just caught them. The Mutiny would never have been put 
 down if calm calculations had prevailed at first ; but circum- 
 stances were not desperate now, and perhaps it was thought 
 that the time of the Nicholsons and Neills had passed. At 
 any rate, Lord Clyde expressed not one word of censure. 
 The return from the Calpee Road pursuit did not take place 
 till late, so that matters remained, that night, in the en- 
 trenchment, pretty much as before ; but the next day we 
 began to move out, and were able to go into the city. It 
 was difficult to prevent looting, and, riding into one lane, I 
 found a knot of women in great trouble, who declared they 
 had been made to give up their nose-rings and other jewels ; 
 and, moreover, that the culprit was in a neighbouring house. 
 I went with them to find him, and behold ! he was one of 
 the new police, who, by simply showing his firelock, had 
 gained complete submission from all parties. He had quite 
 a handful of ornaments about him. Mowbray Thomson had
 
 144 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 succeeded Bruce in charge of this body, and he took very 
 strenuous measures to prevent further misconduct, so this 
 particular offender was flogged at once, and dismissed the 
 force. 
 
 One incident, however, took place, indicative of the law- 
 lessness which, of course, had a tendency to break out on 
 such occasions ; for which I was very sorry There was a 
 tent- maker, in the bazar, named Choonee Lai, a man who 
 had throughout taken the British side very loyally, and had 
 been of great service in many ways. Naturally handsome, 
 he had by grain diet and simple habits obtained a certain 
 look of benevolent content, which made one almost believe 
 in that ideal goodness Krummacher and others have attri- 
 buted to Indian sages. He was sitting; it appeared, on a 
 charpoy, only half-dressed, and proposing to come up to 
 camp, when he saw, near his house, two soldiers enter a 
 shop, and compel its keeper to give up his money. Choonee 
 Lai knew English perfectly, and spoke to the men, telling 
 them they were protectors, not oppressors of the poorer 
 citizens. 
 
 An aphorism so gentle might have passed, but he unfor- 
 tunately added that if any officer knew what they were 
 doing, they would be punished. This sounded like a threat, 
 and the knowledge of English, too, was calculated to create 
 some alarm ; and so the two fellows turned on their monitor, 
 and one of them, putting his musket absolutely against 
 Choonee Lai's side, discharged it. The poor body, with face 
 uncovered, and the pleasant smile still lingering in death, 
 was brought to my tent by the murdered man's nephew, 
 who was present when the event occurred and a truly sad 
 sight it was.
 
 ANXIOUS WEEKS. 145 
 
 General Windham, to whom the circumstance was at 
 once reported, was greatly moved, and interesting himself 
 extremely in the inquiries which were set on foot, managed 
 to have the men identified and arrested ; and the case was 
 afterwards brought to a successful issue. 
 
 We got out again into tents in an open space, and in- 
 demnified ourselves for any past discomforts ; but we often 
 afterwards visited the ledge under the bank, where we had 
 all lived, hugger-mugger, for several days, 
 
 But the place was not quite free from unpleasant asso- 
 ciations, owing to a circumstance which occurred during our 
 occupancy of it. Mr. Gregson and I were present when a 
 noisy crowd approached the bank overhanging the lower 
 plateau, and we found, in the centre of it, two men being 
 roughly handled by some sailors and others. They were 
 really bullock-drivers employed by our side, and, having got 
 wounded, were in search of medical aid. But being ragged 
 chaps, and smeared with dust and blood, they were set 
 down at once, by the lawless party with whom they had 
 fallen in, as rebels. No remonstrance or explanation that 
 Mr. Gregson or I could make was of any avail, and the un- 
 happy fellows lost their lives, and were precipitated head- 
 foremost to the level below. The tumult and confusion 
 prevented us from distinguishing the actual perpetrators of 
 the outrage ; and, under the circumstances, it seemed 
 scarcely desirable to lay our information before the authori- 
 ties against men we recognised as members only of tha 
 crowd illegal assembly though it undoubtedly was.
 
 IX 
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL 
 
 ON the 8th of December, Lord Clyde sent Colonel Hope 
 Grant in pursuit of that half of the rebel force which had 
 retreated northwards, with a view of crossing into Oudh. 
 Grant caught them at the ghat, near Sheorajpore, and 
 captured fifteen guns drawn by beautiful bullocks. A large 
 mass of the enemy got away towards Calpee; but they 
 crossed the Jumna, and though they kept up great excite- 
 ment and disorder in the part of the district near the river, 
 they never actually returned with any set purpose. Lord 
 Clyde did not, however, leave Cawnpore till Christmas, and 
 his camp was formed some way out of the town, on the 
 north-west side. 
 
 We were, of course, free now to move, and to choose some 
 locality suited to our wants, and a large house was occupied 
 as the headquarters of the Civil Administration, not far east 
 of the Canal. It was a many-roomed, rambling place, 
 standing in a compound, with a small garden and trees near 
 it, had once been used as an inn, and was called by the 
 natives Duncan's Hotel. Here quite a new life began. I 
 and my immediate coadjutors, Power and Henry Willock, 
 with Mowbray Thomson as the head of the police, formed 
 the nucleus of the establishment, and certain aggregations 
 
 gradually took place. Dr. Tresidder, who had formerly 
 
 146
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 147 
 
 lived at this station, was appointed Civil Surgeon, and be- 
 coming acquainted with what was going on in the hospital 
 of the entrenchment, he learnt from us that two of the 
 patients were especial friends. The day was actually fixed 
 for Parsons to have his arm amputated ; but Tresidder de- 
 clared that if the case were entrusted to his individual care, 
 he thought he could save the limb. Arrangements were 
 accordingly made, and permission obtained ; and Parsons 
 and Clark the latter, though better, was still in a ticklish 
 condition were removed to Duncan's Hotel, where, with 
 better air, specially prepared food, and the constant 
 attendance of Tresidder in the house, they both got quite 
 well. Parsons retained his arm, and Clark gave up trying 
 to recover his watch chain. They both lived for some thirty- 
 eight years after these events, and died within a month 
 or two of each other. Clark was wounded dangerously 
 in the stomach, the bullet carrying in part of the chain of 
 his watch, links of which came away one by one, leading to 
 the mild pleasantry that he was delaying recovery in search 
 of his lost property. 
 
 It was never known how many inmates the hotel con- 
 tained, for besides all of us, including some Oudh men 
 temporarily attached, visitors occasionally turned up, and 
 there was a dinner in the evening, to which persons not 
 living in the house sometimes came. Joseph declared that 
 though hitherto repressed by circumstances, he possessed a 
 native genius for catering. To him, therefore, was en- 
 trusted the commissariat ; and though rather wasteful aud 
 extravagant, it must be admitted he kept the table well 
 supplied. 
 
 At length at Christmas the very morning before Christ-
 
 148 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 mas day Lord Clyde started for Futtebgurh, and the 
 force at Cawnpore was reduced to a small garrison again, 
 under Inglis. The entrenchment of course formed a fort; 
 but there was no occasion to withdraw within it any more. 
 John Power, who, as has been mentioned, had come down 
 from Agra, and had been to Oudh, was to go on with the 
 Force proceeding to Futtehgurh, and assist in making any 
 Civil arrangements possible, as he possessed the necessary 
 powers. But when the troops were nearly at the end of 
 the district, I got a letter from General Mansfield, saying 
 that it seemed odd the Magistrate was not present to place 
 establishments of police where the troops had passed 
 through. So Mowbray Thomson and I started that even- 
 ing, and, riding all night, reached the camp. I only 
 stayed one day, for they had reached the limit of Cawnpore 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 But I was very glad I went, because I saw the Chief in 
 such a good humour. He was in Bruce's tent when I went 
 in, was telling anecdotes, and as kind as possible. " You 
 have heard of the Koh-i-noor, I suppose a world-wide gem ? 
 I tell you, I, Colin Campbell, have had that stone in a box 
 with me in the Punjab, as if it were a toilet article, and no 
 one the wiser." All sorts of subjects he talked about, and 
 was most pleasant. It was a slight craze 1 with General 
 Mansfield that order ought to succeed immediately after 
 troops had once marched through a part of the country. 
 When Lord Clyde started up the Trunk Koad, he sent 
 Walpole by a kind of loop-line through the south-west of 
 the Cawnpore district, and astonishment was expressed that 
 pacification did not at once take place. But, besides 
 
 1 See Appendix No. IV.
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 149 
 
 broken bodies of rebels appearing sporadically, in various 
 directions, during the six months of auarchy many of 
 the old landholders had expelled auction purchasers out 
 of their villages, and kept np disturbances in the vain hope 
 of staving off the evil day of restitution. It was impossible, 
 therefore, to proceed otherwise than slowly, in getting 
 matters straight j and confidence required time to establish 
 itself. 
 
 As we came back from the camp we were received by a 
 good old Zemindar, who had been in communication with 
 me at Cawnpore, had entered upon the duties of a Sub- 
 Collector, and had begun collections for us, under written 
 orders sent to him. He had been obliged to fly before the 
 Contingent, but he was back again, and occupied the 
 Collecting House, having filled it with his own armed re- 
 tainers. As I walked in amongst wild matchlock men, I 
 could not but reflect how little the Board of Revenue would 
 have dreamt two years before, of a Rajpoot chief with his 
 clan in charge of one of the sacred temples of the Fisc. 
 Amongst the frequenters of the dinner table at Duncan's 
 Hotel was the Commissioner not Chester, who had gone 
 home, but another. He had done wonderfully well in his 
 own district, and had just been promoted. His decision of 
 character had so struck two influential natives that they 
 would not let him out of their sight, had travelled with him 
 to Cawnpore, and had even requested to visit our mess- 
 room after dinner, that they might be near their ideal. 
 We were, of course, very glad to see them, and as they 
 dressed most handsomely, they embellished the scene, and 
 came to be called the two kings I soon found that our 
 new superior officer did not altogether approve of the
 
 150 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 course I had taken at Cawnpore. He was justly proud of a 
 service which he had unquestionably adorned, and he 
 thought that I had done something to " lower that service," 
 and ought to have asked to be relieved in preference to 
 co-operating, when the military conceived it necessary to 
 organise police, etc. He told me, in so many words, that 
 he could not have acted as I had done. Such questions 
 seemed to me out of season in times of common danger and 
 anxiety. I could only answer, however, that I did not 
 regret what had occurred. But from holding the views 
 that he did, it was perhaps natural he should come to 
 regard me as too easy-going, and to advocate the substitu- 
 tion of some one of a sterner mould. And one morning he 
 remarked to me, quite casually, that I was to go to 
 Ghazipore, where I should find matters in a less entangled 
 state. I certainly understood him to say that Mr. Grant 
 thought the move advisable. But some latitude of expres- 
 sion should be allowed, perhaps, to a person having an 
 unpleasant intimation to deliver. 
 
 It seemed very odd, but I did not fear Mr. Grant, because 
 I knew he took in the real position of things at a glance, 
 and was a just and self-reliant man. So I sat down at once, 
 and wrote to Mr. Grant, describing the way in which I had 
 taken charge from Bruce, and giving reasons why the 
 district was still in a very excited condition, and how 
 necessary patience was in expecting the re-establishment of 
 order ; and ended by saying that I had scarcely yet had an 
 opening for showing want of capacity or its contrary. 
 
 Mr. Grant wrote back at once, in autograph, that in his 
 opinion more could not have been done than had been done, 
 and that he could not agree that removal was necessary or
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 151 
 
 would be right. The matter passed over, and was never, 
 perhaps, of much importance. But I consider it only fair to 
 myself to add that in due time everything came straight at 
 Cawnpore ; that there was never any remission of revenue 
 those who had paid the Nana had to pay again ; and that 
 when the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. George Edmonstone, 
 came round on tour in the cold season of 1859, he found 
 the district as it was before the Mutiny, with the excep- 
 tion of a proper jail, which had to be provided later on. 
 He approved of the plan of employing influential farmers 
 to act temporarily as Sub-Collectors till confidence was quite 
 restored; and he was kind enough to say he was quite 
 satisfied with all he had seen. 
 
 It was ourious that very shortly after the removal busi- 
 ness, Mowbray Thomson and I got into the Calcutta papers 
 for a feat of great alleged activity. News had been brought 
 to Thomson that certain property belonging to the Nana, 
 and possibly including papers, was in the custody of a 
 Zemindar, who proposed sending it to its owner. So 
 guided by another Zemindar, we made a night-raid on the 
 village where the property was said to be. We formed a 
 good body of armed men, and made a pounce on the place 
 at day-break. We turned somebody's house upside down, 
 and seized some property, a portion of which was claimed 
 by a courtezan, said to have been a friend of Doondoo Punt. 
 But afterwards, doubts arose as to the fidelity of our guide, 
 who was thought to be influenced by spite. However, we 
 did not kill anybody or burn anything, and we went through 
 the exhilarating sensations of amateur dacoity without 
 much harm done, and as it turned out, with a transient 
 increase of reputation. L
 
 152 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 The horse that had been prepared for Coverley Jackson 
 had played him a bad trick on the return from Oudh. It 
 was an entire animal, and went neighing all over the place, 
 and on one occasion when he punished it to keep it quiet, it 
 reared suddenly up and fell back, breaking Jackson's leg. 
 So there was he lying with his broken limb in Bruce's house, 
 now a hospital, and not far from him lay Napier afterwards 
 Lord Napier of Magdala slowly recovering from his wound. 
 Meanwhile, we were not without distinguished visitors at 
 Duncan's Hotel. We had Mr Layard, and very pleasant 
 and entertaining we found him. He was then passing from 
 the traveller and savant into a kind of tribune of the people, 
 which latter career, as we all know, was arrested by diplo- 
 matic honours. 
 
 Besides Mr, Layard, we had one or two travellers, a 
 gentleman who had volunteered for any kind of service, 
 also one of the Grenfell family, and greatest of all, Dr. W. 
 H. Russell, Special War Correspondent for the Times. 
 Coming in one forenoon, before the start for Futtehgurh, I 
 found a strongly-built man, of middle stature, with a bright 
 eye and a merry smile, speaking with a slight Irish accent, 
 and dressed in a frogged and braided frock coat, This was 
 Russell, 1 and he promised to come to dinner, and we had a 
 most merry evening, for, in addition to other accomplish- 
 ments, he sang very charmingly in a social way, and gave 
 us, " We will catch the whale, brave boys ! " and, " lave 
 us a lock of your hair ! '' in splendid style, the choruses 
 being organised with great effect. From that day he was 
 very friendly, and frequently sent me accounts of different 
 events in the Campaign, and I have a bundle of his letters, 
 
 1 Now Sir W. H. Russell.
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 153 
 
 some of them with plans of positions sketched with a pen. 1 
 We gave another little evening afterwards when Colonel 
 John Inglis got his Knighthood ; then Russell came again, 
 and sustained his reputation as a raconteur and an amusing 
 companion, to everybody's satisfaction. It shows how the 
 occupation of Special Correspondent has grown, when it is 
 remembered that he was the only member of the Press 
 actually present with the army, employed in recording the 
 manner in which the Mutiny was finally dealt with. In 
 seeing him at work, I remarked one gift which seems an 
 especially useful one. He would be sitting, pen in hand, 
 writing his diary, or what not You entered. " I hope I 
 am not disturbing you ? " " Not the least ; I am all ears ; 
 go on." You went on, told your tale, he listening and 
 answering. You stopped. His eye dropped on the paper ; 
 his pen moved ; he resumed the thread of his writing with- 
 out difficulty, and with an unembarrassed continuity. 
 
 Theophile Gautier had the same faculty. Emile Bergerat 
 records : " Je 1'ai vu plus d'une fois, a la suite d'une visite 
 d'etranger ou d'ami, reprendre, sans s'etre relue, une phrase 
 interrompue, sou vent a la moiti6 d'un mot, et la poursuivre 
 dans tous ses developpements avec la meme tranquillit6 que 
 celle qu'il mettait a rallumer son cigare." 
 
 Inglis was a delightful man to have in command 
 pleasant-tempered, agreeable-mannered, attending to any- 
 thing asked, giving it if possible saying at once why it 
 could not be given if he thought it unadvisable. And often, 
 with the easily-amused nature of a boy, he would start some 
 little project The soldiers, we found, were getting liquor 
 very easily, and he had heard that they distilled spirit in a 
 
 1 See Appendix No. V.
 
 154 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 village just opposite, in Oudh. So he asked me one day to 
 come and look for it. We crossed, and got into a knot of 
 little houses, and in an unlikely-looking out-house we found 
 a still. Inglis was as eager as a schoolboy at a badger 
 hunt, and shouted at the discovery. We had some people 
 with us, and we encircled all the villagers we could find 
 with a rope, and brought them over the water to frighten 
 them, setting the still on fire ; and this, spreading to others 
 we had not seen, made a clean sweep of the smuggling 
 hamlet. 
 
 A man came in one night to say the jailer was afraid of 
 the prisoners, and Henry Willock and I got up to go 
 and see about it. As we rode down, we saw a man in 
 a cloak on horseback moving through the dark, accompanied 
 by companions. It was Lord Clyde, starting for his cele- 
 brated attack on Lucknow, 
 
 One morning, at the time of the advance on Lucknow, a 
 tallish man, with yellow hair, a pale, smooth face, heavy 
 moustache, and large, restless, and rather unforgiving 
 eyes, came into my room at Duncan's. He looked at me in 
 a stony way, and then relaxing his features, with a laugh, 
 said : "I have a job for you." It was William Hodson. I 
 had met him in India, but not since the days of his 
 celebrity ; and the joke about the "job" was in reference 
 to years before, when I was his fag 1 at Rugby, and had to 
 brush his study out, and make his coffee by the time he 
 came back from first lesson. Besides this relation, I had 
 known him also in family circles, for his Archdeacon father 
 belonged to a school of religionists, amongst whom my 
 
 a This was my second " situation " I had previously been valet 
 to Dr. Gell, Bishop of Madras, on whom be peace !
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 155 
 
 people also took their part. Willie Hodson of the yellow 
 hair not great in cricket or football, but distinguished for 
 running and athletic feats of endurance was a soldier 
 almost by an afterthought, for he had to get into the army 
 through the Jersey Militia on account of age, finding his 
 true throne at last on an Irregular Cavalry saddle. He 
 had been wounded not long before, and the sleeve had been 
 cut out of the blue, braided coat, to get his arm loose ; and 
 the "job" now was for me to have it sewn on for him by 
 the time he returned. It was sewn on; but he nevei 
 returned, and did not require the coat. 
 
 I do not know how it was, but there seemed a sort of 
 understanding that something should be said between 
 Hodson and myself about a certain event. Somehow, it 
 occurred to both that the door should be shut for that 
 purpose, and that he should sit down and tell me as 
 he began to do at once how the Princes had been killed at 
 Delhi. I had always wished, and wish now, that the action 
 had never taken place ; but I must bear testimony to the 
 fact that Hodson spoke of the circumstance with no bitter- 
 ness at what had been said in censure of it, and with no 
 harshness or bravado, but in a calm, argumentative tone, 
 certainly producing the impression that, rightly or wrongly, 
 he had convinced himself that a stern political necessity 
 existed at the moment for striking in such a manner as to 
 cause a sudden and lasting terror. There I leave the 
 matter of the Princes of Delhi. Hodson was then close to the 
 end of his career ; and after his death he was injudiciously 
 held up as a notable specimen of a type of soldier he 
 could not, and did not, pretend to emulate. But there are 
 grades between Philip Sidney and Trenck, and if he bore an
 
 156 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 indistinct likeness to the first, I must say I think he should 
 not have been compared to the second. I thought that 
 morning's visit was a renewal of our old friendship. I was 
 mistaken. I supposed it was a greeting ; it was really a 
 farewell. 
 
 A sign of altered times was the approach of persons with 
 other aims than war, and other calls than those of duty. 
 
 Beato, of photographic celebrity, turned up he who had 
 made a reputation during the Crimean campaign ; and, 
 with others, came a French doctor, whom I had known at 
 Agra. Into what shelter Dr. Sganerelle had flown during 
 the Mutiny I do not know ; but here he was, as sweet as 
 ever on his theory for the cure of Asiatic cholera. He was 
 a man of considerable knowledge, had seen many parts of 
 the world, and seemed never to grow cold in his belief that 
 cholera might eventually be stamped out, and that, in the 
 meantime cures could be effected with safety and certainty 
 by means of the Sgauarelle bath. 
 
 We talk of Asiatic cholera, and the disease has taken its 
 place as one of the terrors of India, but native physicians 
 attribute it to the English. It appeared, at any rate, in 
 the form now associated with it, during one of Lord 
 Hastings' wars ; and an argumentative Bengalee might per- 
 haps pen an essay on the inquiry, whether Shakspeare and 
 patent leather boots were real benefits, when accompanied 
 by brandy and cholera-morbus. The French medico, whom 
 I distinguish as Dr. Sgauarelle for like that worthy in Le 
 Mtdecin Volant, he could boasD, J'ai des taltnti particuliers 
 fai des secrets had made up his mind, from historical 
 researches into the disjase that cholera tock its birth in a 
 particular city, and was annually renewed and invigorated
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 157 
 
 from its native place, travelling, as he considered he could 
 trace, from it, as from a centre, in various directions. This 
 city was Hyderabad, in the Deccan ; and his proposal for 
 the abolition of cholera was the complete sanitation of that 
 metropolis. In addition to this master notion, Sganarelle 
 had plans of his own for dealing with individual cases of 
 the disease. He put the patient into a tin bath, fitting as 
 nearly as might be to the human frame, in a semi-recumbent 
 position, and boiled the mischief out. 
 
 Joseph, as steward of our large and irregular household, 
 was becoming rather a personage. All travellers and 
 visitors became acquainted with him, and laughed at his 
 quaint and racy English. He has been sketched by no less 
 a pen than that of Dr. Russell. Though very lean and old, 
 Joseph was wonderfully tough ; but his ancient blood 
 required a little warming, and I observed that he took port 
 wine for the purpose. As this stimulant was not used at 
 the table, I asked him where he got it, and he replied, with 
 much simplicity : " I have a friend in the Commissariat ; I 
 give him some of your tea, and he gives me Government 
 wine." This arrangement, if open to some remark from the 
 moral point of view, seemed to work well, and was only put 
 an end to by the common severances of time. 
 
 The position of Joseph made him much sought after by 
 some of his own compeers ; and on one occasion, wishing to 
 speak to him in the evening, I found him forming one of a 
 small theological symposium, to whose discussions I thought 
 myself entitled to listen for a short time at an open door. 
 There was a visitor present, who claimed for himself the 
 sobriquet of the Worm of the Bible, "for," said he, "if 
 modesty requires that I should submit to comparison with
 
 158 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 an insignificant creeping thing, still I am such a worm as 
 has fed on the sacred pages, till my substance, as it were, 
 has become one with the Scriptures themselves." Joseph 
 treated these sxibtleties with levity, and remarked that far 
 from conceding such a title to his friend, he believed that 
 the simplest hermeneutic difficulty would pose him. To 
 this the Worm replied, there was no question Joseph could 
 put which would not meet with an immediate answer. 
 And Joseph, with severe dignity, said, " Then explain why 
 Rachel weeping for her children would not be comforted." 
 The Worm replied that there was no such passage in exist- 
 ence, and that the propounder of the question was demean- 
 ing himself by unsuitable frivolity. Joseph, with angry 
 determination, sent for a Testament, and read the passage 
 out, glaring at his adversary with not undeserved indigna- 
 tion. The Worm attempted to create a diversion by satire, 
 and remarked that the company were awaiting, with some 
 impatience, Joseph's own exegesis. " No," said Joseph, " the 
 company will not be gratified ; it is quite enough for this 
 evening that you should have been completely defeated, and I 
 shall not take out the interpretation till a future occasion." 
 A familiar figure in those days was that of Paterson 
 Saunders, senior so called in connection with a stout man 
 of the same name, living Jounpore way, a cousin I fancy. 
 I had known him at Agra, when he was conducting the 
 Messenger at that place. He was a younger brother of the 
 well-known J. 0. B. Saunders, and was a man of a singularly 
 fine character. He had been, when young, in South 
 America, and knew Spanish well, which had earned for him 
 the name of the Don. If he had been born in Elizabeth's 
 days he would have gone forth and fought those with whom
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. 159 
 
 he had only traded, and would have helped to win some 
 strange land for the British Crown. As it was, he was 
 always looking for Eldorado, "Four lacs and member 
 for Fife," was the ambitious programme, which he did not, 
 however, fulfil. An upright, wiry man, with hanging grey 
 locks, a fine seat on a horse, and a manly bearing. He was 
 too ungirt for these latter days, and belonged to freer, more 
 reckless, and more jovial habitudes ; but he had a true 
 chivalric spirit, a clear head, and wielded, moreover, a pic- 
 turesque pen. He was often with us, galloping up to the 
 house in the morning, and indeed occasionally riding gently 
 from room to room on the handsome nag he had taught to 
 trust his hand. 
 
 " If wt fell, we e'en gat up agen, 
 And sae will we yet." 
 
 a favourite refrain with him. How the old songs ring in 
 one's ears, when the singers have long been silent ! 
 
 The large body of troops that escaped by Calpee gave 
 anxiety from time to time, and it was thought advisable, 
 occasionally, to show troops in the part of the district lying 
 near the river, and opposite to where they were posted in 
 some force. Sir John Inglis had sent out a small column be- 
 fore the Lucknow operations began; and I accompanied it for 
 a day or two. Mowbray Thomson was there, too. Part of the 
 Force was the 34th Queen's Regiment. It was very pleasant 
 to me to be with this corps, my uncle having served in it many 
 years, and having given an account of some of its adventures 
 in Spain, in his " Recollections of the Peninsular," a book 
 which, in its day, had a great sale. The Connaught Rangers 
 had asked Thomson to do them a little service. They
 
 160 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 had lost a young officer at the Battle of the Bridge, under 
 Windham, and they had never found his body ; he was be- 
 lieved to have fallen into a well. Thomson had promised to 
 try and find out what had become of the body. So, as we 
 rode home, we stopped at a village near, and asked some 
 questions. The peasants do not like such subjects, and 
 answered in the shuffling way they employ when they do not 
 want to answer. But, at last, we found there was a well on 
 the plain near, which was not used ; and we got some coolies 
 and went there. We eat waiting whilst the men descended 
 with ropes, and at last they brought -the poor fellow up. 
 His name was Day. He must have been standing on the 
 edge of the well to look ahead, when a round-shot caught 
 him, and down he went It was probably a chilly morning, 
 and he had slipped on a mackintosh. His watch was there, 
 and other little personal equipments, and his rings still en- 
 circled the bony fingers. We had him reverently laid on a 
 charpoy and covered him up ; and it was a consolation to 
 his fellow-officers to place him in a grave, and to have the 
 last words of hope read over him. 1 
 
 Some little time before the troops were beginning to come 
 back from Lucknow, I received confidential orders that I was 
 to prepare to lithograph a certain document in an absolutely 
 secret way. The paper had been, I think, in General Out- 
 ram's hands, and had received some modifications on his own 
 responsibility. I found that Umurnath, the Brahmin 
 Tuhsildar, had been accustomed to write on stone, and 
 did it clearly and well, There was a native in the city 
 
 1 Mowbray Thomson went out again with Colonel G. V. Maxwell's 
 detachment and Talbot's guns, and was wounded. See his "Story 
 of Cawnpore."
 
 DUNCAN'S HOTEL. l6l 
 
 who possessed a press, and I sent word to him that I was 
 coming down to his house about nine at night, and that he 
 must place his materials and the two workmen, the roller, 
 and the pressman, at my disposal. These two could neither 
 read nor write. So, after dinner, instead of going to my 
 room, I popped into a carriage with Umurnath no easy 
 task for the Brahmin required the greater part of a palkee- 
 garee, and we went to the printer's house. Of course we 
 sent him to bed, and locked ourselves in a room with the 
 roller and the pressman. Then out I came with the docu- 
 ment, and Umurnath * sat down to write it on the stone. It 
 took a long time, and the workmen were very lazy and did 
 not like staying ; but, of course, no excuses could be taken, 
 and after midnight we got all the copies safely pulled off and 
 wrapped up the stone cleansed from the writing, and all 
 traces of our work removed. Then home; the packet of 
 papers entrusted to the hand that was to receive them and 
 the task was over. This was Lord Canning's celebrated 
 Proclamation, as slightly altered by Outram a document 
 which his lordship's apologists consider to have been right in 
 substance, if rather injudiciously expressed. Col. Barrow 
 was especially entrusted with its explanation, and it can 
 scarcely be said to have retarded the pacification of the 
 
 1 When I returned to India, after furlough, in 1863, 1 found Pundit 
 Umurnath a Deputy -Collector. His health, however, had failed. 
 Extreme obesity brought on disease his native physicians were un- 
 able to deal with. He knew he was dying, and came to Mirzapur, 
 to bid good-bye. When we were parting, he said, " You will not 
 see me again, but when I am gone, you will know I had not for- 
 gotten the objects I was interested in." He left most of what money 
 he possessed for educational purposes. The Government lost in him 
 a very valuable servant.
 
 1 62 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 province. Its Parliamentary effects, leading to Lord Ellen- 
 borough's explosion and subsequent resignation, are welj 
 known. 
 
 The days at Duncan's Hotel were drawing to a close. Dr. 
 Russell has narrated how we cured him of his dysentery; 
 and two of the last figures remembered are those of Sir 
 Thomas Franks, with his fine person and his animated 
 nay, electrical conversation, and the tall, manly frame of 
 the lamented Venables.
 
 X 
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE 
 
 As the district was now pretty well in British occupation, 
 business increased naturally, and we required fixed and 
 spacious premises, for office accommodation. A large con- 
 fiscated native house was chosen for Cutcherry, and a 
 bungalow opposite for our head-quarters. A family who 
 had made large sums of money at Lucknow in the old days 
 had got sufficiently over the border to secure their property 
 by settling at Cawnpore, and lived there, enjoying their 
 wealth, and the rank they had received at the Oudh capital. 
 There were three brothers, all Nuwabs, and two of them 
 had undoubtedly joined the Nana ; whilst, with regard to 
 the third, who was called the Nunha Nuwab, or little 
 Nuwab, some believed in his loyalty, and some did not. 1 
 He was not comfortable, however, at Cawnpore ; and left 
 India to reside at Mecca, a year or so after the Mutiny. 
 Our bungalow belonged to one of the rebellious brothers, 
 Bakur Ali, and when disencumbered of walls intended to 
 seclude the women, was very nice, some of the ceilings 
 
 1 Kaye has, I think, overrated his influence. I never heard of 
 him that he was regarded as a leader by any section of his towns- 
 men.
 
 164 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 being painted, after the native fashion, the colour- 
 ing effective, though the drawing, of course, was 
 rude 
 
 Before our move we had to make arrangements for re- 
 ceiving Jung Bahadur, who was on his way from Lucknow 
 to Allahabad. The Savada Kotee, which played a well- 
 known part in the Mutiny, was assigned to him. He 
 arrived on horseback, and was met by a kind of procession : 
 the Commanding Officer, and Douglas Forsyth who was at 
 Cawnpore, overlooking the Nana's papers and other 
 officials being present. The Prince had a spare, active 
 figure, unwearied as yet by his years or his habits ; but the 
 face was very Goorkha, with the low brow, squab nose, and 
 pointed eyebrows of his race. He wore goggles, too, partly 
 for ornament, I expect, for he must have been well accus- 
 tomed to the sun. I sent him a carriage and some sowars ; 
 and on leaving he had a polite note written, saying he had 
 been very comfortable. 
 
 There was at length a clergyman at Cawnpore, and an 
 excellent one he was, named Moore. He and his wife 
 received Sir William Peel into their house, and nursed him 
 tenderly during his terrible illness confluent small pox 
 till he succumbed. Our Baptist friend, Mr. Gregson, was 
 therefore at liberty to move up to Agra. He had, I believe, 
 contributed annals of the Mutiny to a leading Noncon- 
 formist journal in London, and was a man of intellect, and 
 singularly free from sectarian prejudice. 
 
 Father Conti, also, though not a chaplain, held on for a 
 time. His cheerful face always lighted up at a visit. He 
 would be found smoking a hookah, and reading up, in case 
 of possible controversies, Cobbett's " History of the Reforma-
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 165 
 
 tion." 1 A very genuine character, with much of the sim- 
 plicity of the agricultural class in Italy. 
 
 We had scarcely got into our new quarters when the 
 capture of Calpee took place. It was the height of the hot 
 weather, and the sufferings of the soldiers must have been 
 very great. Two of my coadjutors were out : Willock with 
 a detachment watching the river, and James Power with 
 Maxwell's Force that co-operated with Sir Hugh Rose, 
 from the northern bank of the Jumna. Of course, the 
 clearing-out of the rebels made a great difference, and 
 materially strengthened all authority. By the time the 
 cold weather arrived, we were able to camp out in the 
 district ; and it was, of course, desirable we should show 
 our faces. But it was deemed better to display some little 
 capability of enforcing what was thought right, in case of 
 necessity, and so, this year, my movements were accom- 
 panied by some hundred or more of the military police, and 
 five-and-twenty sowars. The competition system had 
 supplied me with two companions, Tracy and K S. 
 Robertson, The former was a very fine young man, with a 
 most pleasant wit, to which he did great injustice. He 
 walked through life, to use Gautier's phrase, like a 
 Hungarian noble, with pearls sewn on to his boots, strewing 
 them on the floor, regardless whether they were picked up 
 or not. Robertson was an economist and John Stuart 
 Millite ; was understood to have a scheme in his portfolio 
 for the improved representation of the people, and was 
 
 i The Saturday Review said at this point, '' Perhaps Burnefs ? " 
 But, no ; it was not the time for library octavos. William Cobbett'a 
 work is little more than a large pamphlet, powerful, perverse, over- 
 heated, but mainly true.
 
 1 66 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 always game for a discussion, either on finance or colonial 
 policy. He wielded a very clever pen, and amongst the 
 narratives of district troubles during the Mutiny, drawn up 
 by the order of Government, the report upon the Futteh- 
 pore district was written by him, from facts and circum- 
 stances supplied by me. 
 
 It was early in December, and our camp was near 
 Sheorajpore. One forenoon, when out with Robertson on 
 an elephant, news was suddenly brought us from Bilhour 
 that rebels had appeared on the Oudh side of the Ganges, 
 and were forcing their way across, as it was understood, 
 with a view of escaping across the Doab. A messenger was 
 sent off at once to Brigadier Percy Herbert, and we all 
 started for Bilhour. After Sir John Inglis had gone home, 
 Brigadier William Campbell commanded at Cawnpore, an 
 officer who had made a celebrated mull of the pursuit at Luck- 
 now, but who in private life was very amusing and pleasant, 
 and had in his day been one of the best gentleman flat-race 
 riders in England. He, however, died in the later autumn, 
 and was succeeded by Percy Herbert, brother of Lord 
 Powys, and who had distinguished himself in the Crimea. 
 Soon after reaching the Grand Trunk Road, I met a string 
 of camels, accompanied by huge, dirty Cabulees, in their 
 long chogas, their baggy pyjamas, thick matted hair, and 
 with matchlocks in their hands. I asked if there was any 
 disturbance up the road. They showed their white teeth 
 the only clean thing about them and answered, " Bulwa 
 khoob chulta" or, in other words, " There is a pretty 
 shindy." Fortunately, there was an officer named Sullivan, 
 with a native levy, not far off, and some rough Cavalry 
 called Towana horse, and we all went together to Bilhour,
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 167 
 
 reaching it the same evening. We learnt that the person 
 commanding the rebels was Firoze Shah. They had com- 
 pleted their landing, and had occupied the encamping 
 ground a mile or so higher up. The people at Bilhour 
 were very glad of protection, as they were afraid of being 
 looted. Brigadier Herbert behaved with the greatest 
 promptitude. He wrote to me : 
 
 " CAWNPORB, 
 "December 6, 1858, 4 a.m. 
 
 " MY DEAR SHERER, Your note arrived about an hour 
 ago. I have telegraphed to Lucknow, Allahabad, and 
 Calpee. I am sending 200 European Infantry up to 
 Bilhour to reinforce you. I have about 200 Cavalry of 
 sorts here. I shall move them up the road or across 
 country according to what I hear. I shall communicate 
 my movements to you as much as possible. Send me all 
 information available. " PERCY HERBERT." 
 
 He put two companies of the 80th Regiment under Captain 
 Hume into bullock-train waggons, and sent them straight up 
 the Trunk Road ; and, forming a small flying body of 
 cavalry, made off post-haste for the Jumna, hoping to catch 
 the rebels. Firoze Shah was off in the night ; and the next 
 morning, when the troops came, and we moved forward, we 
 found the store-house burnt down, and some of the buildings 
 at the encamping ground still smoking, the telegraph wire 
 cut, and strewed on the ground. The officer commanding 
 the English soldiers had to wait for further orders; but 
 some of us rode to a neighbouring village to inquire what 
 
 M
 
 1 68 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 had happened there, and learnt that the last troopers had only 
 just left the little street. Firoze Shah was gallantly met in 
 the next district by Lieutenant Forbes, Mr. Hume and 
 Captain Doyle, and harrassed, though not arrested. He 
 managed to get across the Jumna just before Brigadier Her- 
 bert came up ; but the effect of these prompt movements was 
 very good, for it showed that rebels could no longer venture 
 into our territory without pursuers springing up in every 
 direction. Captain Hume received his instructions to pursue 
 across country, and Robertson volunteered to show the roads 
 and to interpret. They marched to Phaphoond in Etawah ; 
 but, hearing there of the skirmishes with Firoze Shah, and 
 the Prince's escape across the Jumna, turned back. Lord 
 Canning afterwards personally thanked Robertson. On com- 
 ing back to the Trunk Road, I found Herbert Harington, who 
 has been mentioned before, sitting in a waggon, mending the 
 telegraph wire. These road duties were sometimes perilous. 
 He went out once to mend a wire near Nawab Gunj, in 
 Oudh, with a companion and one or two sowars. Irregular 
 troopers were suddenly seen stealing along the road to get 
 between the party and the Gunj gate-way. It was a case of 
 galloping. Harington stuck his spurs into old Socrates, a 
 favourite horse, and at last got ahead; but he heard the 
 breathing of the troopers' horses at his croup. A minute or 
 two more and the gateway was gained. But the pursuers 
 caught up poor Vaughan, his companion, and cut him off 
 his saddle with their sabres. 1 
 
 1 Harington's son, Lieutenant Henry Harington, was mortally 
 wounded in the night attack at Murkanai, September 14, 1897. 
 His father said of him, "He leaves behind him a track of only the 
 sweetest memories."
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 169 
 
 The camping that winter was very delightful. There is, 
 perhaps, no climate more perfect than that of the cold 
 weather in the central districts of the North-West. The 
 golden mornings ; the sunny but pleasant noons ; the balmy 
 elastic evenings; and the country, though never striking, 
 oftentimes agreeably diversified by mango groves and tanks, 
 the vast peepul trees of villages, and temples rising amidst 
 verdure, and the slender minars of mosques. Then the 
 welcome baskets of vegetables from the station, and the 
 newspapers and letters from home. There was sporting, 
 too, of the less exciting sort. Some of my friends used to 
 say of my shooting, that even Professor Freeman could 
 bring against it no moral objection, as it amused myself, 
 and did no harm to any living thing. Matters were not so 
 bad, perhaps, really as this; but I confess to the easy 
 diversion of one more fond of natural history than ac- 
 quainted with woodcraft. There were partridges, and sand 
 grouse, and rock pigeons, and teal, and wild ducks, and 
 wild geese, and sometimes deer and neel-gai. We had 
 a grand old Brahmin with us as shikaree. He must have 
 been close upon seventy, but was a picture of health and 
 activity, and astounding at walking or swimming, or any 
 bodily exercise. He shocked the Hindoo servants by shoot- 
 ing a neel-gai, which they thought going too far, because 
 the name means blue cow ; but he bore them down with his 
 Brahminical rank, and declared that it was only a deer, 
 and a fit object of sport. 
 
 We had, as we travelled along, occasionally to investigate 
 oases of crime, of which the perpetrators were absent, but 
 of which it seemed desirable to make some record, whilst 
 evidence was available. In a village, a mile or two out of
 
 170 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 Cawnpore, the farmer and the village accountant were on 
 bad terms. The latter functionary is called up-country the 
 Putwaree, and is often of the writing, or Kayuth caste. If 
 he be a weak man he is the slave of the farmer ; if a strong- 
 willed person, he often sides with the peasants against the 
 farmer. In the village I am speaking of, the Putwaree 
 aided the tenants against their landlord, and he, again, had 
 sworn vengeance should the British authority ever pass 
 away. The day the Nana attacked Wheeler's entrench- 
 ment, at the first gun the farmer set out to look for his foe. 
 It is said that Henry IV. of France heard, in the night 
 before his assassination, the footsteps of Ravaillac in the 
 streets of Paris. One may imagine that the trembling 
 Putwaree, who had hidden for some days in his house, had 
 heard a hundred times the farmer's dreadful step. This 
 day it reached his door. The poor wretch was dragged 
 out, bound hand and foot, laid on a stone before the temple 
 of Kalee outside the village, and his throat being cut, he 
 was solemnly sacrificed to the goddess. 1 It is gratifying to 
 think that, on the whole, the British name was associated 
 as a synonym with law. My moonshee told me that during 
 the Mutiny he was living in a house in Bijnour, and heard 
 his next-door neighbour quarrelling with his wife. During 
 
 1 This anecdote seems to point to exceptional barbarity. And 
 such cases, naturally, could not often occur. But it must be 
 remembered that our nineteenth century civilisation, as it affects 
 provincial life in India, is only a veneer over an older civilisation 
 actuated by principles widely different from ours. Material 
 advancement may outrun moral progress. The ancient Greeks were, 
 in a sense, highly civilised. We still take them as our models in 
 literature and art. But what were their views about slavery ; 
 what their sentiments towards enemies ? not to touch on some very 
 painful features in their social life.
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 171 
 
 the misunderstanding the husband said : " You had better 
 be careful ; there are no British now, and no reason exists 
 why I should not break your head and throw you into a well." 
 The lady took the political crisis into consideration, and 
 became silent. 
 
 Amongst the spoils which Henry Willock had brought in 
 from the district was a pair of huge kettle-drums, which 
 were duly advertised as confiscated property, but naturally 
 did not command an easy sale. At one village I visited, a 
 Goshain sent word he should be much obliged if I would 
 call on him, explaining that he was prevented calling on me 
 by a vow never to leave the storey of the house where he 
 sat. So I went to him, and found a temple, with trees 
 overshadowing it, surrounded by a court. The shrine was 
 upstairs, on what we should call the first floor, and the 
 Goshain was seated in a little chamber by its side. Dressed 
 in saffron-dyed clothes, he looked venerable enough, with 
 his iron-grey hair and ample beard. He delighted in his 
 present quarters as the abode of miracle for a peepul tree 
 was growing out of the earthen floor of this upper storey, 
 which he held to be altogether out of nature. He had only 
 been for a 3 ear or two at the elevation he had chosen, and 
 seemed pleased to refer to the occasion when he carried out 
 his intention of permanently ascending. He described how 
 he had walked round the village, for it was the place where 
 he was born, and each hut and every turning were familiar, 
 then put his foot resolutely on the first step, to descend 
 no more till he should be brought down a dead body. He 
 told me how the chamber where he sat had been filled, once 
 during the disturbances, with soldiers, and how he feared he 
 might have been dragged below. But no ! The Deotar
 
 1/2 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 protected him. And now came the point of the interview. 
 The kettle-drums ! Willock's booty had come from this 
 shrine, and the votary pined for his kettle-drums. No one 
 accused the devotee of having been mixed up with the 
 rebels, and it was a pleasure to be able to gratify him in so 
 simple and inexpensive a way. He was allowed his kettle- 
 drums. I had often before wondered what they could be, 
 and I found they were used to announce service at the 
 shrine. Many of the Mussulman fukeers were employed by 
 the rebels as spies, and sometimes as Ghazees or des- 
 peradoes, who would rush on death, sustained by the 
 hope of that reward which is thought to be in store for 
 those who fall for Islam. But it was, of course, impossible 
 to explain to T. Atkins the distinctions in devotional life, 
 and one felt sorry for Hindoo saints who were sincere. If 
 they had really given up the world, and having made up 
 their minds that the phenomena surrounding them were 
 Maya, or as Lecomte de Lisle calls them, " IS unique 
 I'eternelle et sainte Illusion " had fixed their thoughts on 
 the Supreme essence it was rather hard to be suddenly 
 ordered by an apparition in a red coat to "Come out o' 
 that," and to be kicked off their mats as the rascally clergy 
 of the country. At Bithoor, the Nana's place, there was a 
 saint, half visionary, half mountebank, who sat on a board 
 on the top of a high pole, and passed his time between 
 prayer and tying his legs in a knot round his neck. 
 Whether the soldiers thought this new Simon Stylites an 
 entertainment or not, I cannot say; but he escaped all 
 difficulties, and we found him on his airy perch, during the 
 winter of 1858, as acrobatic and spiritual as ever. 
 
 Some years after the Mutiny was concluded, and when
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 173 
 
 time was beginning, in a measure, to efface its events from 
 the memories of men, I met an Eurasian gentleman of 
 much ability, who had been Deputy-Collector with me, in 
 the time the description of which is now drawing to a close. 
 I asked him how he liked his station, and he replied : 
 "Very much. The duties are not heavy, I am content and 
 comfortable; but," he added, with a faint smile, "it is not 
 like the golden days of Cawnpore." I felt a slight chill at 
 my heart, and thought within myself, I hope he only means 
 happy by "golden." For, of course, on the gradual 
 restoration of order there were two openings for corruption 
 first, it was difficult to get native employees of whose 
 antecedents one had any knowledge; and next, accounts 
 and lists and checks were all out of gear, and there was a 
 great deal of confiscated property ; and, moreover, no end 
 of people about with ready money in exchange for recom- 
 mendations and good words. A little incident impressed 
 upon me the extreme caution that was necessary to avoid a 
 bad name, as also how prevalent the belief was in lax 
 morality. 
 
 The Queen's Proclamation was read on the 1st of 
 November, 1858. There were no especial circumstances 
 attending its promulgation at Cawnpore ; there was a 
 parade, a sufficient but not remarkable collection of 
 natives, and the senior civilian, Mr. Batten, the Judge, 
 read the document out from a carriage. Not far from the 
 station was the village of a Rajpoot, named Goolab Singh, 
 who was understood to have joined Tantia Topee in the 
 attack on the entrenchment. He had fled across the 
 Jumna, and hearing that the Proclamation was going to be 
 issued, out of mere bravado crossed over into the Cawnpore
 
 174 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 district, on the moruiug of the 31st October. But the part 
 where he entered was in the jurisdiction of a hot-headed 
 Mussulman Thanadar, who determined to arrest him, as he 
 was quite justified in doing, for the amnesty merely ex- 
 tended to those who came in under the Proclamation, and 
 was on that day only in posse. The Mahomedan surrounded 
 the house, and the door was burst open, and he ordered the 
 constables to enter. But no one ventured to face the old 
 Kajpoot, who was sitting on a charpoy. The Thanadar 
 drew his sword and rushed in. Goolab Singh shot him 
 with a revolver, and the Mahomedan, although mortally 
 wounded, with a last effort ran the Eajpoot through. They 
 both fell dead in the court. The story was so romantic 
 that I was anxious to get the revolver ; and though I had 
 endeavoured to avoid being mixed up in any way with con- 
 fiscated property, I asked the Nazir to buy this article in 
 for me. It was knocked down at Rs40 (4), which was 
 really quite as much as it was worth. When I was leaving 
 Cawnpore, a native gentleman asked if he might say what 
 he thought of me, without giving offence. To see ourselves 
 as others see us is a gift desired of the gods, and I replied : 
 " Certainly." He said : " I have watched you very carefully, 
 and I believe you to be an honest gentleman. You have 
 had many opportunities, and you have only stolen one 
 thing the pistol of Goolab Singh ! " And as if this 
 wretched weapon carried a fatality with it, it had already 
 subjected me to an insulting importunity, for in one of our 
 camping expeditions the son of Goolab Singh accompanied 
 us, paying his compliments each day, till at last he thought 
 he was favourably viewed enough to address me in a very 
 coaxing tone : " I say, Sahib, give me back my pistol ! "
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 175 
 
 But if the times were lax, aud the agency rough, the plan 
 of appointing Zemindars as pro tern Tuhsildars answered 
 very well ; and in one case, Kindur Singh, who was heredi- 
 tary chief of his clan, and was educated enough to write 
 Persian, not only kept his neighbourhood perfectly quiet, 
 but exhibited considerable talents for business. An old 
 gentleman in horn spectacles, and his teeth tied in his 
 mouth apparently with soda water bottle wires, he did not 
 look as if he could control a clan ; but his influence was 
 very great. I was the means, through representation of his 
 worth, of considerably enlarging his estates ; but he did not 
 very long enjoy his prosperity, for he was killed in a railway 
 accident, actually in the station-yard of Cawnpore. 
 
 Before the winter ended we had a guest in Mr. James 
 Wilson, the Finance Minister, who came up to make local 
 inquiries as to a tax on tobacco, and other projects. He 
 was a shaggy-browed Scotchman, of middle height, aud 
 sturdy enough frame, very pleasant in conversation, 
 though occasionally subject to going off suddenly into 
 the Hamburg currency, and kindred topics, whither 
 the inexperts went floundering after him. As he wished 
 to write overland dispatches, I had prepared a tent 
 looking over the terraces of the garden ; the flowers, 
 and then the pomegranates and oranges, and at last, 
 through breaks in the boughs of the neems and Dalbergias, 
 the river Ganges. I thought the sunshiny vistas might in- 
 spire him with a few poetic thoughts ; but when I went in 
 to see if the post was ready, I found he had closed up the 
 side towards the landscape. I suppose, as the painter 
 Fuseli said was the case with himself, "Nature put him out." 
 
 People pride themselves on comparatively unimportant
 
 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 achievements. Theophile Gautier was more proud of the 
 blow from his fist which, at the opening of the Chdteau 
 Rouge, marked, on the new " Turk's Head," 582 pounds, 
 than he was of his poetry and romances. 
 
 In humbler life I pin my celebrity to " The Fine." 
 The City of Cawnpore was mulcted 30,000 (three lacs 
 of rupees) for its too ready acceptance of the Nana's occu- 
 pation ; and this sum was successfully realised without an 
 appeal. A protest, indeed, reached me from a goldsmith 
 and banker, who claimed not to have been a regular resi- 
 dent, and he had up a solicitor from Calcutta to fight the 
 matter out. But this functionary, who was an excellent 
 fellow, wrote to ask me what 1 should do if his client did 
 not pay. In a moment of inspiration I replied : " I should 
 resort to the usual processes for recovering revenue." One 
 of these was personal arrest, and the protest was therefore 
 withdrawn. And thus Apollo came to my aid. 
 
 The spring wore away, and then the summer, and one 
 Sunday morning I was starting for the house of my kind 
 friend, Dr. Tresidder, who had said : " Come to a quiet 
 room which I will give you, where you may write up your 
 letters, free from interruption," when, on sitting down in 
 the carriage, I found myself as cold as death, teeth chatter- 
 ing, and every limb trembling, which state of things gave 
 place to burning heat by the time I reached the doctor's. 
 In about three weeks' time I was able to leave this kindly 
 home, after a jungle fever, which troubled me in many 
 ways for about a quarter of a century. It was very provok- 
 ing, for Lord Canning was just coming at the commence- 
 ment of the cold season to hold a Durbar, and there were 
 all sorts of arrangements to be made for the native Princes;
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 177 
 
 but everyone helped, and matters were got into good 
 trim. 
 
 The Durbar, when it came off, was not a splendid one ; 
 but the occasion was suitable enough, and it was desirable 
 that the country should see that pageants could now be 
 resumed, as well as the ordinary business of the day. 
 Willoughby Osborne brought his Rewar Raja, a fine, tall 
 man; and the good old Ishree, Maharaja of Benares, was 
 there; and Sir Richmond Shakspeare escorted Punna, 
 Bettiah, and some of the minor monarchs of mid India. 
 There was rather a droll incident at the Durbar itself. 
 One of the small Rajpoot chieftains had brought an old 
 grey and toothless courtier, who had got himself up in a 
 ferociously warlike manner, and carried a portentous sword 
 of the pantomimic scimitar description, such as I have seen 
 handled by the late Mr. W. H. Payne, when with terrific 
 moustache and a turban of many-coloured folds, he enacted 
 the part of the cruel Sultan in a Christmas piece. The old 
 gentleman brought this heart-rending weapon to be touched 
 by Lord Canning, and then in a loud voice began telling 
 him that if his enemies ever gave him any trouble, he had 
 only to say the word and this sword should be drawn in his 
 defence. He had a great deal more to state, but fell at last 
 into the hands of the Masters of the Ceremonies, and was 
 hustled out of the presence, not, however, before he had 
 quite upset Lord Canning's gravity, who held out for some 
 time, but at last burst into uncontrolled laughter. 
 
 When the Viceroy moved up-country, the Commissioner 
 and myself accompanied the camp to the limit of the 
 district. Fortune had been favourable again in the matter 
 of a Commissioner, for the kindly and able Cuthbert Thorn-
 
 178 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 hill held the post. The last morning, he and I got up 
 early, and rode out to a small roadside police-station, just 
 on the edge of the Cawnpore jurisdiction. The motley 
 groups accompanying a large encampment passed us, as we 
 sat on a charpoy under the little verandah, till at last the 
 highway was quite clear. Then a cloud of dust appeared 
 far off, which grew into a carriage with outriders, and Lord 
 and Lady Canning came up. The Countess had been, as is 
 well-known, in her day, a Keepsake beauty, and was en- 
 graved with her sister as "Hermia" and "Helena," when Mr. 
 Charles Heath employed his burin in introducing gracious 
 faces to the public. She still retained her good looks, and 
 was noted for the ease and affability of her manner. There 
 was to my mind always something tragic about Lord 
 Canning's countenance. The brow was as fine almost as 
 that of his father ; but the lower part of his face was weak. 
 There was, too, a look about him of Hamlet distraction : 
 that he, the muser, should have fallen on days demanding 
 masterly action : 
 
 " The time is out of joint, O cursed spite, 
 That ever I was born to set it right." 
 
 He is not a very distinct figure in the eulogies of Sir John 
 Kaye, whilst, on the other hand, his letters seem to disprove 
 some of the opinions of his opponents. Perhaps, as time 
 wears on, and all temptations to partisanship are removed, 
 we may arrive at a delineation which will present to us the 
 man as he really was. 
 
 Thornhill, who had considerable talents in design, had 
 made himself very useful indeed indispensable in settling
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 179 
 
 the plans for the new town at Allahabad, and Lord 
 Canning spoke very warmly to him in acknowledg- 
 ment; and then, on her part, Lady Canning added some 
 kind words. Thornhill was, of course, gratified, and his face 
 was bright as we took off our hats and the carriage moved 
 away. It was an interview of doomed people; for, with 
 the exception of myself, who may be held to have been a 
 bystander, within a very short time they had all departed. 
 There is no Earldom of Canning now, and the property is 
 held in the family of Clanricarde. Near the river Hooghly, 
 in the beautiful park of Barrackpore, the lady is resting ; 
 and the very title of the noble house from which she 
 sprang Stuart de Rothesay is extinct. The remains of 
 poor Thornhill were committed to the waters of the tropic 
 sea. Of the Earl Canning, however, a lasting memorial 
 remains in Westminster Abbey, in the shape of one of the 
 finest statues of modern times. Foley certainly surpassed 
 himself in its execution. All that was poor and less worthy 
 is suppressed, whilst the head denotes that intellectual 
 superiority which undoubtedly existed. The pose is com- 
 manding and dignified; and the nervous gathering up 
 of the senatorial robe in the full-veined hand incompar- 
 able. 
 
 Our household arrangements had undergone some modi- 
 fication, for Badul Khan, who had sorrowfully bid us fare- 
 well the night before we left Futtehpore, suddenly appeared 
 one morning with a cart containing his goods and chattels, 
 including his wife, and claimed the direction of cuisine as 
 an old-standing right. 
 
 Joseph was not very unwilling to resign, for accounts 
 were always burdensome to him, and we had found it
 
 180 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 necessary to audit them with more precision than was 
 altogether pleasant to his feelings. The actual writer of 
 the house accounts was a little old cripple, who rode up 
 daily for the purpose, on the most unfed of ponies. He 
 professed to know English, but was occasionally very un- 
 certain, and articles of consumption appeared of which no 
 explanation seemed possible. One was a " Windquick," an 
 implement whose origin and uses remained obscure, but as 
 it only cost twopence, the item was passed without re- 
 monstrance. The scribe loved to insert his own name at 
 an erasure, or alongside of his Total, and generally with 
 qualifications calculated to move pity, such as " lame, with 
 very children!" Joseph retained an apartment on the 
 premises, where he received his friends. 4 
 
 One morning, Joseph brought a gentleman whom he said 
 he wished to introduce to me, and a ginger- whiskered 
 Englishman, past middle age, of moderate stature, walked 
 in, whom I discovered to be the celebrated Mr. De Russet, 
 celebrated, at least, to those who have read " The Private 
 Life of an Eastern King." For he was the very barber to 
 whose skill the elaborate locks of Nusr-ood-Deen-Hyder bear 
 testimony in the effigies of him to be seen in the Moosa 
 Bagh at Lucknow. In later interviews he declared to me 
 that the book was a pure romance ; but he was too 
 interested a party to be received as an impartial critic. 
 One thing he stoutly declared, which I thought not unlikely, 
 namely, that the conversations between the King and the 
 librarian were purely imaginary; in proof of which, he 
 urged that the King knew only two or three words of 
 
 1 Poor old Joseph died at Allahabad in 1873. S. I. P.
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. l8l 
 
 English, whilst the librarian was equally ignorant of Hindoo- 
 Btanee. All traces of fast life had disappeared, if they ever 
 existed, from the appearance of Mr. De Russet, and he bore 
 every aspect of a quiet, well-to-do tradesman. As the 
 winter wore on, Mr. George Edmonstone appeared, and in- 
 spected the institutions of Cawnpore. His secretary, 
 Couper, was an old Haileybury friend, and it was pleasant, 
 in the altered circumstances, to recall former days, when we 
 were young, and excusably (or inexcusably) foolish. He 
 succeeded to his father's baronetcy, and became Civil Com- 
 missioner of Oudh, and afterwards followed Mr. Edmonstone 
 as Lieutenant-Governor of the North- West Provinces. But 
 he always remained the simple and cordial comrade of old, 
 retaining his love of those quips and jokes which help to 
 brighten the hours, and are not unpleasant to recall, even 
 when their mild effervescence has finally subsided. 
 
 It was in this winter, 1859-60, that the Nana died in the 
 jungles of Nepaul. The event was marked by the passage 
 through Oudh of a body of people who had been in attend- 
 ance on Doondoo Punt, or supported by him. At the 
 same time, too, Jowala Purshad was captured. He, of 
 course, was very strictly guarded, and sent to Cawnpore, a 
 close prisoner. But most of the others were merely pushed 
 on, under temporary arrest, towards Bithoor and other 
 places they wished to reach. Several were in custody with 
 ns at Cawnpore, and very disagreeable charges they were, 
 for their blood was so corrupted by the malaria of the 
 forest, that it was most difficult to keep them alive. Carts 
 were ordered to the railway when they arrived, but one man 
 died on the way from the station ; another, striking his 
 ankle against the threshold of the lock-up, had such an
 
 1 82 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 angry swelling that he was not strong enough to sustain it, 
 and succumbed. 
 
 The personal barber of the Nana was in this worn-out 
 company. I regret to say he was very faithless and un- 
 grateful to his patron. He never mentioned his name 
 without an abusive expression, for which " blackguard " 
 must inadequately serve. We subjected this attendant to 
 a catechism something as follows : 
 
 " You shaved the Nana 1 " 
 
 " Shaved whom ? " 
 
 " The Nana." 
 
 " Oh, the Nana (blackguard !). Yes, I shaved the Nana 
 (blackguard !)." 
 
 " How often a week ? " 
 
 " Twice a week (blackguard !)." 
 
 "And now he does not require shaving. Do you think 
 he is really dead ? " 
 
 " Oh, he's dead enough (blackguard !), and a good thing, 
 too (blackguard !)." 
 
 Alas ! for human nature. 
 
 It has once or twice, since those days, been doubted 
 whether the Nana did die, as reported. I think the doubts 
 were unreasonable. When Jowala Purshad was in our lock- 
 up, as his fate was quite certain, and escape impossible, I 
 directed a modification of his fetters, which enabled him to 
 eat with more convenience, and he was grateful. Moreover, 
 he knew his sentence did not depend on me, and so he was 
 not afraid, and answered readily when I spoke to him. He 
 told me, if I remember his words rightly, that he was not 
 present when the Nana died, but that he attended when the
 
 THE NUWAB'S HOUSE. 183 
 
 body was burned. He spoke apparently without intention 
 to deceive, and I fully believed him. 
 
 And so the period which can properly be called the Mutiny 
 time came to its close. Health had been injured by the severe 
 jungle fever, and friends were kindly unanimous in saying 
 that a holiday had been earned. So my father-in-law and 
 myself with a temerity only exceeded by that of the 
 Government in accepting it gave our joint security for 
 what, in those days, was called the " Inefficient Balance," 
 which at Cawnpore had risen, through unadjusted advances 
 for military purposes, public works, and commissariat, to 
 twenty-six lacs (260,000) and I started by dak-garee, 
 through the long roadside avenues, till hill and valley were 
 reached ; and so through the jungles of Sherghatty to a 
 railway station some hundred miles from Calcutta. 
 
 When I reached the metropolis, I found Harington living 
 with Outram and Le Geyt, the latter being the legislative 
 member for Bombay. The Indian Bayard, when I was 
 driving in the carriage with him in the evening, with no 
 especial claim to his confidence whatever, often spoke to me 
 of passages in his career. The sense of his own celebrity 
 never seemed to occur to him, and he talked about public 
 events with the same simplicity with which on " the course," 
 in the midst of all the fashionables, he would stop and 
 chaffer, jokingly, about the price of " Tupsee Much" as the 
 vendors of the renowned " maugo fish " brought it along, 
 fresh from the river. But it was not in the carriage, but at 
 the house, and before several people, including the gaunt, 
 talkative Chisholm Austey, who was visiting Calcutta, that 
 Outram began to speak of having postponed taking charge 
 from Havelock till the Bailey Guard was reached. " It was 
 
 N
 
 184 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 a foolish thing," he said ; " sentiment had obscured duty. 
 Every man should carry out the task assigned to him. I 
 do not know that I could not have got through the streets 
 of Lucknow with less loss of life. At any rate, I ought to 
 have tried what I could do." This plainly-expressed regret 
 seemed to me to do his character as much credit as the mis- 
 taken but noble impulse which called it forth. 
 
 These days were before the Bill brought in by Sir 
 Charles Wood "for the abolition of Sir Barnes Peacock," 
 and I visited the Legislative Council, which was, just then, 
 a partially popular assembly. The members stood up, be- 
 hind their respective desks, and spoke, with more or less 
 point and fluency. Mr. James Wilson, as an old House of 
 Commons habitud, was enabled of course, in some degree, 
 like Dr. Johnson's lion, " to ravage without resistance, and 
 roar without reply." 
 
 But there was an exception. The pale, small man, who 
 occupied the chair, was possessed of an infinitude of calm 
 self-reliance, and even the great Economist himself was 
 obliged to admit that there was no over-riding Sir Barnes. 
 I was "accommodated" with a seat on the Bench, during 
 the remarkable trial of the "forged will " (Government v. 
 Shibkrishnu and Others), when one of the richest and most 
 influental Baboos in Calcutta was transported to the Naf 
 river for fourteen years, and Dr. Crawford sentenced to 
 eight years' penal servitude. At length the "mail-day" 
 came, on which I was to start. Haringtou drove me down 
 to breakfast, on the river bank, with the Master Attendant, 
 and I was by him kindly put on board the steamship Simla.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 A FEW letters are added in this place, which either illustrate 
 the narrative, or may perhaps interest, simply from the 
 names subscribed to them. 
 
 The evening before I left Calcutta in 1860, Sir James 
 Outram said to me at dinner : 
 
 ''Did I ever mention your name in any dispatch ? " 
 
 My reply was : 
 
 "I think not, sir, because I should have been sure to have 
 had the fact told me, if I had not seen the notice myself." 
 
 He remarked that he had certainly meant to have done so. 
 
 The subject dropped. But the next morning, when I 
 was leaving, Sir James came out of his room, in his dressing- 
 gown, and presented me with the following letter, begging 
 me to make any use of it I liked. 
 
 I have had it by me for many years, but have not shown 
 it to any one, as I thought it too kindly expressed. Old age, 
 however, removes these hesitations, and moreover, a highly 
 distinguished man has put down, in the most popular book 
 of 1897, a sentiment on this subject, which recommends 
 itself to one's reason. " It is better," he says in effect, " to 
 be thought egotistical than to seem ungrateful."
 
 1 86 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 This, then, is a copy of the original which lies before me, 
 in the Bayard's firm and clear handwriting. 
 
 " CALCUTTA, 
 "9U April, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAR SHBBBB, I cannot allow you to leave India 
 without discharging a debt which I have long owed you, 
 and which I ought not to have delayed till now to endeavour 
 to repay. 
 
 "I am almost certain that in my writings to the Governor- 
 General, Commander- in -Chief, or Mansfield, while at the 
 Alum Bagh, after we were released from the Bailey Guard, 
 I gratefully recorded how much Havelock and I, and, in- 
 deed, the whole Lucknow force, were indebted to you for 
 your exertions in our aid, while you were chief civil 
 functionary at Cawnpore, during the trying time of our 
 advance from thence to Lucknow, during the period we 
 were shut up there, and afterwards, while we maintained 
 the Alum Bagh position. 
 
 " The cordiality with which you worked with Bruce and 
 other military men, to aid us with supplies, carriage, and 
 intelligence, was the moi'e praiseworthy and remarkable 
 from the fact that your functions and authority, as head of 
 the Civil Department, were interfered with, and trenched 
 upon, by Neill, Havelock, and myself, having conferred 
 powers on Major Bruce quite unusual, and such as might 
 well have excited the jealousy and indignation of most men, 
 and would have discouraged, if not disinclined, most men 
 rrom heartily working with the military. Yet, so far from 
 your taking offence, or relaxing in your endeavours to aid
 
 APPENDIX. 187 
 
 us, you ever earnestly exerted your utmost influence in the 
 district, and the most unwearied, unceasing, personal labours 
 in our behalf. However little we may have said of it at 
 this time, I can assure you, my dear Sherer, your hearty, 
 cordial goodwill and friendly assistance were deeply felt by 
 us all. I have often blamed myself for not having sent you 
 an official acknowledgment of your services in aid of the 
 Army at Lucknow, when I relinquished my command. I 
 was then so overwhelmed with incessant calls on my atten- 
 tion that I overlooked it at the time ; and the least I can 
 now do is to express to you, in this private form, what I 
 ought to have said officially, while yet I was in a position to 
 address you officially. 
 
 " I wish you a pleasant voyage, and happy meeting with 
 your family, with all my heart. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 "J. OUTBAM." 
 
 II 
 
 GENERAL NEILL 
 
 ON HIS OWN MILITARY POLICE 
 
 " CAWNPORE, 
 " 27 tk Augwt, 1857. 
 
 11 MY DEAR SHERER, If we had the men soldiers to 
 send out, and take military possession of the country, all 
 would be well. Your police could then go out and be 
 efficient ; but as we have not the men, and the country is
 
 188 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 in the possession of the enemy, I may say, attempting to 
 establish your police is not only useless, but risking the 
 lives of men well-disposed to the state to no purpose. The 
 murders and captures of your men at Sheorajpore and 
 Bithoor prove this. 1 
 
 " My idea is it would be the height of cruelty, and very 
 impolitic to risk any more men in the country to the north- 
 west, and partly south of this, towards Calpee, until, by 
 military force, the insurgents are put down. 
 
 " Having no soldiers to send out, the armed police, under 
 military rule Bruce is getting together, is the best substi- 
 tute. As regards your police between this and Allahabad, 
 they have been most efficient, and it is wonderful they have 
 stood. They ought to be supported by a detachment 
 at Futtehpore, to be at the call of the civil power to act 
 whenever insurgents may appear It is trying these men 
 very hard, and more to their credit that they stand to their 
 posts with no military support to fall back upon between 
 this and Allahabad. 
 
 " When the sanction of Government is requested [for his 
 armed police], the reason why must be fully stated, as 
 above. Most certainly the grounds for making the request 
 will not be the inefficient state of the present police. I 
 never intended such to be understood, for I consider your 
 police, as far as it is established, quite efficient. What 
 I did mean was, that no police was efficient in a country in 
 possession of the enemy, where, as has occurred, your men 
 have been overpowered and murdered by overwhelming 
 
 1 There is a little confusion here about names. Bruce lost the 
 post at Bithoor. J. W. S.
 
 APPENDIX. 189 
 
 numbers of armed men, against whom, poor, almost un- 
 armed, men, they could not have the slightest chance. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 "J. S. NEILL." 
 
 Ill 
 
 GENERAL HAVELOOK 
 
 A LOYAL FARMER 
 
 " CANTONMENT, 
 " 15th August, 1857. 
 
 "MY DEAR MR. SHERER, Many thanks for the information. 
 Kindly let a letter of thanks be written to Hur Deo Buksh 
 in my name, for my signature. I shall be obliged if you will 
 send a Moonshee to read it to me. Assure the Zemindar of 
 the protection of the British Government, and ask him if he 
 requires any aid. 
 
 11 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 H. HAVKLOOK."
 
 190 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 IV 
 
 GENERAL MANSFIELD (AFTERWARDS LORD SANDHURST) 
 
 CURRENT WORK 
 
 "CAMP MEERANKI SERAI, 
 " FUTTEHGURH DISTRICT, 
 " 2Qth December, 1857. 
 
 " I beg you to consult freely with Brigadier Inglis on the 
 necessity of following up what is now being done by the 
 movable Column which has been ordered to be formed. 
 The sooner it is in movement the better, according to His 
 Excellency. Had you not better organise a Tosha Khana 
 to receive all treasure which may be found ? The Brigadier 
 writes to inquire what is to be done with the treasure trove 
 of Bithoor. The C in C can only suggest the transfer of it to 
 you. Government says there is to be no prize. Until, 
 therefore, another determination be come to on this point, 
 H. E. rules that the soldiers should not be led into tempta- 
 tion by having to take care of it. I shall instruct Inglis in 
 the same sense, by H. E.'s orders. 
 
 " Yours ever very truly, 
 
 " W. R. MANSFIELD."
 
 APPENDIX. 191 
 
 V 
 
 FROM W. H. RUSSELL, ESQ. (NOW SIR WILLIAM) 
 
 A SPECIMEN OP HIS AMUSING AND INTERESTING LETTERS, 
 PRINTED BY HIS PERMISSION 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS, AJUDDIAH, 
 
 " NEAR CHURDA, 
 " 29<A December, 1858. 
 
 "MosT EXCELLENT BEAK, Unfriendly silence tortures 
 your friend. Pardon will be freely given, however, if 
 reparation comes. And now to thank you for the old boss, 
 and to tell you that he and I suit each other exactly, and 
 that I am very much obliged and indebted to you for pro- 
 curing him for me. Do you wish to sell him, and if so, 
 what is his price ? The campaign is, I consider, quite over, 
 though throats won't be safe, or guns silent, in India for 
 some months to come. I am exceedingly perplexed with 
 these people. They will neither fight nor submit, and one 
 knows not where to have them. After much dodging, we, 
 marching twenty miles a day, came up with a body, under 
 Beni Madho, the Nana's general, some notorious Mussulman 
 rebels, and the Churda Rajah, on the 26th. They had 
 seven or eight guns, and opened with grape when we came 
 within a mile of them, then bolted so fast that neither 
 Cavalry nor Horse Artillery could do more than take six of 
 their guns all good ones and kill about twelve of them. 
 This was some four or five miles from Churda. They evacu- 
 ated that fort, and came on here. We attacked them next
 
 192 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 day, and, after an hour or two of artillery, they fled from the 
 fort, which is by far the best I have seen in India, leaving a 
 great quantity of powder, six good guns, and lots of grain 
 and food, behind them. Now we don't know where to go. 
 Rowcroft has defeated Bala Bao at Toolseepore and taken 
 the fort, and we expect to hear the Begum has surrendered 
 to Grant. I have sent divers and several commissions to 
 my long-suffering friend to execute. The parcels, guns, etc., 
 of which I wrote, have been in the Cawnpore post office for 
 months two. And BO may the Saints have you in their 
 holy keeping. " Yours as ever, 
 
 "W. H. RUSSELL. 
 
 " Lord Clyde was thrown in the pursuit on 26th, and put 
 out his shoulder. He is much shaken." 
 
 VI 
 THE NUWAB OF BANDA 
 
 " INDORE, 
 " 20th October, 1859. 
 
 " SIR, I take the present opportunity of addressing you 
 in my behalf, feeling assured that my application will re- 
 ceive your favourable consideration, and beg to remind you 
 of a verbal promise which you gave me when you were a 
 guest at my house, that, if at any time you could forward 
 my interests, you would do so. 
 
 " The time has now come when your influence, if exerted
 
 APPENDIX. 193 
 
 in my favour, will greatly benefit me. Previous to the 
 Mutiny I received a pension of four lacs of rupees, and held 
 the territory of Banda, as a Malgoozar, for many years, but 
 of which I have been deprived since 1857, and only receive, 
 in lieu thereof, a small sum of forty thousand rupees 
 annually. 
 
 " My object is, through your kind recommendation and 
 influence with his Lordship, the Governor-General, to have 
 my pension and Malgoozaree restored. I beg respectfully 
 to tender you my best wishes for your future welfare, and 
 assure you of my grateful acknowledgment for any service 
 you may render me. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " AlJ BUHADOOR, OF BANDA." 
 
 [The Nuwab had taken the field against the Government, 
 and no private individual could interfere. I had never been 
 officially connected with him. As an acquaintance, I 
 sincerely pitied him. He died not long afterwards.] 
 
 VII 
 
 FROM A. H. LA YARD, ESQ., M.P. (AFTERWARDS SIR AUSTEN) 
 
 MOWBRAY THOMSON'S CLAIMS 
 
 " 120 PICCADILLY, 
 " 9th August, 1858. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, When I was with you at Cawnpore you 
 promised to send me a note of Lieutenant Thomson's service 
 and sufferings. I expected for some time to receive that 
 document, as I felt a very lively interest in the subject, and
 
 194 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 was most anxious to do anything in my power to obtain for 
 Lieutenant Thomson some acknowledgment of his noble 
 conduct. Not having heard from you, I drew up a short 
 memorandum in a letter to Mangles, which he has sub- 
 mitted to his colleagues at the India Board, promising me 
 to do all he could to obtain some recognition of Lieutenant 
 Thomson's services. I do not know what may have been 
 done, but I shall not lose any opportunity that may present 
 itself of pushing the matter. 
 
 " If you could send me any documents, or any statement 
 on the subject, and could suggest any mode of action, I 
 should be very glad, indeed, to do more. 
 
 " I write to you because I would not have you think that 
 I had forgotten my promise. 
 
 "I hope you have been quite well since I had the 
 pleasure of seeing you. The late telegrams from India 
 bring more cheering accounts of the state of things, and I 
 sincerely hope that ere long you will restore the country to 
 its original state of peace and security. I fear, however, 
 that there will be much to do before such reforms will be 
 made in our Indian Government as appear to me to be 
 essentially necessary to our permanent occupation of India, 
 with advantage to ourselves, and its inhabitants. 
 
 "I wish I could look forward to another visit to a 
 country which interested me so deeply during my short 
 residence in it. 
 
 " Pray remember me kindly to those gentlemen who may 
 be with you, and who may not have forgotten me. 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 A. H. LAYABD."
 
 APPENDIX. 195 
 
 [General Mowbray Thomson, a hale and hearty veteran, 
 remains still without honours or decorations of any kind. 
 But people ask : " What can the War Office do after forty 
 years ? " The question does not seem difficult to answer. 
 There is no statute of limitations, to use Col. Maude's 
 words, in regard to the public gratitude. Neglect does not 
 become less wounding by lapse of time, and the obligation 
 to reward conspicuous merit in the Army never ceases till to 
 bestow reward would be impossible. What can the War 
 Office do after forty years 1 Retrieve a mistake, and with- 
 out further delay, before it is too late. Major-General H. 
 G. Delafosse has got the decoration of C.B. ; he richly de- 
 served it. But his success makes the case of Mowbray 
 Thomson so much the stronger.] 
 
 VIII 
 
 FROM LiEUT.-CoL. SIR H. HAVBLOCK 
 (AFTERWARDS SIR HBNRY HAVELOCK-ALLAN) 
 
 CERTIFICATE 
 
 "LONDON, W., 
 
 "14 KENSINGTON PARK GARDENS, 
 " 1st June, 1860. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, I have very great pleasure in sending 
 you the certificate you desire, in duplicate (in case it should 
 be so wanted), and on thin paper, as I presume it is for 
 transmission overland. 
 
 " If it is not sufficiently distinct for your purpose, I shall 
 be happy to amend it at your suggestion.
 
 196 DAILY LIFE DURING THE MUTINY. 
 
 " Many thanks, indeed, for your kindness in carrying out 
 my wishes as regards the old woman. I trust she has pro- 
 fited by your counsel, and kept clear of the harpies who 
 were ready to ease her of her newly-gotten wealth. 
 
 " It will give me great pleasure if I can be of any further 
 assistance in regard to your claims on the Government of India, 
 and I beg you will not scruple to ask me for any attestation 
 that may be necessary to establish facts concerning the hard 
 days of 1857. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " My dear sir, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "H. M. HAVELOCK." 
 
 [I had only Mr. Chester's verbal order to accompany the 
 Force to Cawnpore ; nothing in writing whatever ; and it 
 occurred to me that I could not show (if ever it might be 
 necessary) that I had any right to join in the expedition. 
 So I wrote to Col. Havelock to ask him as late D.A. Adju- 
 tant-General to his father, to certify that I was attached to 
 the Force. This he fully, perhaps too fully, did, stating that 
 I was recognised by General Havelock as the senior civil 
 officer representing the Government of India. I have given 
 his whole letter under the idea that some who knew his firm- 
 ness and determination might be pleased to see how courteous 
 and considerate he could be, and that the strong, unpersuad- 
 able man, who came to a wild, sad end, could warmly interest 
 himself about an old woman, a dependent of his family, for 
 whom he had arranged a pension, and whom he had asked 
 me to protect from designing relatives.]
 
 IN MEMORIAM 
 
 IT is sorrowful enough, in writing of the days to which this 
 volume refers, to remember what ravages death then made 
 amongst men who had passed their youth together, or had, 
 at least, the pleasant tie of a common college. And now 
 the long years have done their work, too, and we, who 
 started from Haileybury some fifty or more years ago in 
 such high spirits, are reduced to "a sadly altered few." 
 
 " En partant du Golfe d'Otrante, 
 Nous etions trente ; 
 Mais en arrivant a Cadiz, 
 Nous 6tions dix." 
 
 Last year a tablet was erected in the chapel of Hailey- 
 bury College to the memory of those Indian civilians 
 who met their end in the Mutiny time. The proposal to 
 put up a memorial was warmly accepted by the New 
 Haileybury authorities, and, now it is finished and in 
 place, it has their equally warm approval. This state of 
 feeling is extremely gratifying. I give the inscription, but 
 do not know by whom it was written. I cannot but remark 
 that it seems to me very appropriate, and to fulfil every 
 
 requirement of sentiment and taste. 
 
 197
 
 ON THIS TABLET ARE RECORDED THE NAMES 
 OF FORTV MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN ClVIL SERVICE 
 
 SOMETIME STUDENTS AT OLD HAILEYBUKY COLLEGE, 
 
 WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE ACTIVE DISCHARGE 
 
 OF THEIR DUTY, DURING THE OUTBREAK 
 
 OF MUTINY AND INSURRECTION THROUGHOUT INDIA 
 
 IN THE YEARS 1857 TO 1859. 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL COLVIN 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCES 
 
 SIMON FRASER COLVILLE COVERLY JACKSON 
 
 DAVID ROBERTSON MANATON COLLINGWOOD OMMANNEY 
 
 THOMAS KIRKMAN LOYD ROBERT TUDOR TUCKER 
 
 GEORGE DAVY RAIKES HBRVEY HARRIS UREATHED 
 
 ROBERT BENSLEY THORNHILL GEORGE JACKSON CHRISTIAN 
 
 ARTHUR GALLOWAY JOHN PEACH MCWHIRTER 
 
 CHARLES GEORGE HILLERSDON JOHN Ross HUTCHINSON 
 
 CHARLES JAMES MANSO WILLIAM CHRISTIAN WATSON 
 
 JOHN WEDDERBURN HENRY BRERETON 
 
 MORDAUNT RlCKETTS HENRY BENSLEY THORNHILL 
 
 ALEXANDER JOHNSON JOHN ROBERT MACKILLOP 
 
 GEORGE SACKVILLE BENSON JAMES GRANT THOMASON 
 
 ADAM HENRY GEORGE BLOCK ROBERT NESBIT Lowis 
 
 HENRY GONNH CHARLES JOHN JENKINS 
 
 BURKE ROBERT CUPPAGE WILLIAM RICHARD MOORE 
 
 HENRY EDMUND COCKERELL ARTHUR JENKINS 
 
 DONALD GRANT CHARLKS WATKIN CUNLIFFE 
 
 JOHN BENSLEY THORNHILL WIRAM CLIFFORD 
 
 ARTHUR CHESTER SMITH WILLIAM HARRIS CAULFIELD 
 SIR MOUNTSTEUART GOODRICH JACKSON, BARONET. 
 
 ERECTED BY THEIR SURVIVING FRIENDS AND FELLOW STUDENTS 
 IN COMMEMORATION OF MKN WHO UPHELD IN A GREAT EMERGENCY 
 
 THE HONOUR AND TRADITIONS OF THEIR SERVICK, 
 
 A.S A TRIBUTE OF REGRET FOR THEIR LOSS, AND IN THE 1IOPE THAT 
 
 THEIR EXAMPLE MAY NOT BE FORGOTTEN.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
 000 961