who afterwards, from all quarters, flocked to Delhi and fought there for months to destroy our supremacy in India.

The troopers entered the Calcutta gate without opposition, and instantly began to attack with their swords and carabines every European they met. Among the first victims were Mr. Simon Fraser, the Commissioner, Captain Douglas, his assistant, and Mr. Nixon, chief clerk in their office. Notice was immediately sent to the Brigadier, and a regiment (the 54th N.I.) with two guns was sent down from cantonments. The 54th marched through the Cashmere gate in good order, but on the approach of some of the Light Cavalry the Sepoys rushed suddenly to the side of the road, leaving their officers, who, with the exception of Colonel Ripley, were unarmed, in the middle, upon whom the troopers immediately rushed at a gallop, and shot them down. After butchering all the officers of the 54th, the troopers dismounted and went among the Sepoys of the 54th and shook hands with them. The troopers rode up to their victims at full gallop, pulled up suddenly, fired their pistols, and then retreated. Their countenances are said to have worn the expres sion of maniacs; one was a mere youth, who rushed about flourish ing his sword, and displayed all the fury of a man under the influence of bhang. They were in full uniform, and some had medals on their breasts.

As soon as the extent of the mutiny was known, most of the residents made their way to the Flagstaff Tower, in front of the cantonments. A company of the 38th Native Infantry and two guns were stationed here, and a large

party of ladies and gentlemen, including several officers, came here well armed, with the intention of defending themselves against the troopers. The tower was round and of solid brickwork, and was well adapted for the purpose of resisting an attack. Many of the officers of the 38th still had confidence in their men, and endea. voured to reason with them when they showed symptoms of insubordination; but it soon became evident that the company of the 38th, stationed at the Flagstaff Tower, were in a state of mutiny, and that the slightest thing would induce them to turn at once against their officers and the other Europeaus assembled on the hill. About a quarter to 4 the magazine in the city exploded; a puff of white smoke and the report of a gun preceded the column of red dust which rose into the air, and the Sepoys made a rush to their arms, which were piled near them. Soon afterwards the 38th Regiment took possession of two guns sent up to reinforce the party at the tower, and on this becoming known the Brigadier, Colonel Graves, advised all who could leave to do so, intending himself to follow when the rest had departed. Conveyances being ready, most of the ladies got away, the gentlemen following on horseback; and thus some reached Kurnaul in safety, while others took the road to Meerut.

In the meantime the work of murder went rapidly on within the walls of Delhi. Many of the Europeans fled for protection to the Palace, or were taken there by force, and every one of them was butchered in the presence or with the knowledge of the aged King and his bloodthirsty sons. It is almost too shocking to re

late the horrors of this dreadful day, and of those that followed. Children were tossed on the points of bayonets before their mothers' eyes-ladies were dragged naked through the streets, exposed to the vilest indignities at the bazaar, violated by fiends in human shape, and then cut to pieces.

Some of the English officers determined to stay with their regiments to the last, in hopes of yet rallying them to a sense of duty. But it was all in vain, and most of them paid for their heroism with their lives. One who escaped gives a vivid picture of the scene of anarchy and murder.

"I persuaded," he says, "the Sepoys to let me take the regimental colour, and I took it out side, but on calling for my groom I found he had bolted with my horse. You may imagine my horror at this. I went back into the Quarter Guard and replaced the colour, but on again coming out a trooper dismounted and took a deliberate shot at me, but, missing his aim, I walked up to him and blew his brains out. Another man was then taking aim at me, when he was bayoneted by a Sepoy of my company. The firing then became general, and I was compelled to run the gauntlet across the parade ground, and escaped unhurt miraculously, three bullets having passed through my hat, and one through the skirt of my coat. The whole of the houses in cantonments were burnt. Having gone as far as my weak state of health would permit, and being exhausted, I took refuge in a garden under some bushes. About half an hour after a band of robbers, looking out for plunder, detected me, robbed me of my rings, &c., and only left me my flannel

waistcoat and socks. They then tore off the sleeve of my shirt, and with it attempted to strangle me. Imagine the intense agony I must have been in! They left me for dead, as I had become senseless. About one hour after I came to, and managed to stagger on about a mile without shoes, where I secreted myself in a hut until daybreak, when I resumed my dreary journey, and, after travelling about 12 miles, the latter part of which was in the broiling sun, without anything on my head, arrived at Aleepore..

I once more gained the high road, and, after making inquiries, found that those I was seeking for had been travelling on foot at night, and were about 10 miles ahead of me. With my feet swollen and in blisters I journeyed on, and at last, to my extreme joy, overtook them. After having been several times stripped and searched by the robbers, they had been taken care of by a Ranee Mungla Dabee for two days. They, poor, helpless creatures, like myself, had been robbed of all they possessed; the ladies, with the exception of a petticoat and shift, and the poor wounded doctor had his clothes left him, as the blood had so saturated them that they were deemed useless to them. The ladies also had experienced the most distressing and horrible insults."

An attempt was made to hold the Mainguard, which was a small fortified bastion within the Cashmere Gate, and reinforcements were sent for to the cantonments, which lay about two miles to the north of Delhi. Here also women and children rushed for safetyand it was soon filled with fugitives from the city when, to quote the narrative of a young officer

who was there, "about 5 o'clock in the afternoon, all of a sudden, the Sepoys who were with us in the Mainguard, and on whom we had been depending to defend us in case of attack, began firing upon us in every direction; a most awful scene, as you may imagine, then ensued people running in every possible way to try and escape. I, as luck would have it, with a few other fellows, ran up a kind of slope that leads to the officers' quarters, and thence, amid a storm of bullets, to one of the embrasures of the bastion. It is perfectly miraculous how I escaped being hit; no end of poor fellows were knocked down all about, and all, too, by their men; it is really awful to think of it. However, on arriving at the embrasure, all at once the idea occurred to me of jumping down into the ditch from the rampart (one would have thought it madness at any other time), and so try and get out by scaling the opposite side; but just as I was in the act of doing so, I heard screams from a lot of unfortunate women who were in the officers' quarters, imploring for help. I immediately, with a few other fellows, who like me were going to escape the same way, ran back to them, and though the attempt appeared hopeless, we determined to see if we could not take them with us. Some of them, poor creatures, were wounded with bullets; however, we made a rope with handkerchiefs, and some of us jumping down first into the ditch caught them as they dropped, to break the fall. Then came the difficulty of dragging them up the opposite bank; however, by God's will, we succeeded, after nearly half an hour's labour, in getting them up, and why no Sepoys came

and shot every one of us while getting across all this time is a perfect mystery. The murdering was going on below all this time, and nothing could have been easier than for two or three of them to come to the rampart and shoot down every one of us. However, as I

say, we somehow got over, and, expecting to be pursued every minute, we bent our steps to a house that was on the banks of the river. This we reached in safety, and getting something to eat and drink from the servants, stopped there till dark, and then, seeing the whole of three cantonments on fire, and, as it were, a regular battle raging in that direction, we ran down to the river side and made the best of our way along its banks in an opposite direction. It would be too long to tell of how for three days and nights we wandered in the jungles, sometimes fed and sometimes robbed by the villagers, till at length, wearied and footsore, with shreds of clothes on our backs, we arrived at a village where they put us in a hut and fed us for four days, and, moreover, took a note from us into Meerut, whence an escort of cavalry was sent out, and we were brought safely in here."

Some Europeans, including women and children, had taken refuge in a house near the great mosque called Juma Musjid, and as they were without water, they begged to be taken to the Palace. The rebels swore that if they would lay down their arms they would give them water, and conduct them safely to the King. Upon this the arms were surrendered, when they were immediately seized, placed in a row, and shot. An eye-witness says, 66 One woman intreated them to give her child

water, though they might kill her. A Sepoy took her child and dashed it on the ground. The people looked on in dismay and feared for Delhi." We will now narrate the heroic action by which the mutineers were foiled in their attempt to possess themselves of the chief magazine in Delhi.

This was under the care of Lieutenant Willoughby, assisted by Lieutenants Forrest and Raynor, who ordered the gates to be closed and barricaded, and inside the gate leading to the park were placed two 6-pounders, loaded with grape, beside which stood gunners with lighted matches in their hands. The principal gate of the magazine was defended by two guus, with chevaux de frise on the inside, and there were two 6-pounders so placed as to command the gate and a small bastion in its vicinity. Within 60 yards of the gate were three 6-pounders and one 24-pounder howitzer, which could be so managed as to act upon any part of the magazine in that neighbourhood. The next step was to place arms in the hands of the native troops inside, which they most reluctantly received, and appeared to be in a state not only of excitement, but insubordination. The above arrangements had hardly been made when guards from the Palace came and demanded the possession of the magazine in the name of the King of Delhi, to which no reply was given. Soon afterwards scaling ladders were placed against the wall, and the whole of the native troops deserted by climbing up the sloped sheds on the inside of the magazine, and descended the ladders on the outside, after which the enemy appeared in great number on the top of the walls, and an incessant

fire of grapeshot was kept up on them as long as a single round remained.

Nothing could exceed the gallantry of two of the gunners, Buckley and Scully, whose names deserve to be recorded, and who, assisted by Lieutenant Forrest, loaded and fired in rapid succession the guns, firing four rounds from each, and with the same steadiness as if standing on parade, although the enemy kept up a continual volley of musketry within 40 or 50 yards. After the last round was fired Lieutenant Willoughby gave the order for exploding the magazine, and Scully immediately obeyed by firing the trains. A terrific explosion took place, and such as escaped from beneath the ruins retreated through the sallyport on the river face. Lieutenant Willoughby was so severely wounded that he died shortly afterwards, but Lieutenants Forrest and Raynor escaped without serious injuries, the survivors of as brave an exploit as ever was recorded in the annals of war.

А

The Commander-in-Chief in India at this juncture was General Anson, and a short time previous to the outbreak of the mutiny at Meerut he had gone to Simla, to avoid the extreme heat of the plains. Tidings of the revolt were brought to him there by express, and he hastened down to Umballa, where he collected as many troops as were available, and proceeded towards Delhi; but was on the 27th of May carried off by an attack of cholera at Kurnaul. was succeeded by Major-General Reed, whose age and health, however, quite unfitted him for the chief command of the forces in Bengal at such an emergency. He left Rawul Pindee on the 28th

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of May, and on the 8th of June reached the camp of Major-General Sir Henry Barnard at Alleepore, where a large body of troops under that officer were assembled. Brigadier-General Wilson hastened up from Meerut with as strong a force as he could collect, to join Sir Henry Barnard, and the insurgents from Delhi made an attempt to intercept his march. On the 30th of May they attacked him near a small river called the Hindun, but a troop of our horse artillery crossed the stream, and turning the left flank of the rebels, put them to flight. Next day they renewed the attack, and were again defeated, with the loss of 26 guns, and General Wilson was able without further molestation to effect a junction with Sir Henry Barnard at Alleepore, which is only one march distant from Delhi. The combined force was ready to march on the 8th of June, on which day, soon after midnight, it advanced from Alleepore. But General Reed was prevented by sickness from accompanying the troops, the actual command of which devolved upon General Barnard.

He found the enemy in occupation of a fortified position at Badu. lee Ke-Serai, which was defended by a battery of heavy guns, and as these could not be silenced by the light field-pieces which were all the artillery that the British then had, he called on the 75th Regiment to charge them with the bayonet. This they did in the most gallant manner, and the position was

soon ours, the enemy abandoning their guns. Here Colonel Chester, Adjutant-General of the army, fell, but no other officer was killed.

Having carried the position at Badulee Ke-Serai, Sir H. Barnard

divided his forces into two columns, and ordered one to march along the main trunk road under the command of General Wilson, while he himself led the other to the left through what had been the Delhi cantonments, which the mutineers had burnt and destroyed, and on a ridge above which they were now strongly posted with guns in position. By a rapid flank movement to the left, General Barnard took this position in flank and rear, and carried it, forcing the enemy to abandon their guns, while General Wilson's column fought its way through gardens with high walls and other obstacles until it drove the rebels back into the city, and the two generals met at a place called Hindoo Rao's House, which was about half way between the old cantonments and the Moree Gate of Delhi.

It was in this series of engagements that the Ghoorkas (a hill tribe of soldiers) gave proofs of the brilliant valour which distinguished them throughout the siege and in every combat in which they came in contact with the rebels.

The British troops now took up their quarters before Delhi in a camp about two miles to the north of Delhi, with the old cantonments in their front, a canal in their rear, and the river Jumna on their left. The ground was high and rocky, and admirably adapted for the operations of the siege, in which, owing to the smallness of their force, the troops were compelled to act upon the defensive for months against constant attacks of the rebel regiments, which in overwhelming numbers garrisoned the city.

The total amount of the British force which took up its position