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 lawlessness 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 Lal, 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 attributed 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 Lal 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 unfortunately 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 Lal'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.

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 indemnified 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 associations, 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 unhappy fellows lost their lives, and were precipitated headforemost 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 authorities against men we recognised as members only of the crowd-illegal assembly though it undoubtedly was.

K

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 ghât, 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 excitement 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

lived at this station, was appointed Civil Surgeon, and becoming 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 declared 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 thirtyeight 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 contained, 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 entrusted the commissariat; and though rather wasteful and extravagant, it must be admitted he kept the table well supplied.

At length at Christmas-the very morning before Christ

mas day-Lord Clyde started for Futtehgurh, 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 evening, 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 craze1 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 Road, 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.