T is not very easy, perhaps it never will be possible, to state exactly what were the causes of the great Indian Mutiny. A number of circumstances, no doubt, concurred. The policy of Lord Dalhousie, which did so much to substitute European modes

of action for India; a widespread belief, founded on an exaggerated and distorted report of the sufferings of our troops during the Crimean war, that the power of the British was a thing of the past; and, finally, the rumour as to the use of a kind of cartridge smeared with hog or cow fat, the use of which would have defiled the Mahometans and made the Hindoos lose caste-all these causes produced a vast deal of discontent, and this resulted in the mutiny. It began with a revolt of the Sepoys at Meerut, Sunday, May 10, 1857. This was not very serious in itself, but the mutineers galloped off to Delhi. The Mahometans there rose. The rising spread through all the North Western provinces and Oude, into Bengal. Everywhere the Sepoys rose, massacred the Europeans, and committed acts unheard of in civilised warfare. The chief interest of the struggle is connected with the names of the cities of Cawnpore, Lucknow, and Delhi. The first of these was notable as the scene of the treacherous action of Nana Sahib, who, professing friendship to the English, induced them to leave their defences, and, under the promise of a safe conduct, embark on the Ganges for Allahabad. No sooner were they embarked than a treacherous attack was made on them. They were

brought back and cruelly murdered, just "when the avenging army of Havelock was at hand."

At Lucknow, Sir Henry Lawrence had fortified the residency, and here he and his successors held out from July 2nd to September 25th against enormous odds. On this last date they were joined by a small force under Havelock and Outram. Fresh swarms of besiegers almost simultaneously appeared, but these were gallantly withstood till November, when Sir Colin Campbell finally raised the siege.

The third great episode of the mutiny was the siege of Delhi, undertaken by eight thousand English against thirty thousand natives. It lasted from June 8th till September 14th, when a great assault on the town was made, and after six days of terrible street fighting the place was carried.

Of this siege we shall give some detailed account, based on personal narratives of those who took part in it.

Colonel Keith Young, in command of a regiment before Delhi, writes thus on the 24th of June, 1857:

"We could now take the city in a few hours if we liked. Our batteries are all erected; but it is thought prudent to wait for reinforcements. Spies have been sent in, and have returned, stating that the besieged are beginning to suffer from hunger, and the respectable natives are longing for British rule again. There are believed to be about twenty-three thousand men (mutineers and deserters) inside the walls, and sorties are made almost every day, although invariably repulsed with loss. Sickness is great amongst the population, and the cholera reduces them in frightful numbers. It is also stated that the King of Delhi has

sent off his son to Agra as a ruse; but this, I should think, would not save his neck or pension. The mutineers certainly do give us a great deal of trouble, and fight like demons."

On the 24th and 25th of June, everything remained quiet on the part of the rebels, and only one incident worth notice was observable on the 26th. A large number of soldiers were observed to leave the city in confusion, under a vigorous discharge of grape from the walls. The fugitives were pursued by some of the rebel troopers, but succeeded in getting sufficiently near to our outposts to insure protection. Upon being challenged, they were discovered to be some men of the 9th regiment, which had mutinied at Allygurh and Etawah on the 21st of May, and who, from some cause of offence or jealousy on the part of their co-mutineers in the city, had been refused subsistence or pay amongst the rebel troops of the King of Delhi. Being thus destitute, and between two fires, the unfortunate wretches at last had determined upon giving themselves up to the English general, depending for their future destiny upon his favourable appreciation of their humane conduct towards their officers, when the latter were in their power at Allygurh.

Early in the day of June 27th, a strong party of mutineers again advanced on the Metcalfe picket; but being quickly repulsed in that direction, an attack was made on the bridge batteries and the pickets at the Subzee Mundee, which resulted in a similar failure. On the two following days, the offensive operations of the rebels were suspended; but on the 30th, the Subzee Mundee picket, and the position at Hindoo Rao's, were simultaneously attacked; and although, as usual, the attempt was futile, the loss on the European side was severe.

At this period reinforcements began to arrive; and by the 3rd of July the tive British force before Delhi

amounted, in round numbers, to six thousand six hundred men of all arms. Thus strengthened for an assault, it was again proposed that the place should be taken by a coup-de-main; and a project was drawn out, by which one column was to effect an entrance by blowing in the iron grating of the canal near the Cabul gate; another column to enter the Cashmere gate after it had been blown in; a third column to escalade the Cashmere bastion; and a detachment, creeping round by the river side, was to endeavour to effect an entrance in that direction. It seemed pretty clear that success would be doubtful in these attacks, unless the surprise was complete; and as there was no reason to reckon upon any lack of vigilance on the part of the insurgents, after maturely considering the plan it was abandoned.

Passing over a short time, we next take up the following letter of a lieutenant of engineers, dated from the camp on the 7th of July, to suggest an idea of the feeling that prevailed at the time amongst the gallant band before the beleaguered city :

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"You will see that we are still before Delhi; that we are not in it, is not our fault. I will not say that we shall not be in Delhi before long; but as there is no saying into whose hands letters may fall, it is well to be silent on these points. Our present occupation seems to be driving the enemy back whenever he shows himself; which, to do him justice, is not seldom, though not so frequently as when we first came here. Bareilly rascals had the impudence to come round to our rear a few days ago, and our only regret is, that one of them ever got back. I was out with the force sent against them, and cannot say that I felt much pity for the red-coated villains with '68,'' 18,' and ' 28' on their buttons. Mercy seems to have fled from us; and if ever there was such a thing as war to the knife, we certainly have it here. The Sepoys stand well to their guns, and

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work them fully as well as ourselves, which is little to be wondered at, when you think of the pains we have taken to teach them gunnery. The astonishing The astonishing thing is, to see how different the story becomes when Pandy (camp name for the enemy-after 'Mungul Pandy,' the first mutineer hanged) sees a bayonet pointed at him.. We have all read and heard much of the British cheer,' but its effect must be seen to be appreciated. I never saw it better than at Badulee Ke-Serai. Pandy's guns were all in position, and a beautiful position it was; every gun was in full play; and our advance column, under Brigadier Grant, with which I was, had got round Pandy's flank to his rear. Nothing was to be heard but heavy guns and the rattle of musketry, in the very teeth of which Her Majesty's 75th and 1st Europeans were marching up as if on parade, when that British cheer saluted our ears. like magic. Every gunexcept our own was silent immediately, though certainly not for very long. Even musketry seemed almost to have ceased, and we knew that the bayonet was doing its work on all who waited for it. It was some little time before the enemy's guns opened again; and when they did, I can assure you they did not forgive the advance column for out-manoeuvring them. I had not, up to this time, paid much heed to the shot flying around me; for, galloping along at full speed, with horse artillery and cavalry thundering after you, is some small excitement to a griff'; and as I was the guide to the column, I felt somewhat interested in taking up our position quickly. But it is a very different story standing quietly under heavy fire for the first time, with nothing to do but to look on. I quite envied the gunners who were so hard at work, for it is no small satisfaction working to such good purpose; and I cannot say that I felt my heart breaking at the sight of these rascals getting their deserts. This is war in its very worst

enemy seems to enter into no one's mind. If any one owes these Sepoys a grudge, I think I have some claim to one; but I must say that I cannot bring myself to put my sword through a wounded Sepoy. I cannot say that I grieve much when I see it done, as it invariably is; but grieve or not, as you please, he is a clever man who can keep back a European from driving his bayonet through a Sepoy, even if in the agonies of death. The hardest fighting goes on at the right of our position. Our batteries are at this point, and Pandy's whole efforts seem concentrated on it. He has good cover from the Lahore gate of Delhi up to the very foot of the hills on which our batteries are. This cover consists of houses, walled gardens, and large enclosures, with high walls loopholed at the top. They have made a good many attempts to erect counter-batteries in these enclosures, and generally pay the penalty. They were hard at work at one of these batteries the other day, and, like idiots, had blocked up every entrance but one. Twenty of our riflemen rushed in at this door, whereupon Pandy fled like a flock of sheep into a corner, and commenced firing indiscriminately at the riflemen, but being too much flurried, did little damage. On the approach of the bayonet, they had the barefacedness to beg for mercy. They might as well have begged for mercy of a Shylock, for in another moment forty of them were lying pierced with bayonets."

We next excerpt from a narrative of occurrences in Delhi, written by a native who remained in the city during the whole period of its investment by the English troops:—

"July 18th.-About two or three days ago, a 'muhawut,' with an elephant from the British camp, came to the king, saying that he was so much annoyed by the Europeans, that he made his escape. The king ordered the elephant to be

kept in the Feelkhana, and took the muhawut into his service. For two or three days the muhawut went about examining the different places in the fort, and then suddenly disappeared. It is supposed that he was a spy from the British camp, as, since the day he left the fort, shells are continually thrown on the palace, part of which is demolished. The shells from the British camp cause great destruction. God knows what will happen the day the English assault Delhi. Every one is in a state of anxiety, and business is at a stand. God grant that matters may terminate well. There is no likelihood, however, of tranquillity being speedily restored. The elephant, which was brought from the British camp, the king has offered at the shrine of Jootub Sha.

"July 22nd. The other day the king sent for the Subahdar Bahadour, who commands the troops in the fort, and desired him either to remove him out of the fort, or do something to stop the British shelling, which was very destructive. The subahdar begged the king to remain in the fort another day, and that, during that time, he would devise means to put a stop to the shelling. Early the next morning the subahdar, with a party of one thousand Poorbeas (natives of the Eastern provinces), armed only with swords and muskets, attacked the British troops. They fought desperately, but the European and Sikh troops, who were about ten thousand strong, and were on the alert, opened a fire of grape on the subahdar. With the exception of a few men, the whole of his party was destroyed. After a day or two, the Poorbeas, in a body, waited on the king, and begged that, in consideration of their sacrificing their lives and those of their families in his service, he would prohibit the killing of bullocks and goats in the Eed. The king agreed to do so. A party of Mahometans, who were in opposition to the Poorbeas, placed a guard at a well in the begum's

garden, with orders not to let the Poorbeas draw water. When the Poorbeas heard this, they came to take water by force, which caused a disturbance, and people were killed on both sides. If anything takes place between the Mahometans and Poorbeas on the Eed day, Delhi will soon fall into the hands of the English. It is reported that the Poorbeas sent a message to the rajah of Putteeala, inquiring why he was assisting the English, and telling him not to do so; otherwise, on the establishment of the king's authority and the extinction of the English, he should be the first person to suffer for it. The rajah sent an answer that it required an age to remove the English, and that it was folly on their part to wait for that event; that whenever they took the trouble to come to his place he would be ready to meet them."

From the accounts of the street fighting on the 14th September, and the following days, when the British had obtained entrance into the city, we draw one or two passages. Terrible scenes were witnessed; for the troops were exasperated by the remembrance ot atrocities perpetrated upon their betrayed and massacred officers, and upon the defenceless women and children that had been outraged and murdered within that blood-stained city. dogged resistance and ferocious cunning by which they were encountered at every step, and from behind every wall, of the narrow thoroughfares and hidingplaces through which they had to make their way to the entire occupation of the city, often compelled them to fight from house to house, and from hand to hand; and the protracted struggle embittered still more the desire that raged within them for stern, unsparing vengeance.

In some of the buildings forced open by the troops in their progress, parties of from forty to sixty armed men were occasionally found together; and of