Simla, who had sought his protection during the recent disturbances.I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, (Signed) R. MONTGOMERY, Judicial Commissioner. Lieutenant EDWARD H. PASKE, Officiating Secretary to the Chief Commissioner for the Punjab, to ROBERT MONTGOMERY, Esq., Judicial Commissioner for the Punjab. LAHORE, 11th January 1858. - SIR,-In reply to your letter (No. 431) of the 30th ultimo, suggesting that some suitable acknowledgment should be made for the services lately rendered by the Rana of Kooyntal, I am directed to inform you that previous to the receipt of your letter, the Chief Commissioner had recommended to the Supreme Government, that the unpaid balance of a fine formerly imposed on the Rana for misconduct, and amounting to four thousand rupees, should be remitted as a reward for his services. The original enclosures of your letter are herewith returned.—I have, &c., (Signed) EDWARD PASKE, Officiating Secretary to the Chief Commissioner. APPENDIX B. (See page 31.) ESCAPE OF SIR THEOPHILUS METCALFE. The following account of Sir Theophilus Metcalfe's escape was narrated by Lieutenant Wilberforce, of the 52nd Light Infantry : 'Sir Theophilus Metcalfe accompanied our regiment to show us the best way through the city on the day of the attack on Delhi. Twice have I, Lieutenant Wilberforce, heard Sir Theophilus Metcalfe tell the story of his wonderful escape-at our mess table, and in a London drawing-room. 'When the Mutiny broke out in Delhi, Sir Theophilus Metcalfe stuck to his post until almost too late; it was not until the rebel cavalry were at the house that he escaped from a side-door, and, mounting his horse —which, owing to the forethought of his servants, stood ready saddled— rode away to seek for safety. His escape was soon noticed, and he was chased by the troopers; they gained upon him, and he realised that he must be captured. At this juncture he saw a man on the road; he told him that he was being pursued, and asked if he could suggest a way of escape. Sir Theophilus Metcalfe's own words were: "The man, on this, showed me a cave by the side of the road, and told me to enter, saying he would save me if he could. He took my horse some little distance down the road, and then returned to near the entrance of the cave. My pursuers were not far behind, for I heard their horses coming along; then I heard them interrogate my friend as to whether he had seen an Englishman on a horse go that way. He protested that he had seen no one. They then went on, but soon returned saying they had found the Sahib's horse, and that he could not be far off. One of them must have noticed the entrance to the cave, for I heard him say, 'Perhaps he is there.' My friend vehemently denied the possibility of this, and declared that for many hours he had been loitering about and had seen no one. It was evident that they did not believe him, for I heard them say, 'At any rate, we will search it.' On this my friend laughed loud, and, raising his voice so that I must hear, said, 'Ah, search the cave -do search it; but I'll tell you what you will find-a great red devil in there. He lives up at the end of the cave. You won't be able to see him, because the cave turns at the end, and the devil always stands just round the turn; he has got a great, long knife in his hand, and the moment your head appears round the corner he will slice it off, and then he will pull the body in to him and eat it. Go in-do go in; he will have such a meal.' I knew that I was intended to hear this, and to shape my action on what I had heard. I found that the cave did turn at the end at right angles for a very short distance, leaving, however, plenty of room for a man to stand. Of course, I know how superstitious Natives are, and how above all things they dread the unseen powers of darkness. I therefore drew my sword and waited. After more talking outside, my friend, who knew that the only way he could prevent them searching the cave was by frightening them, constantly urged them to go in and see the red devil. Some of them plucked up courage and entered. The cave was so narrow that they could only come up in single file. As soon as the first man came within my reach, I struck at him with all my force; the blow fell straight, his head rolled from his body, and with a yell of terror his companions fled out of the darkness. Lucky for me they did, for my sword had broken short off, and only the hilt remained in my hand. Mindful of my friend's warning, I lost no time in pulling the body of the fallen man into the recess. Their retreat out of the cave was a signal for a fresh outburst from my friend, who taunted them with, 'Go in, you will find Metcalfe there; if you don't, you will find the red devil. Did you see him? Isn't he beautiful? Don't his eyes shine bright and red? Do go back. He wants more than one; perhaps he has already got two, for if Metcalfe went in he has eaten him.' But they had had enough; nothing would induce another man to enter. One of those who fled declared he had seen the red devilprobably to excuse the shame of his own flight-and this assertion finally decided the matter, and they rode away. When night had come, my friend came to me and lodged me in his own house; and, after some days, announced to me that all was ready for my safe journey to Kurnaul. I left the man, assuring him of my gratitude, and telling him that when I had the opportunity that gratitude should be substantially expressed. When I took leave of my host, I asked him, 'Why did you save my life?' 'Because you are a just and honest man.' 'How do you know that I am a just and honest man? I have never seen you before.' 'Ah! yes you have," was the answer; 'you decided a case against me in your court. I and all my family had fought that case through all the inferior courts, and had won by lying; but you found us out-you saw that we were lying, and you gave judgment against us. If you had given the case for me I would not have saved your life!'"' APPENDIX C. (See pages 129 and 238.) THE FORTIFICATIONS OF DELHI. The following account of the strength and defences of Delhi is given in Lord Roberts's Forty-one Years in India, Vol. I., pages 161 and 162: 'The defences of Delhi, which remain almost unaltered up to the present day, were modernised forms of the ancient works that existed when the city fell before Lord Lake's army in 1803. These works had been strengthened and improved some years before the Mutiny by Lieutenant Robert Napier.* As described by the Commanding Engineer, the eastern face of Delhi rises on the Jumna, and at the season of the year during which our operations were carried on, the stream may be described as washing the face of the walls. The river front was therefore inaccessible to the besieging force, while at the same time the mutineers and the inhabitants of the city could communicate freely across the river by means of the bridge of boats and ferries. This rendered it impossible for us to invest Delhi, even if there had been a sufficient number of troops for the purpose. We were only able, indeed, to direct our attack against a small portion of the city wall; while throughout the siege the enemy could freely communicate with and procure supplies from, the surrounding country. 'On the river front the defences consisted of an irregular wall with occasional bastions and towers; and about one-half of the length of this face was occupied by the Palace of the King of Delhi and its outwork, the old Moghul fort of Selimghur. 'The remaining defences consisted of a succession of bastioned fronts, the connecting curtains being very long, and the outworks limited to one crown-work at the Ajmere Gate; and Martello towers, mounting a single gun, at the points where additional flanking fire to that given by the bastions themselves was required. "The bastions were small, each mounting from ten to fourteen pieces of artillery; they were provided with masonry parapets about twelve feet in thickness, and were about sixteen feet high. The curtain consisted of a simple masonry wall or rampart sixteen feet in height, eleven feet thick at top, and fourteen or fifteen feet at bottom. This * The late Field-Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala, G.C.B., G.C.S.L main wall carried a parapet, loopholed for musketry, eight feet in height and three feet in thickness. The whole of the land front was covered by a faussebraye of varying thickness, ranging from sixteen to thirty feet, and having a vertical scarp-wall eight feet high; exterior to this was a dry ditch about twenty-five feet in width. The counterscarp was simply an earthen slope, easy to descend. The glacis was very narrow, extending only fifty or sixty yards from the counterscarp, and covering barely one-half of the walls from the besiegers' view. These walls were about seven miles in circumference, and included an area of about three square miles.' (See Colonel Baird Smith's Report, dated 17th September 1857.) APPENDIX D. (See page 260.) MUTINY OF THE 50TH NATIVE INFANTRY. The following account of the Mutiny of the 50th Native Infantrya regiment that remained staunch for long-is not only interesting as a narrative, but will serve to show the great difficulties the officers of mutineering regiments had to face: Letter from Colonel HAMPTON, 50th Native Infantry, BENARES, 14th January 1858. My loss of property at Nagode has regularly put me up a tree; this, however, I consider as a trifle compared to the loss of the old Regiment, which, I firmly believe, I should have saved had that dreadful traitor, Lewloll Temang, not brought Kerr Sing with the mutineers from Dinapore on us. The fellow had been in Kerr Sing's camp, near the Katha Pass, and arranged everything for our destruction. I was kept unacquainted with everything that was going on in the lines by old Rumdeen Sing Bahadar, of the Grenadiers, the Havildar Major, and others; my 'Long Jack,' a trump of the first water-he is a relation of Rumdeen's-through him I got the Soubahdar's report; the wretch Lewloll, with his gracious smile and his 'With God's blessing, sir,' assured me all was right in the lines, and that he would, and was, keeping me well informed of all that was going on there. I knew the villain was playing me false, but had not the power to crush him, and received his assurances as if I believed him. A most trying and anxious time I had of it for near five months, never feeling when I rose from my bed that I could calculate on returning to it. The men were sorely tried, no doubt; many left me out of funk, not knowing what to do. Had the Madras Column, with Major Erskine, come to my rescue as entreated to do, I am certain I could have hanged Lewloll, and saved the corps; or had Major Ellis, the Assistant Political Agent, roused the well-affected Punjabees and got them to side with me, and kept the ghats instead of postponing everything, I might have been at Nagode now; or had I been furnished with carriage for the men's baggage and the treasure, I might have got the Regiment away from Nagode, fallen back on Damow, where the Madras Column was, or got into the Myha Fort. But this was not to be; and remember that I was sold by the civil authorities. The real fact I believe to be, that Major Erskine was fearful that the jolly 50th would have walked into the affections of the Madrassees, and then all would have gone a regular smash, as the Regiment (52nd Native Infantry) was only kept quiet by the steadiness of the 50th. This Regiment (the 52nd) followed suit three days after. My rascals fought well at Kujwa. A nephew of mine who was present, Anderson of the Artillery, writes: 'Yes, we pounded your regiment the other day, and they repaid the compliment pretty well; they came down to the charge twice, but it was no go-Pandy could not keep up to the scratch.' They were a fine set of men, no doubt; would that they had fought on the right side, and then I should have been proud of them. Colonel Powell, Her Majesty's 53rd, was killed on this occasion. The loss of the old Regiment is to this day like a dream to me; the men had no enmity against their officers-not one was molested, and not a shot was fired at us. I sent the families of the bandsmen off the very day of the revolt; and all the ladies with the exception of Mrs Bolton-who couldn't be persuaded to leave her son -two days before. Rupal Sing Soubahdar behaved very well, as also did Jemadar Meer-Assadady, who never flinched from his duty. I am now sending report of the eight Native officers, twenty-two Havildars, twenty Naicks, and about two hundred Jacks who stuck like men to their officers. I hear that any and every man that places confidence in a black face is considered to be of unsound mind; if so, I fear my case is hopeless, for I feel that confidence in the men who accompanied us-' their officers '-in the height of the Mutiny. I would trust them to any extent. If you would like to see my report to the Commander-in-Chief giving a short detail of our misfortunes, I will send you a copy; G. O. will show you that two Havildars, one Jemadar, and 'Long Jack' have been rewarded. Fancy that rascal Lewloll driving off in my wife's carriage; and, worse than all, he stole my little dog Lucy. I regret her loss much more than the carriage: the poor little creature followed me to the parade, and there, fearing I might lose her, I put a string round her neck and made her over to the care of my sirdar-bearer, who, the moment the men revolted, with my other servant, looted all my traps. I have lost upwards of fourteen thousand rupees by the Mutiny. Can you for a moment fancy the fools quietly submitting to my destroying a lot of ammunition, which I did on the 15th-the day before the Mutiny? You should have seen the stew this put all hands in. The Superintendent of Nagode wrote, saying, 'For God's sake do not think of destroying your ammunition; your men will never stand it.' |