jerked away their balls, threw off their jugglers' dresses, and displayed themselves as Mohammedan fanatics. They drew their swords, uttered the Mussulman war cry, and rushed among the tents, slashing right and left. Their shouts appeared to be the signal, for at the same moment two troops of cavalry galloped out from among the tall crops. There was a roar of artillery, and round shot came rolling in from batteries concealed near the Wrestler's Tomb and among the gardens.

The alarm was so sudden, and the attack so utterly unexpected, that it might have thrown many troops into disorder, but those of the column were fresh from Delhi, and prepared for all the incidents of war. The first momentary confusion over, they behaved with the utmost coolness. The Lancers ran to their horses, saddled and mounted; the infantry seized their muskets, and the artillerymen limbered up the guns. The rebel cavalry

had calculated on a surprise, when instead the Lancers charged them. They themselves were seized with a panic, they fought for a few minutes, then turned and fled. They galloped back round the parade, and got into the Gwalior road which lay beyond. Along this they made off, pursued by the Lancers and the Sikh horse.

Meanwhile, our infantry had got under arms, and our guns were brought out. The militia at the Metcalfe and the Agra field artillery had also come up. These latter, under Captain Pearson, whose services at the battle of Shahgunge I have already recorded, opened fire on the rebel guns in the gardens, and silenced them, while the Sikhs and English infantry charged the battery at the Tomb. There the main body of the mutineers was drawn As our men charged and our cannon shot began to fall, the rebel infantry lost heart, as had previously their cavalry. When their guns were taken they turned

up.

and fled. They fled back through the village and across the fields beyond, till they reached the Gwalior road; along it they continued their flight, carrying one or two of their guns with them.

On the first alarm a mounted officer was dispatched to the fort to summon 'Colonel Greathed. The road was so blocked by carts and animals and the flying crowds that the officer had much difficulty in making his way, and only reached the fort after considerable delay. Before Colonel Greathed arrived the battle was nearly over. The rebel army had already begun to fly. Colonel Greathed did not see much advantage in continuing the pursuit. He had ordered the troops to be recalled, when Colonel Cotton appeared on the scene. On hearing of the engagement he had ridden out from the fort; he was the senior officer-he at once took the command. Colonel Cotton possessed something of the spirit of the ancient Goths. He loved battle for its own sake; he ordered the pursuit to be recommenced, and joined in it himself with an ardour that communicated itself to his soldiers.

Our cavalry, Sikh and English, soon came up to the enemy. The enemy in the meanwhile had somewhat rallied, and appeared disposed to renew the contest; but as we drew near they lost confidence, and fled on again. The pursuit had continued a couple of miles or so when an accident occurred that for a short time checked it. Our horse artillery had joined the pursuing party, and were every now and then throwing shots into the retreating body of the mutineers. One of these shots was followed by a terrible explosion; it had struck one of the enemy's tumbrels, and the ammunition it contained had blown up. It was the sound and smoke of this explosion that had excited our fears and curiosity as we stood on the gateway of the fort.

This incident caused a temporary check to our advance. The mutineers took advantage of it to rally; they had now reached the spot where their camp was pitched; either the sight of it inspirited them, or perhaps they obtained from it some reinforcements. They formed across the road, and again appeared disposed to dispute our advance; but again, as the Sikhs and English soldiers drew near, the mutineers lost courage. They wavered, then they turned, then they broke into a tumultuous flight, which they continued till they reached the Khara Nuddeé; arrived at the bank, they plunged through the water and dispersed in scattered bands over the country on the other side. As the rebel army was now utterly routed, and had lost camp, baggage, and artillery, Colonel Cotton did not consider it necessary to continue the pursuit. He recalled his troops and returned to the parade ground. The victory had been gained before Colonel Cotton assumed the command; but it was owing to him that in place of being simply defeated, the mutineers, as an army, were annihilated.

It was due to the different officers that, at the commencement, we did not sustain a reverse. From all I could learn, so extreme was the first confusion that there was practically no one in general command. Captain Pearson, I believe, silenced and took the enemy's battery in the garden entirely on his own responsibility. It was the capture of this battery that gave our infantry time to rally, and so turned the tide of the engagement.

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE BATTLE-FIELD.

HAVING described the battle, I will now give a picture of the scene that the field of the battle presented the following morning. My friend and I left the fort soon after daybreak; we rode first to the great parade ground where the column was encamped. The camp displayed no indications of the conflict; there were neither shattered tents, castaway weapons, nor other relics of the engagement; all was as regular and orderly as if no engagement nor anything else unusual had taken place. But about fifty yards beyond the camp I noticed what seemed several long bundles lying on the ground; on coming nearer I saw they were corpses-they were those of the mutineer troopers. It was at this spot that our Lancers had charged. Each body lay as it had fallen; the position of the corpses showed how short had been the engagement, and how rapid the repulse. The few first of the bodies lay with their faces to the camp-those immediately behind them had been cut down in the act of flying.

One must have fallen beneath an herculean arm-his skull was severed clean in two from crown to chin, half the head lay on either shoulder.

The bodies were all stripped and terribly gashed, but by wounds inflicted after death.

X

The course by which the mutineers had fled was indicated by the corpses; we followed it round the parade. After that first group we found but few dead bodies, soon none, which showed that the flight must have been more rapid than the pursuit. The broken stalks of the Bâjrâ, which we frequently noticed, also indicated that many of the flying troopers had sought escape by dashing into the fields and hiding among the tall crops.

On entering the Gwalior road we found the corpses lying thicker, as if the flight of the mutineers had here been checked or some fresh pursuers had come up. For more than a mile the road was strewn, though sparingly, with the dead of the enemy. Each body lay where it had fallen; all had fallen in flight, and all were stripped and horribly gashed. I noticed that the death wounds were invariably in the back, the gashes in front. My companion had been in the engagement; he thus explained this circumstance:

The Sikhs fought for plunder, and were animated by a bitter hatred of the Mohammedans, of which religion most of the rebel cavalry were. When one fell the Sikhs dismounted, stripped and plundered the body, then rolled it over on its back and inflicted three gashes, exclaiming, as they delivered each successive cut, 'Take this for the Prophet, and this and this for the three Imaums.'

My friend assured me that what he thus related he had himself witnessed, and he was a man whose word could be relied on. I suspected, however, that the wounds were inflicted not altogether from religious fanaticism, but also as a precaution against treachery; it being a common practice with Indians when wounded to feign death, and when their victors have passed on to rise and attack them. In our earlier wars our English