daylight till dark, strengthening the place. Bastions and ramparts were
being constructed of every conceivable material, besides the usual
gabions and fascines. Bales of cotton were built into the ramparts, bags
of every size and shape, soldiers' knapsacks, etc., were filled with
earth; in brief, everything that could possibly hold a few spadefuls of
earth, and could thereby assist in raising a defensive breast-work, had
been appropriated for building the parapet-walls, and a ditch of
considerable depth and width was being excavated. On my recent visit to
Cawnpore I looked for this fort in vain. Eventually I learned from
Colonel Baddeley that it was some time ago dismantled and converted into
the Government Harness and Saddlery Factory, the ramparts having been
levelled and the ditch filled in with earth.

The day before we reached Cawnpore, a strong column from Delhi had
arrived under command of Sir Hope Grant, and was encamped on the plain
near the spot where the railway station now stands. The detachment of
the Ninety-Third did not pitch tents, but was accommodated in some
buildings, on which the roofs were still left, near General Wheeler's
entrenchment. My company occupied the _dak_ bungalow, which, on my
revisit to Cawnpore, appeared to me to have given place to the present
Victoria Hotel.

After a few hours' rest, we were allowed to go out in parties of ten or
twelve to visit the horrid scene of the recent treachery and massacre.
The first place my party reached was General Wheeler's so-called
entrenchment, the ramparts of which at the highest places did not exceed
four feet, and were so thin that at the top they could never have been
bullet-proof! The entrenchment and the barracks inside of it were
complete ruins, and the only wonder about it was how the small force
could have held out so long. In the rooms of the building were still
lying strewn about the remains of articles of women's and children's
clothing, broken toys, torn pictures, books, pieces of music, etc. Among
the books, I picked up a New Testament in Gaelic, but without any name
on it. All the blank leaves had been torn out, and at the time I formed
the opinion that they had been used for gun-waddings, because, close
beside the Testament, there was a broken single-barrelled duck gun,
which had evidently been smashed by a 9-pounder shot lying near. I
annexed the Testament as a relic, and still have it. The Psalms and
Paraphrases in Gaelic verses ar