tful accident happened, by which a large
number of camp-followers and cattle belonging to the ordnance-park were
killed. Whether for concealment or by design (it was never known which)
the enemy had left a very large quantity of gunpowder and loaded shells
in a dry well under a huge tree in the centre of the old cantonment. The
well had been filled to the very mouth with powder and shells, and then
covered with a thin layer of dry sand. A large number of ordnance
_khalasies_,[50] bullock-drivers, and _dooly_-bearers had congregated
under the tree to cook their mid-day meal, lighting their fires right on
the top of this powder-magazine, when it suddenly exploded with a most
terrific report, shaking the ground for miles, making the tent-pegs fly
out of the hard earth, and throwing down tents more than a mile from the
spot. I was lying down in a tent at the time, and the concussion was so
great that I felt as if lifted clear off the ground. The tent-pegs flew
out all round, and down came the tents, before the men, many of whom
were asleep, had time to get clear of the canvas. By the time we got our
arms free of the tents, bugles were sounding the assembly in all
directions, and staff-officers galloping over the plain to ascertain
what had happened. The spot where the accident had occurred was easily
found. The powder having been in a deep well, it acted like a huge
mortar, fired perpendicularly; an immense cloud of black smoke was sent
up in a vertical column at least a thousand yards high, and thousands of
shells were bursting in it, the fragments flying all round in a circle
of several hundred yards. As the place was not far from the
ammunition-park, the first idea was that the enemy had succeeded in
blowing up the ammunition; but those who had ever witnessed a similar
accident could see that, whatever had happened, the concussion was too
great to be caused by only one or two waggon-loads of powder. From the
appearance of the column of smoke and the shells bursting in it, as if
shot out of a huge mortar, it was evident that the accident was confined
to one small spot, and the belief became general that the enemy had
exploded an enormous mine. But after some time the truth became known,
the troops were dispersed, and the tents repitched. This explosion was
followed in the afternoon by a most terrific thunderstorm and heavy
rain, which nearly washed away the camp. The storm came on as the
non-commissioned officers of the Nin