ttack was made upon the party, and Mr. Quintin and many others
killed. Grant thought that this was probably the case, and
determined to push on with his little force, in the hope of
rescuing some survivors.

"The distance from Tamu to Manipur is about fifty-five miles. We
started at half-past five, on the morning of the 28th. The
difficulties were so great that we only moved at the rate of a mile
an hour. At two in the morning we started again, and marched about
ten miles; in the course of which we were occasionally fired at by
the enemy. The moon rose at eleven, and the advance was continued.

"The resistance now became severe. The telegraph wires had been
cut, taken down from the poles, and twisted about the road; and
trees had also been felled across it. While we were endeavouring to
clear away the obstacles, a heavy fire was poured into us. Small
parties were therefore sent out to disperse the enemy, and this
they did most successfully, capturing three guns and a good deal of
ammunition.

"Pushing on, we issued, at six in the morning, on the hills. Before
us was the village of Palel, which was garrisoned by two hundred
Manipur soldiers. You must remember that Manipur had been a sort of
subsidiary state, and had a regular army, drilled by Europeans.
However, Grant attacked them at once, and drove them out with loss.

"After halting at Palel for some hours a start was made, at eleven
o'clock at night; and at daybreak we came upon some villages, each
house in which was standing alone in a large enclosure, surrounded
by a wall, ditch, and hedge. We went at them and carried them, one
by one, without any great loss to ourselves. Issuing on the other
side, we came upon a plain about a thousand yards across. Beyond
this was a bridge, on fire. The enemy were strongly posted in
trenches and behind hedges.

"Grant decided to attack, and to try and save the bridge. He
advanced across the plain with two sections of ten men each,
supported by another section of the same strength. The rest of his
force, consisting of forty men, he kept in reserve.

"I own that it seemed to me a desperately risky thing; for, from
what we could see, we judged that the enemy were about a thousand
strong. Grant himself led the party, and he put me in charge of the
reserve. A very heavy fire was opened by the enemy; but Grant and
his men steadily advanced, and succeeded in getting within a
hundred yards of the enemy. Here I came up with him; an