t, the
step contemplated by his superior officer.

Towards the evening of the 15th the enemy, becoming emboldened by our
inactivity, attacked the advanced posts along our whole line, and kept
up a sharp musketry fire, more especially on the College compound, while
the heavy guns at Selimgarh and some at the magazine shelled those
gardens and houses adjacent--even as far as the Kashmir Gate--occupied
by our troops. At 5 p. m. a battery of heavy guns played on the defences
of the magazine, soon crumbling the wall to pieces, and opening out a
large breach for assault.

_September 16_.--My regiment, the 4th Punjab Rifles, and a wing of the
Belooch battalion were detailed as a storming party, and mustering at an
early hour on the morning of the 16th, we marched to the attack on
the magazine.[4] This enclosure--a large walled area close to the
Palace--was surrounded by a high curtained wall with towers, the
interior space being occupied by buildings and containing a park of
artillery and munitions of war. We met with no resistance on our way,
and on approaching the breach saw only a few defenders on the ramparts,
who opened a fire, which, however, caused little damage. A rush was at
once made, the men gaining the top of the bridge without difficulty, and
bayoneting some sepoys and firing on the remainder, who fled through the
enclosure and were driven out at the gates on the opposite side. We had
only about a dozen men killed and wounded, but of the enemy more than
100 lost their lives, being dragged out of the buildings where they had
taken refuge and quickly put to death. Two hundred and thirty-two guns
fell into our hands, besides piles of shot and shell; in fact, so vast
was the amount that, although the enemy had been firing from their
batteries for more than three months, making a lavish use of the stores
at their command, scarcely any impression seemed to have been made on
it.

That day and the following night our position in the captured magazine
was anything but pleasant. The rebels continually harassed us with
shells fired from the Chandni Chauk and near the Palace. Some, more
venturesome than the rest, climbed on ladders to the top of the walls,
plying us with musketry and hand-grenades, while others during the night
mounted the high trees overhanging the enclosure, and with long lighted
bamboos tried to set fire to the thatched buildings and blow up a small
magazine. These attempts kept us constantly on the ale