aced at each gate with orders
to prevent the ingress or egress of any suspicious-looking characters,
while parties of armed men patrolled the streets of the city from end to
end.

That night we moved back to our old quarters at Ahmed Ali Khan's house,
the 52nd taking our place at the church. The first-named building was a
vast structure, belonging to a rich native, and had been furnished in a
style of Oriental magnificence; but now nothing but the bare walls and
floors were to be seen, the place having been ransacked of its treasures
and completely gutted since our last occupancy.

From September 15 to 20, when Delhi fell, the force lost in killed and
wounded about 200 officers and men, making the total casualties 1,400,
including those of the day of assault.

From May 30 to September 13 inclusive 2,490 officers and men were killed
and wounded, the grand total being close on 4,000. Add to these fully
1,200 who perished by cholera and other diseases, and it will be seen at
what a fearful cost of life to the small force engaged the victory was
won.

Truly the capture of Delhi was a feat of arms without a parallel in
our Indian annals. The bravery of the men, their indomitable pluck and
resolution, the siege carried on with dogged pertinacity and without a
murmur, proclaimed to the world that British soldiers, in those stormy
times when the fate of an Empire was at issue, had fully maintained the
reputation of their ancestors and earned the gratitude of their country.

To me, after the long interval of years, the incidents of the siege,
with its continual strife and ever-recurring dangers, come back to me as
in a dream. Often in fancy has my mind wandered back to those days
of turmoil and excitement, when men's hearts were agitated to their
profoundest depths, and our cause appeared wellnigh hopeless. Then it
was that a small body of men in a far-away part of North-West India,
entirely separated from the rest of the world, a few thousands amongst
millions of an alien race, rallied round their country's banners and
despaired not, though mutiny and rebellion ranged through the land. With
steadfast purpose and with hearts that knew no fear, the Delhi army
held its own for months against an overwhelming force of cruel and
remorseless rebels. Imperfectly equipped, and with little knowledge of
the dangers to be surmounted and the difficulties arising on every
side, each man of that force felt himself a host, and devoted his