mmers, spades, and pickaxes, we each day started--accompanied by
two coolies--on our plundering excursions. For some days we were very
unsuccessful, and for nearly a week only managed to gather together
and transmit to the agents articles of little value. But, soon gaining
experience from continued practice, and taking note of the different
houses in which there was a likelihood of finding prize, we settled
down to a systematic course of search, which in the end proved highly
remunerative. Scarcely anything of value was found lying about the
different rooms; these had been already gutted and the contents
destroyed by the soldiers, both European and native, who, since the day
of assault, had roamed about the city. At the time we began our search
all was comparatively quiet, and during our operations, such was the
vast extent of the city and so numerous the buildings, that only on two
or three occasions were we interrupted by parties engaged in the same
quest as ourselves.

My companion was a good Hindustani scholar, and taking advantage of his
proficiency in the language, he made a point of interviewing several
natives of the city, who, in the capacity of workmen in different
trades, were allowed in Delhi, and were employed in their several
occupations. From one of these, a mason and builder, N--received
information that a large quantity of treasure was concealed in the house
of a former rich resident. This man had helped to secrete the hoard, and
on the promise of a small reward was willing to help us in unearthing
the booty.

One morning in the beginning of October, attended by the mason, and
carrying the necessary implements, we were taken to the house in
question. This was a large building with a courtyard in the centre, the
rooms of which showed the remains of luxury and wealth, but, as usual,
had been despoiled by the plunderers of our army. Every article was
scattered about in dire confusion; there were piles of clothing and
bedding; rich and ornamental stuffs were torn to pieces, and the
household furniture, broken up, was strewn about the courtyard. Our
guide took us to a small room, about 80 feet square--in fact, it was the
closet of the establishment--the walls of which were whitewashed, the
floor being covered with a hard cement. Here, we were told, the treasure
was concealed under the flooring of the room, and we lost no time in
commencing operations, the mason assisting us. Picking through the
cement, we