n their way to Delhi, while the
_badmashes_ who had assisted them had returned quietly to their
occupations in the bazaars of the city.

The cantonment presented a complete scene of desolation. The church and
chapel were a heap of burnt-up and smouldering ruins, our mess-house the
same, and numerous bungalows--former residences of the officers--were
still on fire. The heat from the burning embers was intense, and as we
passed slowly by we viewed, with anger in our hearts, the lamentable
results of the timidity and vacillation, the irresolution and culpable
neglect, of one man.

Lastly, we visited the commissariat quarters at the far side of the
station. Here there was no guard, not even a native in charge. Strange
inconsistency! It turned out that, some hours before our arrival, the
sepoy guard, true in this respect to their trust, had procured a cart,
taken the treasure to the fort, there handed it over to the officer at
the gate, and then started for Delhi.

My duty was accomplished, and I marched the Grenadiers back to barracks,
then reported the unsatisfactory result of my mission to the Colonel;
and, thoroughly tired and worn out from want of rest, I threw myself on
a bed and slept soundly for some hours.

We were told that afternoon that the 57th Native Infantry, who had
marched to the rear of our barracks the evening before, had remained
quietly in the country during the night without one sepoy showing any
mutinous disposition. In the early morning, without molesting their
English officers, about half the regiment signified their intention of
marching down-country; while of the rest, some 300 men returned to their
lines at Ferozepore, and on being called upon to do so by the Colonel,
laid down their arms.

It must be recorded to the credit of these regiments that no officer was
hurt by them, or even insulted. The sepoys quietly but firmly announced
that they released themselves from the service of the East India
Company, and were about to become enrolled as subjects of the King of
Delhi. Then, in several instances even saluting their officers and
showing them every mark of respect, they turned their faces to the great
focus of rebellion, to swell the number of those who were about to fight
against us in the Mohammedan capital of Hindostan.

The officers of these two corps were more fortunate than their comrades
of other regiments throughout the land, many of whom were shot down by
their own sepoys in cold