1857. June. 212 WOODBURN'S ADVANCE INSPIRES HOPE. BOOK VIII. of hope. Though the news of the revolt at Chapter III. Nímach was followed by that of the mutiny of the cavalry of the Malwá contingent-pushed up, contrary to Durand's orders, into contact with the mutineers accompanied by the murder of their officers; though reports arrived of the massacre of the Europeans at Jhánsí, with its accompanying horrors; and though, last and most fatal of all, intelligence was received of the revolt of the bulk of the Gwáliár contingent at Gwáliár itself, The one hope Durand still hoped. There was a chance, and apparently a good chance, that he might yet override the storm, that a ray of sunshine might yet harden the treacherous soil. on which he depends. General Woodburn's column. The column is diverted to Arangábád. This chance lay in the march of a column despatched to Máu from the Bombay Presidency under Major-General Woodburn. It was the approach of this column, consisting of five troops of the 14th Dragoons, a battery of artillery, a company of sappers, and a native regiment, that had caused hesitation in the minds of the native garrison at Máu. It was the approach of this column that gave a degree of confidence to Durand. Had it only pushed on Central India would have been saved from a great calamity. It happened, however, that General Woodburn's column was suddenly diverted to another point. Disturbances had broken out at Arangábád. It was believed that on the suppression of those disturbances depended the fidelity to British interests of the troops of the Nizám, and that, therefore, at any sacrifice, they must be suppressed. General Woodburn, then, turned off to ! Chapter III. 1857. June. hope is thus Arangábád. He suppressed the disturbances Book VIII. hope glim But in these desperate circumstances there Another suddenly appeared in the north-west the reflection mers on the of a light sufficient, had it been real, to calm all horizon. apprehensions. Just at the time when Durand received information that General Woodburn had crushed the rising at Arangábád the report reached him that Dehlí had fallen. This was the blow at the heart which would have paralysed 214 FALSE RUMOURS REGARDING dehli'. 1857. June. BOOK VIII. intending mutineers-this the light which would Chapter III. have diffused its cheering ray into every corner of the Empire. It was not Durand alone who heard the report. It had crept into the counting-houses of the native bankers and been whispered in the furthest recesses of the bazaars. The quieter demeanour of the lower classes of the population showed how markedly the confirmation of the rumour would have affected the course of events. The hope proves delu. sive, July 1. even worse than delusive. The consc quence. But it proved to be a will o' the wisp-to be premature-to be untrue. Not to Durand, in the first instance, came the denial of the rumour. Certain information that the intelligence was false reached a banker of the city. He refused to disclose to Durand the nature of the information it was known he had received. But a little later it came to Durand direct. On the morning of the 1st of July a letter from A'gra, dated the 20th of June, was handed to him. From this he learned for the first time that the previous report regard ing the fall of Dehlí was untrue, that, up to the 17th, the British, forced to remain on the defensive, had been repeatedly attacked; that they had with difficulty held their own; and that the General commanding had determined to suspend all offensive movements pending the arrival of reinforcements. The communication from A'gra was placed in Colonel Durand's hands about 8 o'clock on the morning of the 1st of July. About half an hour later he sat down to condense its contents into a letter to be despatched to the Governor of Bombay when he was startled by the sudden discharge of A the three guns in the Residency enclosure.* second later and one of his official servants rushed in to report that the whole place was in an uproar. Durand rose and walked hastily to the steps of the Residency. The scene that met his gaze left no doubt upon his mind. The crisis, so long and so skilfully averted, had come upon him. Before I recount the measures taken by the Agent and the Commander of the force round the Residency to avert this sudden danger, I propose to describe that place and its environs, and to show how the troops under the orders of Colonel Travers had been posted. BOOK VIII. Chapter III. 1857. July 1. Residency. The Indúr Residency is a double-storied house The Indúr built of stone,t in an open enclosure, about four hundred yards to the north of the Khán river, flowing in a north-westerly direction towards the city of Indúr, from which the Residency is two miles distant. In the same enclosure are to 9. *In his letter to Holkar, kick. The chief entrance to dated the 3rd of August, the upper storey is from outDurand stated that the at- side, by a handsome flight of tack began at twenty minutes stone steps. The glass and Venetian doors on this storey + Major Evans Bell (Last are as numerous as those Counsels of an Unknown Coun- below, but are larger. sellor) implies that the Resi- It was impossible to throw dency was not made defen- up earthworks in front of the sible. But the following de- Residency, for the simple reascription of that building will son that there was no carth show how impossible it was to wherewith to make the works. make it proof against cannon The Residency stands upon shot. Not only was the Resi- ground not having an inch of dency built of stone, but in soil in depth. Even for the the lower storey it is entered small flower-beds in front of by from twenty-four to thirty the building, earth had to be glass and Venetian doors, in- brought from a considerable capable of resisting even a distance. Chapter III. 1857. July 1. with respect to the city, the bazaars, the road to Máu. BOOK VIII. bungalows for the assistants to the Agent and other buildings and bazaars. Within its circumference, in fact, was comprised the entire civil station of Indúr. It is an open park-like place surIts situation rounded by groves and gardens. Immediately on its western front runs the road to Máu. This, the river, and passing the Residency, crosses the Khán river about four hundred yards to the west by southwest of that building. To the south-east of this road are thickly wooded groves and gardens; but immediately to the west of it, and, in some instances, bordering it, were bazaars and a number of native buildings of various sorts. These extended for a considerable distance on either side of the road leading to the city. Not more than a hundred yards intervened between the easternmost of these buildings and the Residency. In and about these were located the native troops, three companies of infantry, and three field guns, sent by Holkar to protect the Residency. The location To the north of that building, and still nearer to of the troops. it, was the stable square, in the immediate vicinity of the post-office, the telegraph office, and the treasury. Here was the cavalry picket. Round about it were the camps of the Bhopál cavalry, one hundred and fifty strong, the infantry of the Bhopál and Méhidpúr contingents, numbering about four hundred men, and the detachment of Bhíls, two hundred and seventy strong. Of all these detachments the cavalry was the most remote from the Residency. They are engaged in On the morning of the 1st of July neither were these men nor their officers under the smallest |