THE SIEGE OF LUCKNOW.

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inconceivable how the original 600 could have held out for a day against 60,000 assailants with upwards of 300 pieces of cannon. I have climbed to the top of one of the lofty minarets of the mosque adjoining the Imambarra Palace; I have ascended to the top of the Martinière College, on an eminence overlooking the city; and how Sir Henry Havelock, and then Sir Colin Campbell, managed, with a handful of men, first to relieve the Residency, and then to take the city by storm, passes my comprehension. No more striking instances exist in history of what British soldiers can do when led by competent men.

The tale of the siege of Lucknow appeared to me a marvellous one at the time; now that I have trod the ground, it seems something like a miracle, and one cannot help remarking what a fine, determined-looking body of men inhabit this capital of Oude. Its fantastic domes and minarets look far better in photographs than in the reality; just think of these yellow and pink coloured arches of plaster and paint after the glorious Taj! "'Tis distance lends enchantment

to the view." I get away from them as fast as possible, to wander among the poinsettia, bougainvilleas, hibiscus and oleander of the gardens; and the banians, peepuls, and tamarinds of the Park.

The bazaars are extremely amusing. I find it impossible to describe them, but can only refer to an illustrated copy of "The Arabian Nights."

A very interesting drive is to the Alumbagh, the scene of so much fighting in those terrible times. On our way we passed the camp of the commissariat elephants-a novel spectacle to a European.

On the forenoon of the 27th December, there was a gathering of the school-children of the American Mission in the Wingfield Park, for the distribution of Christmas prizes. It was addressed by the Rev. Mr. Johnson, from Shahjehanpore, and the Rev. Mr. Parker from Moradabad, both of whom spoke with the utmost fluency in Hindostani, and seemed to rivet the attention of the audience; and I was unexpectedly called upon to make a speech in the centre of India, just a month after I had

THE INDIAN POLICE.

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landed on its shores. Then we lunched with Colonel Worsley, with whom I examined some of the expensive new barracks in process of erection; and we heard the band of the 7th Native Infantry play admirably in the Wingfield Park in the evening.

The extraordinary sounds one hears at night outside these bungalows in the neighbourhood of Indian towns are surprising. There are dogs and wild beasts of various descriptions, but louder than all, the yelling of the men who are hired to keep them off the compounds, and also to protect the houses against thieves. They mostly belong to predatory bands themselves, and in this manner levy a sort of black-mail on the inhabitants. "There is no stillness in Indian life," said an officer's wife to me to-day. Her husband a few hours before had remarked, while we were plodding through the dust under a fiery, burning sun, "This is our cold

weather!"

At daylight on Wednesday morning, 28th December, we were galloping in gharries full speed to the railway station-why they should

go at this furious pace, quien sabe? The Oude and Rohilcund Railway Company provided us with the most spacious and well-constructed carriage that I have seen in India, in which we travelled over a fertile and well-wooded plain back to Cawnpore. These Indian plains are endless, unbroken; there is no undulation, or hillock, or mound of any kind to relieve their vast monotony.

The train slackens its speed-a great viaduct is before us, and we get our first sight of the sacred Ganges. At this season it is not a very imposing river, but the wide expanse of sand shows what a mighty stream it must be after the rains.

Sergeant Lee, a very remarkable man, now keeps the clean little railway hotel-a bungalow near the station. He went out to India in 1844, has marched from Peshawur to Calcutta, 2,200 miles in four months, was in nearly all the great battles in Scinde; marched to the relief of Lucknow and Cawnpore, with Sir Henry Havelock and Lord Clyde; although three times wounded has enjoyed perfect health,