driving Holkar before them, the British forces arrived on the 9th of December, on the banks of the Hyphasis."*

Prior to reaching this point the army suffered great privations. When at Ameerghur, on their left flank, says Major Thorn, there appeared an endless waste of sandhills in vast succession, like the waves of the sea, desolate, dreary, and deceptive to the eye by the illusions of the mirage. These, he continues, "exhibited to us the representations of spacious lakes and rivers, with trees and other objects, in such a lively manner as almost to cheat the senses of persons familiarly acquainted with the phenomenon; while they who were oppressed by excessive heat and parched with thirst, cheered themselves with the hope of being soon refreshed with water from the friendly tank or cooling stream, of which they thought they had so clear a prospect. Often were we thus agitated between expectancy and disappointment, flattering our imagination with a speedy indulgence, when just as the delightful vision appeared on the point of being realised, like the cup of Tantalus, the whole vanished, and left us nothing but the arid plains of glittering and burning sands."

On the shore of that Hyphasis, where Alexander the Great raised his stately altars, the British colours were now waving in the wind, and the British drums waking the same echoes that, more than two thousand years before, had replied to the trumpets of the Macedonians. Thorn tells us that the scenery around our troops was as sublime as the memories it recalled. Far in the distance to the north and east was seen the mighty snow-clad ridge of the classic Imaus, a part of the Himalayan range. Nearer, in middle distance, were rugged rocks and pine-clad hills, covered with vegetation, and dotted by villages, temples, tombs, and tall pagodas; and amid these was the noble Indus, rolling on its way to the ocean. On its opposite bank vast numbers of the natives assembled peacefully to watch, with wonder, our troops on the march. "During their progress," says Thorn, "the most scrupulous regard was paid to the property of the inhabitants, as well that which was exposed as that which they had in their dwellings; and when any injury happened unavoidably to be committed, a liberal compensation in money soon prevented complaint or restored confidence. Thus our route through this remote part of India, and amongst a people naturally fierce and jealous, was pursued not only without opposition, but with cordiality on both sides."+

407

Holkar at this time was encamped on the bank of the Ravi, the Hydaspes River of Alexander's days, which is fordable in most places during eight months of the year. In a few hours, by rapid marching, Lord Lake would have been upon him, sword in hand; but ere this could be done, Sir George Barlow, having concluded his peaceful treaty with Scindia, sent instructions to Lord Lake to treat with Holkar, and grant him the most favourable terms he could; and the chief of Lahore, and the heads of the Sikh confederacy, having agreed to withhold all succour from Holkar, and to interpose as mediators, as the most pleasant means of getting rid of him and his pursuers, sent a vakeel to Lord Lake on the 19th of December, 1805.

The terms were easily adjusted, as Holkar was in no position either to linger or to dictate. The conditions offered for his acceptance gave him back all his territories, with some small exceptions ; he was, however, to renounce all claim to places. situated north of the Chumbul, to Kooch and Bundelcund; and, generally, all claims whatever on the British and their allies. Chandore, Gaulna, and his other forts in the Deccan, were to be restored to him in eighteen months if his conduct proved peaceful. But in the treaty with him and that with Scindia, they were expressly prohibited from taking into their trust or service the father-in-law of the latter, Sirjee Rao Ghatka.

This man was cruel, worthless, unscrupulous, and had, in his hatred of the British, been the instigator of the plunder of the Residency; but Sir George Barlow carried his peaceful policy so far as to permit him to resume his place and malign influences at the court of Scindia, where, four years after, he came to a tragic end.

When pressing some request upon Scindia, who was impatient to attend an elephant fight, Sirjee Rao was rash enough to seize his dress and detain him forcibly on his seat in the open durbar. Scindia ordered his instant arrest; a scuffle ensued, and drawing his sabre, Sirjee cut a passage to his own tent. Scindia's attendants, not unwilling to rid themselves of an obnoxious minister, slashed through the ropes, disarmed Sirjee Rao, and dragged him into the public streets, where they hewed him to pieces.

There is no doubt that the article in the treaty with Holkar, which bound him to renounce certain territory north of the river Chumbul, was not in accordance with the "new policy," but was sanctioned by Sir George Barlow, who was not without hopes that Tonk Rampoora would be accepted by Scindia as an equivalent for the pension of four lacs which we had agreed to pay him; but

was given, no pity shown. Comrades in arms, who had fought by their sides, and perhaps rescued them from peril, were murdered in their sleep, or cut down, or shot, as they rushed forth, undressed, to seek the cause of alarm. There was a scorching eagerness for blood on the part of these men, as only Mussulmans can show. . . . All Europeans, civil and military, must have perished, had not some awoke in time, and made a most gallant and desperate defence. The soldiers fought The soldiers fought with discipline and courage when all their officers were killed or wounded. They charged the revolters in line with the bayonet, and performed prodigies of valour."

In his narrative of the mutiny, Captain J. Young, of H.M. 19th Dragoons, then stationed at Arcot, sixteen miles distant, states that the report of cannon at Vellore was heard at the former barracks all the morning. Instantly on learning what had taken place, Colonel Rollo Gillespie, who was then in command, went off on the spur with a squadron of the 19th, and a troop of native cavalry, leaving orders for the rest of the horse and the galloper-guns to follow with all speed, and by eight a.m., he was in front of Vellore.

"No time was lost in marshalling the squadron," says Captain Young, "after which Colonel Gillespie gave the word to charge, and away we went-' full

tear'--for the gates, Colonel Gillespie leading with one troop, and I supporting him with the other. In passing the north-east cavalier, we perceived a party of the 69th Regiment waving their caps to us, which we acknowledged by an enthusiastic cheer; at the same time urging our horses to the utmost, we soon cleared the first and second gates of the drawbridge which was situated between them and us, and thinking now that everything was in our favour, we were congratulating ourselves upon the success which had hitherto attended us, when, to our great disappointment, we found that the third gate was too strongly secured to admit of our forcing it; fortunately, however, we perceived on the ramparts over the gate, where they had taken up a position, Doctors Dean and Jones, of the Company's service, as also Sergeant Brady (Brodie ?) and some men of H.M. 69th Regiment, who told us that they were most critically situated, having exhausted the whole of their ammunition. We immediately desired Sergeant Brady to open the gates, when he, without hesitation or demur, descended by a rope, unbarred the gate, and let us in.” *

Sergeant Brodie, who had served under Gillespie at St. Domingo, when he recognised him galloping at the head of his troop, exclaimed, "If Colonel Gillespie be alive, here he is at the head of the 19th Dragoons, and God Almighty has sent him from the West Indies to save our lives in the East." A fourth, and last gate, had yet to be forced, and all this while our handful of dragoons were maddened by the din of musketry, and dying shrieks and yells within the fort, as some wretched European was dragged forth from concealment to be destroyed. In the defence of the ramparts, Captain C. J. Barrow, of the 69th, with sixty men of that regiment, greatly distinguished himself, till he fell, desperately wounded. The last gate was soon blown to pieces by the curricle guns, and Rollo Gillespie dashed in at the head of his dragoons, who charged close to the ramparts, and up to the steps of the cavalier, cutting down the miscreants on every side.

difficulty they could be prevented from putting to death the Mysore princes, whom they knew full well to have been the root of all the evil that occurred. The fact of our having been fired upon from the palace, while engaged in rescuing the fort, proves this; added to which, we discovered, in the princes' apartments, fifty Sipahees, armed and in full uniform."

These men were instantly shot-some being blown from the guns; 400 of the mutineers were slain, and the whole affair was over in ten minutes after Rollo Gillespie got through the fourth gate. By this time a flag, which once belonged to Tippoo and bore his arms--a central sun, with tiger stripes on a green field-was flying on the flagstaff; and but for the decisive measures taken here, at Wallajabad, Hyderabad, and some other places, the Mysore princes would, in a few days, have been joined by 50,000 men. They were therefore removed to Calcutta, and 600 sepoy prisoners were turned out of the service.

In his paper on the Indian Army, Sir John Malcolm boasts that, at Vellore, "the fidelity of the native cavalry did not shrink from the severe trial, and after the gates of the fortress were blown open, their sabres were as deeply stained as those of the British dragoons with the blood of their misguided and guilty countrymen." +

In addition to what has been stated, the alarm of the sepoys had been excited by some attempts to assimilate their appearance to that of the European troops. They were ordered to shave their chins, clip their moustaches to a certain pattern, relinquish ear-rings and the painted marks, which indicated the caste they belonged to. Their turbans were also made to give place to a head-dress resembling the hideous European hat, deemed the distinctive mark of a Christian. Indeed, two months before the revolt of Vellore, discontent had been manifested there by the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Madras Infantry, a regiment which had served at Assaye. The grenadier company flatly refused to wear the new head-dress, deeming it a disgrace; and for this nineteen of them were tried at Madras. Two received 900 lashes each, and the remainder, who were to have received 500, were pardoned on expressing contrition. These strong prejudices need not excite surprise, when we find that but a few years before, soldiers of the 42nd, and other Highland regiments, resented to the death some

tional costume. "It was for some time believed," says a writer, "that the mutiny at Vellore had extensive ramifications, and was, in fact, only part of E.I.U.S. Journal, vol. iii.; "The Plain Englishman," &c.

1807.]

4II

In short, it now began to be but too apparent that by too strictly and suddenly enforcing the home orders for retrenchment and economy, Sir George Barlow was spreading discontent throughout the whole Indian army, European and native, officers and men; and it has been alleged by one eminent writer, that our Eastern Empire was never in greater danger than during the "pacific" administration of Sir George Barlow; some of the evil influences of which were severely felt by his successor in office; * but many changes now took place about the end of 1806.

Sir George Barlow, having vacated the government at Bengal, was nominated to that of Madras. There Mr. Petrie had previously succeeded Lord

Lieutenant-General Hay Macdowall succeeded General Cradock as the commander-in-chief at Madras; and in February, 1807, Lord Lake quitted his command in India, where he left behind him a high and well-merited reputation, as possessor of the best qualities which distinguish the gentleman and the British officer. He died in his 64th year, in February, 1808, a few months after he had heard of "the death of his beloved and affectionate son and brave companion in arms, Colonel George Lake, who, after sharing in the toils and dangers of his father's brilliant Indian campaigns, fell in Portugal, at the battle of Roliça."

THE appointment of a successor to Sir George Barlow was preceded by a dispute in London, which ended in a singular kind of compromise. The Ministry gave up James, Earl of Lauderdale, whom they wished to force upon the Company, while the Court of Directors gave up Sir George, whom they wished to retain; and, by mutual consent, another Scottish noble, Gilbert, first Lord Minto, then President of the Board of Control, was named GovernorGeneral of India, in July, 1806, though he did not reach the East for a year after.

The eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, of Minto a Scotsman of high political and literary abilities -Lord Minto, after being educated at Oxford, was, in 1774, elected M.P. for Morpeth; and, on the breaking out of the French Revolution, he, with many of his friends, warmly supported the Government. In 1793, after being created a D.C.L. of Oxford, he acted as Commissioner for the Royalists at Toulon; and in the following year was appointed Governor of Corsica, the laws of which he

* Prof. H. H. Wilson's "Continuation of Mill."

assimilated to those of Great Britain. On the French party gaining strength, and the isle being abandoned to them, Sir Gilbert returned in 1797, and was raised to a British peerage, as Baron Minto, of Minto, in Roxburgh, with the power of quartering the arms of the Elliots and Murrays with those of Corsica.

In 1799, he was appointed envoy extraordinary to Vienna, and in 1806, President of the Board of Control. He had been one of the bitterest political enemies of Warren Hastings, and had taken an active part in his impeachment and vexatious prosecution: thus, like some of his predecessors, he set sail for India fully impressed with the idea. that our true policy was non-interference, that no attempt should be made to extend either our possessions or our connections with the native powers; and no man in Britain had inveighed more warmly than Lord Minto had done, on the wrongs of the Indian princes, the ambition and the encroaching and aggrandising spirit of Warren Hastings. Hence his leaning was decidedly in favour of the restrictive