- Marched up the spur of the Muree Hill to Dewul,
where we found a room in a mud fort
Converted into a halting-place
for travellers, reached by a series of break-neck ladders, and
looking very much like a cell in a prison, with its two chairs
and clumsy wooden table. Here we found a little amusement in the
arrival of the Chota Sahib, or "small gentleman," - otherwise
the Assistant Civil Commissioner of the district, - to review the
fort and its dependencies. On the first tidings of his approach,
the Thanadar immediately turned out the entire garrison, consisting
of twelve military policemen, called "Burqundaz," or "Flashers of
lightning!" These soon appeared in their full dress of crimson turbans
and yellow tights, and, shouldering their "flint-locks," proceeded to
perform a series of intricate evolutions, by way of practice for the
rapidly-approaching inspection. When the great little man did arrive,
there was, we thought, a good deal of irregularity among the troops,
such as laughing in the ranks and treading on toes, &c. However,
the only point the inspecting officer dwelt upon was the absence of
uniformity in dress, caused by the deficiency of two pairs of yellow
tights among the lightning flashers, otherwise he appeared perfectly
satisfied, and all went off well. After his review he invited himself
to our dinner-party, and honoured our repast with the further addition
of a kid stew. He turned out to be one of the ex-Company's officers,
a subaltern of eighteen years' service, FIFTEEN of which had been
spent away from his regiment on the staff. He was with his corps,
however, when it mutinied, and escaped without much difficulty. The
unfortunate colonel of the regiment, finding that none of his men
would shoot him, had done so with his own hand. He gave it as his
opinion that the cartridges WERE the cause of the mutiny; but allowed
that his regiment was in a bad state of discipline some time before,
and that all the native corps were known to be disaffected years
before the event occurred, both by the officers present and those
absent upon staff employ. Altogether, after the Chota Sahib had
thoroughly discussed both the mutiny and the dinner, we were left
under the impression that there was quite sufficient cause for the
disaffection of the Bengal army without ever arriving at the vexed
question of greased cartridges at all.
OCTOBER 13. - Marched early into the Hill Station of Muree. Not being
yet quite in walking trim, I had pressed a mule into the service,
who carried me in good style as far as the entrance to the town. Here,
however, he seemed suddenly to remember that we had each a character
to support, and, stopping short, he utterly refused to budge another
step. Not being willing even to be led, I finally abandoned him to
his own devices, and walked on to the Commandant's bungalow, where
I found my companion already hospitably received, and comfortably
seated at breakfast, discussing kidneys and beefsteaks, and such like
unwonted delicacies of the Muree season.
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