Identifier: india00surr (find matches)
Title: India;
Year: 1909 (1900s)
Authors: Surridge, Victor MacCormick, Arthur David, 1860- ill
Subjects: India -- History India -- History British occupation, 1765-1947
Publisher: London, Edinburgh : T. C. & E. C. Jack
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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27 June 1857 ... y precision in their advance. The men, jaded and ill, stumble along anyhow. Nor is there music to stir their blood and quicken their steps. No sound is heard save the cries of the native bearers as they groan in monotonous cadence with each swing of the palanquins. A vast multitude has gathered to watch the march down to the river—a concourse of silent spectres who await, motion-less and impassive, the tragedys culminating scene. Presently the procession the river-side, where forty ungainly, straw - roofed boats are moored. With difficulty the wounded are carried on board, the women and children take their places, and the men scramble in after them. Thus far Tantia Topi has watched the embarkation in silence. Then he turns and gives a signal. Suddenly the shrill note of a bugle rings out on the morning air. Ere its last echoes have died away the river-side scene has undergone a swift and terrible change. The thatched roofs of the boats are blazing furiously, while from the rebel soldiers, 264
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The thatched roofs of the boats blazing furiously REVOLT OF THE SEPOYS
concealed in the thick undergrowth, comes a murderous storm of bullets. Nana Sahib is accomplishing by treachery what force has failed to effect. Many of the unhappy fugitives are struck dead bythe flying shot, some try to escape by swimming, some stand resolutely and return the enemy's fire. Three of the boats manage to push out into mid-stream, and drift slowly with the tide. Two are carried by the currents over to the opposite shore, where a horde of Sepoys are waiting to massacre the crews. The third continues its perilous coursedown-stream under a constant hail of lead. Mean-while the Sepoys have ceased their fire, and all who have survived the massacre—one hundred and twenty-five in number—are roughly dragged ashore. The fate of General Wheeler has been vividly described by a native witness—a half-caste Christian woman:— General Wheeler, she said, came last in a palkee. They carried him into the water near the

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