The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1885-05-12 00:00:00

I rer the weltering h.kl .f the tameable., tleml,
See htatona at the furt,t, and fowl, at the air

All reganling loan a.. their prey.
AB rejoicing in laic decay.
We remain.-.I hen. until Itlnd 'July, %then, on receipt
of intelligence that NlA's.' Singh, a wealthy
" rentindar anti loyal chief, was besiegesl in his
..wer f ri of Shaligunge near " Fyzalsul,- the
was put in motion for his deliverance. ((it
our appr.och, however, the relief,. lied in the clinc-
lion of "Sultanisior,- and thither we hdloweel them
The river lqianntee on Which Lilekliow static's, flows
also past tiultanpoor, and falls into the Ilanges further
'smith. The n-liels we f.a iiii I luvl flesertell the town of
and litel en e5...1 to thi• oppi Mite midi. of
tlw I loonitre, such hitving time- to, they destroyed all
the boats ..11 the river, which I.n-chided for a titlll. all
powiliility of ptinating tlieni. Each i.ucceeding day
witnemed an exciting game of lotilf howl. front
Is.th batiks .1 the river. It' the meantime a lam
.1 natives, anti all handieraftsrawn of the col ,
were put in retittigition ; anti in the coin.ac of a fort-
night a huge raft was constrtictisl, which, by tneatt.,
of pulleys and It hawser, could be drawn to and fro
across the river ly elephants. Aa moon a.. this
ingenious contrivance was completed, my regiment,
and the sth Punjaub Infantry, a battery of artillery,
and a few squadnnts of cavalry, creased the river, in
order to capture a village which lay a short 'listener
front the tqqataite bank, and thtis cover the Ramage of
the river by the main body. It was late in the after-
noon when the small force hall cromed, anti quickly
getting int.. martial array we •ed for the village
our guns from the other side • .1 the river wen. at the
iiame tiiiie playing upon the enemy over our heads.
(bar route to the village, the distance being only alitatt
live or six hundred yards, lay through great, long,
tangled grass and dhoti fields, through which wet-mild
not W-e a yard in advance. Our own Mut imw, how-
,-vi-r, over a year's experience of Seis.y hunting, and
fighting in all its vaned shapes and forms, and were
ripe for anything. As our cloud of skirmishers
extend...l ocr,Wil the long belt of "elephant grass and
could hear rye?. now and then, between
the ringing whiz of the tall mi., the exhilarating voice
of .lack. Tom, or Bilk as they sang out to • me and the
•.1 her with mtenttdwietn uoig,. their m.IMA; iiii 4101 couched
in rough badinage. .I.s we emerged from the long
graw we beheld that enemy fleeing before us, and
iihaerving but very little order in the manner of their
flight. A few men from the right of the column
niched into the village, and ere many minutes elapse,'
tile whole .1 the rebels were almoat out of sight away
across the appanmtly Is-mindless plain. Tents
were -sin iiignetii thrown out, and
things made .eCiire for the night. Ilehind
the village tlie ground roof.
.014 high enotigh
hi hitle the hoinies (pink that minder, and this
~, i l ran (nail bank to lxink .1 the rit er, which
he, .iic), an abrupt tont as to form, wi it were,
ft small peninsular, winch, stratagrtically speaking,
formisl 11 strong factor in our illetUtit of defence. As
ilarkneis aminiacheif, the piquets were ninforced slut
donble "entries isisusl. I binned one otf the piquet.
At the foot ..f the hill behind the villa?. there ran a
" mullah," or rat Me, covens, with low shrub.
The sentries of icy ngiment and the :ffh IMitjaitbees
extende.l across the neck of the narrow peninsula,
and oi erlimikirt the ravine, thus affording perfect
securifY t" Ile. camp behind. At 10 o'clock it became
ttint for sentry duty with a Hoar.
The place wa..(l..tteti all ..0 .'r with wit bu.lle.sknd
piltruh, and ..n.• ot thew Ini*lte,. we Mok mir
Imwt. Tile night was dark and still, the dead silence
krok..n only by the cnstking of the figs on the
n.ljacent river bank. W.. lust lawn at our is.st als.tit
an hour, and wen. quietly discussing the incidents of
the day, when whiz ! canto a bullet from tin' other
aide of the ravine, and is. close to our lured, that we
felt the wind from it as it pawed. We stared at each
other in mute ast I .nt. I sairl -" Issik out,
Jack, kori. pair ey.. on the Bah, and if you we a
rustle in (lie hawk let fly.- Then laying inyself fiat
on the ground, and I.s.king acres the rat I could
we plainly mirrored along the sky-line wine- scores
of th.• rebels, walking to anti fro out the velvety gra...
wt., low ati.l inaudible, I could
we by their gestiwes they wen. Milling it V. ...rY
ll i 11l ated discussion. We decitletl in a moment that
I Mae I if u,.should pmereti andl of. ni, tli.• officer iii
11111 l anti of the piquet, and me comrade Iwing weak-
sighted, 1 auggeated he 5h..01.1 go. My I..itioti just
then was no sinecure. If not closer, at all erentA, just
erns., the ravine-I'ot lawn- (Ilan 100 paces-were
numbers .1 the enetny wh.t could, unseen among the
low shrub, crawl acruset the dark ravine, and, with the
agility 14 a cat and the fenicity ..f a panther, pounce
upon and ala)' nit' before I could make a 'notion to
defend myself. Meditating in this wise, I
knelt down behind the low bush, and resting
my rifle - capped and full cocked - among
the branch"... With my nervea in a high
:state of terisi.tn, I peered down into the 14ack ravine.
I had not been thus occupied more than a few seconds
when I fancied I heard eumething like muffled

breathing close to me, and looking round 'she'd a
huge Bengalee standing over me with drawn sword.
A sensation of abeolute terror, or COlll3, seemed to
enchain all my tamaitie. • for a moment my blind
grew chill in my veins. liesistance when unavailing
is useless. but, in the (seition I was in. I could make
no resistance. Call it fright or fear, or what you
will, but truth compels me Si. admit that all capacity
for resistance appeared to have left me. I wondered
why the man who had thus approached me, or silent
as a shadow, had not cleft may skull "pen at once,
withimt giving me a moment her reflection. As the
blood melted back to my heart I made. a slight move-
ment tee withdraw my rifle from the bush, when the
weaning Bengalee whose great, lug, flowing beard
now almost touched me, ta,19.41 me on the shoulder,
and pointing acr:ise. the me Me, maid "Sahib, sahib,
dhema, dheceia.' (Sir, sir, leek, look.) In a second
I I hail somewhat recovered my composure, and,
scanning more closely my seeming foe, I asked him,
as far as niv limited knowledge"( Hitolmetanee went.
who and what he was. I then ascertained that the
innocent cause of my frightful scare was not • Bengal
Seisey, bllt a native officer of the Plinjaubeea, who,
having olaierved the enemy across the ravine,
.crept
stealthily along to apprise the European mentnes of
the fact. One can WM' afford to tie amused, and
smile at this incident, yet it stands out vividly in the
memory of a life of more than ordinary peril and
adventure. Our night's experience. ii the hanks if
the Gomm.. had however by no means closed with
this little episode.. The native officer had but Piet
departed when the .dhcer f I nor piquet arrived, and
havimr .tistied himself as Si. the state of affairs sent
intelligence at "nee to the Callip, and 100 men and •
senior lieutenant were quickly added to the piquet.
The. sentries were increased, and in carrying out this
duty there sias of necessity 711 and the
enemy at 0110. opened tire all along the line.
The ground was broken nate fissums, and hem and
there were small excavations somewhat msembling
miniature. gravel pit., and in these and Ishind the.
little bushes we oblailled admirable cover. W.• were
not slow in replying Si. the .411.111ys challenge.
Ihiring the whole of that night loth banks of the
ravine presented .me continuous blaze of musketry.
If ..CClLKiOlially, a IlloPMelltaty lull IVCIIITIA, WNW'
mischievous weight, just for the fun of the thing.
would fire two or three shots in rapid succession, and
in • ~,,, ment the ravine would again become a wild
pandemonium of lurid musketry. A more picturesque
spectacle it would he alum pat Uniposa!ible Si. iamceive.
The night being dark no individual aim could of course
be taken, only just blaze away in the direction from
whence the shots came. Being extended as
•kiniiisheni and formed, where we could obtain cover,
in wirdl gnaws of two or three, we went under no
iiiiii control, and blazed away as suited our
fancy, mid indeed the whole affair bore more
resemblance Si. a
cartridge than actual warfare. Before the dawn,
however, the firing suddenly ceased, and when day-
light appeared there W.V. 11.011.1,, • rebel to be seen.
They had retired across the lwead plain which
ionneled the 1101'12,11, alld had disappeared /41 if the
earth had swallowed them. The whole place lay
steeped in calm repose. Them was not a single
obje,,e, to mark the preceding night's exciting scene.
Ti,.' enemy's bullets nearly all whistled harmlessly
overlwad, and "or casualties were very few. We soon
retired to our tent,. to breakfast, and Si. sleep, and in
the course of a few hours the recent wild fitful roar-
ing of musketry crossed our minds more like the
fevered itietgination of a dream. than that of stem
reality.