The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-28 00:00:00

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The man supposed to be the rebel Nann4 '&011' -^“ t - 44 : 71, i,"
was brought into this station a prisoner yestel4llo4ll9l/44:,.;
and is now lodged in the station gaol. He'Veas Lroueii ee..e.-'
by Captain Carvell with a guard of three Sikhs:-liistuzivati
caused considerable commotion at first, for it was generally
believed that the coming prisoner was veritably the Nana ;
but in a very few hours after he left the railway station
that excitement had quite subsided. Hundreds of people to
whom the person of the Nana was well known had seen the
prisoner, and all declared that ho was not the neon. Among
these are people who had been daily with the Nana, and
some of them in constant attendance upon him, at Bithoor
and elsewhere, for years before his flight. It might be ex-
pected, of course, that such persons would (most of them)
deny his identity, even falsely; but the tacit evidence of an
entire population, as ( Npressed in the marked and speedy
cessation of their anxi ay about or further interest in the
man, is mater of great importance. It is, nevertheless, reit:
Possible, however improbable, that circumstantial evidencP,
added to that of his blind companion, who has turned in-
former, may yet prove him to he the Nana. Numbers of
well-attested cases familiar to the physiological student may
serve to explain away difficulties arising from the non. recog-
nition even by men who must necessarily remember well
the features, complexion, voice, attitudes, and general con-
tour of the arch rebel, as they knew him before 1857 at
Bithoor. But six years of travel, fight, exposure, change
of climate, of habits, and of diet, superadded to sickness,
mortification, and despair—perhaps even remorse—cannot
have failed to work considerable physical changes in the
Nana, wherever he may be now. Instances are not rare
of the really honest repudiation by affectionate wives and
mothers of their husbands and children after long and dis-
tant voyages or travel. Cases aro recorded where brothers
and sisters, meeting after many years of adventure, have
even married in perfect ignorance of each other's identity.
It will be admitted, by the lawyer at least, that circum-
stances such as those which must have attended the life of
the Nana since his flight would render his non-identification
by witnesses who judge from his present appearance„ alone
a matter of comparative insignificance in tbe face of a chain
of facts connecting the changed man with the person he has
been suspected to be—those facts and circumstances account-
ing more or less for the change itself. Whether such evi-
dence is forthcoming is to be seen. But to return to this
prisoner more particularly. His appearance indisputably
declares his high caste Mahratta origin, He is much darker
than the Nana was, but not unlike what the fugitive life
the Nana must have led would make in six years of a for-
merly delicately nurtured fair Mahratta Brahmin. These
are my impressions, and they may, of course, be wrong.
But his height does not correspond with the description of
the Nana, nor does his apparent age.
A careful study of the man at the outcherry yesterday
during his examination convinced me not only that he
knows this place, but that he was anxiously observant of
faces around him, as if in search of persons whom he recog-
nised, and who might, perhaps, recognise him. The same
curious scrutiny on his part was observable as ho passed
through the station on his way from the railway to the gaol.
He is no stranger to Cawnpore; but that does not prove
him to be the Nana. Indeed, he admits that he was here and
at Bithoor several years ago, when the Nana was there.
It is worthy of note that the personal appearance of the
man is undergoing a slow and gradual, but plain change.
I have seen three or four photographs of him taken at diffe-
rent periods, and, though some bear some resemblance to
him, not one is the likeness of the man as I saw him yester-
day. He grows fairer, though more haggard than these
photographs represent him. May not the one be from his
being less exposed, and the other from his imprisonment,
and consciousness of the fearful position he occupies, if the
Nana ?

/J

On the opening of the cutcherry the magistrate (Mr. H.
Monckton, 0..5.) at once had the prisoner brought before
him, charged with being the rebel Nana Dhoondia Punt.
He denies that he is so, and declares that he is a Brahmin
who has been a fakir nearly all his life; that his name is
Appa Ham, son of Damoodhur, born in a village on the
banks of an obscure river in the Deccan ; and that while ho
was yet a child his father was murdered there. He says he
had two brothers. On the death of his father he (then 12
years old) with his brothers, adopted the vagrant life of a
fakir. His brothers, he says, he has never seen nor heard
of since they set out after their father's death. He states
that a few years ago ho visited the village where he was
born, and was then recognized by three or four persons living
there, whom he names; but they are all dead now. (How
does he know of their death ?) The village itself, too, he
declares, has now ceased to exist, having been washed
away and was entirely destroyed by an encroachment of
the river, and its inhabitants are now undiscoverable,
being, as he says, absorbed in the population of the sur-
rounding country. (A rather suspicious and certainly
unsatisfactory tale.) Dr. Cheke and Dr. Jones assisted the
magistrate during the first day's (yesterday's) proceedings,
which bore solely on the point of his personal appearance.
Dr. Cheke was formerly civil surgeon of Cawnpore : Dr.
Jones is so now. In his office as civil surgeon Dr. ache
attended professionally upon the Nana, but does not
recognize the prisoner in any way. His person does not
show the expected marks or traces said to have been left by
surgical treatment for certain minor diseases. In fact, Dr.
Cheke is very strongly of opinion that the prisoner is not the
Nana. With the assistance of the medical officers above
named, the magistrates drew up a most minute description
of the prisoner's person, and with that the first day's pro-
ceedings closed, to be resumed to-morrow (Monday)
morning.

At present it is the belief of the authorities here that the
prisoner is not the Nana; that so far from there being as
yet evidence against him proving him to have been a rebel
of note, or even a rebel at all, they e hus not been produced
against him evidence sufficient to justify legally kis con-
tinued imprisonment for any long period. The prisoner is
confined in a separate ward of the gaol, apart from all other
prisoners. Inside the gaol is an additional guard of 12 men,
who are quartered in tents immediately adjoining the cell
or room where the prisoner lies. The guard is under an
European inspector, who remains on duty, in a room close
by, night and day. Inside the prisoner's cell a sentinel
walks on duty day and night, while one or two others are
posted outside. The prisoner seldom speaks, but sits or
lies on his rug for hours together, almost motionless, and
semingly quite at his ease. He eats nothing, refusing all
solid food of every description, even from the highest caste
men. lie lives on milk alone, drinking one seer in the
morning and one in the evening. During the day he is
fettered only on the legs, but at night he is closely hand-
cuffed. He seems to care nothing about the curiosity of
people who go to see him as he lies in gaol, and appears,
on the whole, to have very little fear as to the result of the
case.