The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-03 00:00:00

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THE INDIAN MUTINIES.

We have been favoured with the following gra•
phic account of a public execution in India :

" Ahmedabad, Oct. 26

"I have just returned from the cairn eye-witnessing
of a sight of which not many months ago it would have
sickened me even to hear. I shall never see such ano-
ther, nor you ever see such an one at all ; and, as all
scenes have their profit, I will fix it while the details are
fresh.

"You know, generally, what I am going to describe.
It is the result of more than a week's continuous court-
martial, iii which 18 men were sentenced to death.
They suffered this morning.
"I rode down at 5, and day dawned as I cantered
along. I know nothing so sad as that slow drawing on
of the sunrise which is to be the signal for an execution.
There were many groups of natives moving towards the
parade ground, which is four miles from the city, and
every now and then a carriage with the lamps 80114.
" When I reached the ground the bugles were only
sounding, and there was little to be seen but the gallows
with 10 nooses, and the miserable prisoners seated in a
double row in front of it. I rode slowly past them, and
could see no signs of emotion, except that one or two
were very pale.
"The regiment in which the mutiny occurred was
the first to cake up its ground, opposite to the garows.
The other native regiment drew up at right-ang ea to it,
and the English regiments, behind the gallows, com-
pleted the third Fide of a square. Between them were
four guns. At the fourth side were drawn up five guns,
pointing outward, across the flat level. To these the
sentenced men were to be bound. The area of the equare
was now covered with mounted officers, a few civilians,
the General, and his staff.
"The whole 18 prisoners were marched before the
native regiments and their offence and sentence road in
a clear voice, which reached all spectators. This over,
the last terrible preparations were commenced.
'•Tlie 10 mounted to their places on the drop, and
stood there white and shadowy against the pale sky, but
firm and quiet, their faces hidden in white caps. .A firing
party of 12 moved up the spot within 20 yards of the
place where I stood, facing outwards, as the guns did,
but behind them, further back into the square. The
three men who were to be shot were placed in front, and
fearfully near them, not more than 12 paces from the
muzzles of the muskets. They knelt down, their eyes
were bandaged, and their bands tied. Meanwhile the
doomed five had been marched to the five fatal guns.
Tney were bound by the arms to the wheels, but their
legs were free, and the end man—the only one whom I
could entirely see from my place on the flank—leaned
his back against the muzzle, as loungers lean against a
mantelpiece.
"I fixed my eyes intently on that man, not 50 yards
away, and in a moment the signal was given. There was
a roar, and the whizzing of a bullet, far away from the
firing party ; a bank of white smoke, and a jet and
shower of black fragments, sharp and clear, which leaped
and bounded in the air ; this and a fearful sound from
the spectator=, and the reality so far exceeded all pre-
, vious fancy that it was intolerable ; then a dead stdlness.
" I walked straight to the scattered and smoking floor
before the guns. I came first to an arm, torn off above
the elbow, the fist clinched, the bone projecting several
inches, bare. Then the ground sown with red grisly
fragments, then a black-haired bead and the other arm
still held together. This was the man I had watched ;
close by lay the lower half of the body of the next, tc.ro
quite in two, and long coils of entrails twined •o the
ground. Then a long cloth in which one had been dressed
rolled open like a floor-cloth and on fire. Oue man lay
in a complete and shattered heap, all but the arnie ;
the legs were straddled wide apart, and the smashed
body on the middle of them ; the spine exposed ;
the head lay close by too. The last body was that
of a native officer, who was the arch fiend of the
.
mutiny ; he was a short man, with a cruel face. His
head had been cut clean off, but the muscles of the
neck had contracted round the throat like a frill. His
face was half upturned and calm, the eyes shut. I saw
no expression of pain on any of thew. What had been
his body lay on its face, the legs as usual not shattered,
lint all the flesh torn like cloth from a sharp a, ee in the
hollow of the back, off and off, till it merged in one
mangled heap.

"IL turned next to the three who bad been shot. One
bad been struck in the hart, and only bowed slowly
over on his face. Toe others had been pistolled after-
wards through the head. All I think, however, had
been badly hit, as all were prostrate when I ran forward
to the guns.
" And only now—there was so much more terrible—
did I look up to the ten white figures slowly swinging
and revolving over this scene of blood. I hope they
died quickly, but the ropes were very short.
" The troops immediately matched off, and I rode
home at speed, and when I dismounted the dogs came
and licked my feet."

THE CAPTURE OF THE RAJAH OF ASSAM.
The following letter describes the manner in which
Captain Lowther captured the liajah of Assam, thereby
avoiding the massacre of Europeans in that country :
" September.
" You will have heard era now of the capture of the
Rajah .f Assam, which your humble servant effected as
follows :
" The colonel sent me in hothaste with my Ghoorkas,
and early the next morning we dropped down in boats
towards Debrooga, reaching that station the second day,
about the same time the colonel sending to ask the
other outposts for the Ghoorkas and hill men, sending
Hiadustanees to relieve them all, and thus give us a
small trustworthy body of troops in case of extremities
and disasters.
" My plan was to take away the bulk of the artillery
pieces from the native company of local gunners, with
ammunition, &0., many a those men (Hindostanees)
having been heard to talk seditiously in the bazaars ;
next, to secure our own regimental magazine, and
manage, in case of an emeute, that our men (Rifler)
should be in safe possession of all access to it ; next,
to shut up all the treasure and private property in the
fortified square in the civil station, plackiug a picked
guard over it ; next, to seize the King, who was at the
bottom of the plot, surprising him suddenly, and taking
all his treasure and papers, and sending him away a
State prisoner towards Calcutta, ; next, to have a body
of picked men so as to act at instant notice.
"In communication with the Political at Seubsaugor
(rifle map) I engaged to meet him on the night of the
9:h at a particular mouth of the river below, he leaving
on the night of the Bth, by boat', dropping down the
stream, the distance of 40 miles. At length I and my
riflemen rounded a nook, and were glad to find the
Political, with a few armed police, all ready to meet us,
my large boat taking them and canoes with the police
in tow, and by the bright moonlight we dropped down
softly and pleasantly to No wghur Ghaut, a distance of 16
miles, reaching it about 11 p.m, We had some trouble
in keeping clear and hiding ourselves from the observation
of the large fishing villages we had to pass, but our
good fortune took us past unnoticed, and we landed
unseen in the tall grass jungle, on the brink of a morass,
such as only Assain contains, mosquitoes almost darken-
ing the moonlight ; not a word allowed to ',be spoken,
and scouts sent out to search the jungle for the elephants
sent out previously for transport of men over the
impassable tracts ; soon found these, commenced our
march ; the moon became obscured and a storm of wind
and rain set in ; all around us a swamp, which obliged
us to load the elephants vary lightly, and deposit our-
selves occasionally on dry spots and high patches,
while the elephant.' went to and fro to lift the men
across the quagmires and waters. Twice my large
elephant sank down, so as to wet his ears and my feet
togetht r, and each step was attended by the most
noxious effluvia, arising from the decomposed vegetable
matter at that season, while myriads of musquitoes
swarmed around us. On an island we met the native
chie of police, our principal informer of the plot, who had
been sent out as if on his dutier, looking after our
postal arrangements of the province. We held a
council, and then all moved on quietly again. For
tunately, we had now only a mile or two of that
horrible march, or man and beast must have knocked
up, the wind and rain increasing.
" We soon fortunately came on to a raised causeway,
in pretty good repair, dry and smooth, and I rested my
men for awhile. What with broken bridges and other
impediments to night travelling we did not reach the
' Royal town till half-an-hour before daybreak, the sky
delightfully black, and the rain a very waterspout, both
of which had the beneficial effect of quieting the noisy
cur 4 tihio.l infest the purlieus of eve!), Indian locality..

A final consultation was held in sight of the Royal den,
arms examined and loaded, and every preparation made
for the finishing blow ; the stout little Gh3orkaA grin-
ning with delight a 3 they examined the sheaths cf their
hookeries, or war knives, to see whether they were within

"We passed unnoticed along a straggling suburb, and
suddenly turning a corner I was told by my guide that
I stood within the Royal premises,
told off my men rapidly, and formed them into
parties, so as cmpletely to surround and cover every
outlet ar.d carrier: The main party, consisting mostly
of my own particular sharpshooters and bodygu rdi
watched the front ; another towards the town, there to
arrest an educated Bengalee, agent to the conepiratore •
another party moved to the rear and cut off escape to
wards the tiwn ; while nay friend the Political crept
quietly past some outhouses with his police, and under
the palace walls awaited my signal for opening the ball.
" Before long the ominous barking of a disturbed cur
in the direction of the party sent after the Prime Minis.
ter proclaimed no time was to be lost, and off I went
towards the guard shed in front of the palace, my per-
sonal sharpshooters following at the double. The noise
of course awoke the iloeping guard, and as they started
up from their slumbers I caught one firmly by the
throat; the little Ghoorka next me felled with a butt-
end blow another of them while they were getting ttoarms, 1 having strictly forbidden my men to fire until
obliged ; the remainder, as we rushed in, took to flight,
and my eager party wished to fire on them, which I
prevented, not considering such valiant game worth pow-
der and shot. In the darknessand confusion no means 01
entrance could at onco be found. My police guide, how-
ever, having been often in the palace, knew every room
in it, and, thrusting himself in at the doer, acted ferret
to perfection, and by dint of activity soon brought me
into the presence of the King, who, though young in
years, is old in sin ; he refused to surrender or admit
any one,—a resolutien which cooled instanter on my
calling my men to set fire to the palace, and he then
with a bad grace delivered up to me his state sword. A
shout from tLe'opposite doors proclaimed an entry there.
The Queen Mother and the rest of the fenia'e Royalty
and attendants were seized while trying to •leseend on
that side. Then came a chorus of shouting and sting
gling, and bawling for lights and assistance ; at last, a
lamp being procured, we pr eieded to examine the
palace; we wandered in dark passages and cells, while
I mounted a guard at every door. The air being con-
fined and heated within the Royal residence, I sat out
side until after daybreak, and then proceeded to rum-
, maga for papers and letters ; several boxes of these we
appropriated, and counted out his treasure, all in gold
vessels and ingots ; we found a quantity of arms, spiked
some guns, one of them of Freuch make ; all day we
were bard at work, searching rind translating papers. The
Prime Minister was found at his house, fast asleep. In
the heat of the afternoon we went to his residence in
the town, and by dint of keeping fans going over us
carried out a thorough search. We did not get as
many of his papers as we wanted, he having been told
by his correspondents to destroy all letters after reading
them.

" At sunset I carried off my prisoners over the same
bad ground by which we had so stealthily arrived. We
were followed by about 2,000 infuriated Mucisulrnans,
crying, praying, and prostrating themselves to the object
of their lingering hope of rebellion (the Rajah), but we
drove them off.

"A mile or two out an individualTuddenly appeared,
and in a loud and powerful voice chanted either• a me-
nace to ua or a warning to the King. I could only catch
.one word, u hich signified down country ;' hence I
suspect he was conveying advice to the captive, whom I
kept well alongside of me, with an intimation I would
blow his head off if he attempted any tricks cr created
any disturbance. We arrived at 10 p.m. at the ghant
whence we started on the previous night, weary and hun-
gry with a vengeance. I put my prisoner on board my
large boat, alongside of my bed, and next morning started
him off under a choice guard, with loaded arm, towards
Calcutta with written instructions. Everybody in
Assam was in a fever of aulety and excitement until
the news arrived that I had captured the leader of the
conspiracy, and the dark and stormy night on which
I carried out the measure caused many sleepless nights
to the expectant party of well-wishers. We are not
yet rid of traitors ; two or three of our native officers
are deeply implicated, as also a native doctor and a
number of Sepoys in both the Artillery Company and
my Rifles ; they are well watched and waited upon by
the Ghoorkas, who have proved themselves faithful
to us everywhere, and are eager to distinguish them-
selves. Three days hence, we find by the papers dia.
covered, was the appointed time for the outbreak, and
of course the massacre of all the Europeans in Assam ;
but I fully expect that my counterplot has proved far
too heavy a blow to their abominable schemes ; disap•
p,iintment and diegnst are written legibly on their
hideous faces at my sudden swoop on their machinations.
I cannot cease to thank God I have averted so much
bloodshed."

TIIB RELIEF OF LIIOKNOW.

(From The Waverley.)
Where is the arch of splendour,
Where is the minstrel hand,
Shall fitting honour render