The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-05 00:00:00

THE MUTINIES IN INDIA.

AGRA.

The following letter is from a lady at Agra :
" Fort Agra, August 12.
" Here we are still quite well, thank God, but
sadly tired of Ebeing cooped in the fort, and the
worst of the matter is that we do not know when
we shall be able to get out. Not that there is any
enemy near to be afraid of, but there are no houses
left to live in. In consequence of all the fighting
men being in the fort the ill-disposed villagers
burnt and plundered the whole station. There are
only about 20 houses nnburnt M cantonments,
and not more than two or three in the civil lines,
so we are likely to remain in the fort some time
longer. We are, however, allowed to go outside the
'plea in the daytime, and some fortunate person
whose houses, being close to the fort, have not
been destroyed, are gone out to live in
them. We tried very hard to get one of the
houses near the fort, but they were all ttken.
We, however, got out for a drive every morn-
ing, which is very great pleasure after being
shut up so long. Dear o—, lam sorry to say,
has not been at all well lately in consequence of the
change of life and very great confinement from be-
ing shut up here, but he is quite convalescent, and
since we are allowed to take our morning drives be
is getting strong, and has regained his appetite.
We have been very well ever since we came in the
fort, indeed we have nothing to complain of on the
score of health. The fort, thank God, is very
healthy considering how many human beings are
crowded in it. Including servants we have 5,000
persons sleeping every night within the walls. We
are all very cheerful considering the circumstances,
and when we assemble outside our quarters we are
almost a merry party. We are much with our
kind friends, whose quarters are next door to ours,
except in the heat of the day, when we are all
obliged to retire to our own dens to escape from the
beat, which is then very great.
"e drove down yesterday to look at our house,
which, being a Puchah house, is not much injured
—doors taken away, punkahs destroyed, so that it
might be made habitable in a few days ; but is is
considered too far from the fort for us to live in at
present. However, we live in hopes that when
General Havelock has relieved Lucknow he will
come here on his way to Delhi, and the very idea
of his being on the road with his troops will quiet
down the district and make any part of Agra safe
to live in. We were much cheered last night by
the news from Delhi of the destruction of the
powder manufactory with 500 gunpowder makers.
In fact, the rebels are getting disprited. I shall
not write about the horrors of Cawnpore and Delhi ;
we can but humbly thank God Agra has been
spared. I hope you will get this letter ;we are
only allowed to send very small light letters, as the
dak is now carried by men, instead of horses."

PESHAWIIR.
The following is from an officer serving in the
Punjab :

"Peshawur, July 21.
"You will be glad to !earn by this mail that
though risings have taken place in many parts of
India since mylasr, here we have been tolerably quiet,
with the exception of the force at Fort Mackisore,
which made overtures to the hill tribes, acid were
discovered intriguing by our indefatigable commis-
sioner, Col. Edwardes. As soon as he heard what
was going on, he told the negotiators in the hills to
ask the Sepoys of the fort to give them a written
promise to deliver up the fort. Then he had them;
and one night, with a considerable body of cavalry
and two guns of the mountain train, under my
friend Col. S.'s old adjutant, Captain 8., off he
started for the fort, halted half-way, and sent a
body of 150 men by another road, so that they
might get to the rear of the fort by the grey of
early dawn. These arrangements, 'cleverly made
and well executed, enabled him to surprise the mu-
tineers. The Colonel arrived before the fort before
daybreak, and Ind the pl asure of hearing the
neighing of the cavalry horses on the o her side,
just as he reached the place. They were all unarmed
and taken back, rind being ca!lel upon laid down
thir arm.. Tine ohief nogoeint -.)r, a h tviliar, was at
that very time in the hills, and when the roll was
called was missing. Ile was shortly after brought
in by the hill chief, and, two days after, blown away
from a gun.

"Edwardes deserves great credit for this peace-
ful termination of his expedition for, knowing the
fort, he had taken the precaution of seizing the
keep, the fort itself h tvine no gates. Had the mu-
tineers been able to get' into the keep when the
colonel summoned them to lay down their arms,
they certainly would have fought ; but the day
before he sent off a Pathan havildar and eight Se-
poys with two mules and a couple of empty pan-
niers. All that be told the havildar was to take the
panniers into the keep and make them over to the
officer who resided there and who commanded the
garrison. The Pathan was further instructed to be
very particular to close the gates at night, and net
to open them again on any account till the sun next
morning was pretty high. He obeyed his instruc-
tions to the letter,and the appeaiaoc3 of the force
before the fort next morning showe I him the reason
why he had been told to keep the gates shut.
"The whole garrison were m ide prisoners. All the
movemen.s hero have been made wi h coneurnmate
wisdom so far, but we have a large native force here,
although without arms; and nothing bat unremit-
lag vigilance can save us. Thr. e regiments are
armed, and would doubtless turn against us, and
five regiments are unarmed. I cannot conceal from
myself that we are by no means strong, inasmuch as
we have the whole of this large c tntonment to pro-
tect, and the fort also ; and thus the Europeans are
parcelled out in guards, and not c )ncen'.rated.
" Besides them, we have Pathan levies, not yet
equal to their work, and some Sikhs, together with
a good number of Mooltani horse, who will stand
by us. So we must hope for the best ; but we have
sent away a troop of European Horse Artillery, a
horse field battery, and 63 European Foot Artil-
lerymen. This has weakened us and we are mak-
ing shift by using the officers of the disarmed regi-
ments partly to 111411 the Artillery division.
" Our accounts of the 55th NJ., who fled into
Swat, and who left that country at the request of
the high priest, are very gra dying. Their money
is nearly exp:.nded and their aminuaition also. Tuey
have made several attempts to slip throngh the
range of hills bordering on our territory, but the
pas ies have been well guarded by the Pathins, who
are favourable to us. Half-a-doz2n determined men
could hold these passes against a multitude. I saw
a letter from the Deputy Cornmissi suer of fluz tra
to Col. E-, telling him all that lie hid been
doing, and he says that the Sepoys nu ebsr about
50), and that the women of the hills abuse them for
sitting down to cook their meals naked, and that
they are now making for Chiles or Gilghit ; but if I
know these paths at all they will nearly all perish
from hunger and cold, as the country is without
food or inhabitants. Gholab Singh also is destroy-
ing them, yet I do trust that half-a-dozen of them
may eventually escape to tell their countrymen
what they have undergone. The 10th Irregular
Cavalry, from whom we took every single thing
except their shoes and turbans and one rupee in
cash, have been dreadfully punished ; not being in
the habit of walking, they will reach their homes in
a most miserable plight, and will be a warning to
others all along the road.
"Our power, certainly, is tremendous. To think
that we should be able to stand for one hour against
this array, and almost without reinforcements, for
they are not yet at Delhi, though near.
"Our Brigadier is indefatigable in loosing after
his force here, and he has just hit upon an expe-
dient by which he will be enabled to despatch 400
Europeans in a few hours to any place. He has
snared the use of several ammunition carts, and by
convecting two together he manages to carry 12
men, and even 16 on an emergency, with their arms
and some eatables. fle will have relays ofthe Com-
pany's bullocks at the different stags on the road,
so as to move on a point withou' a halt.
"The first one was tried by the brigadier last
week. The party consisted of four ladies, the bri-•
gadier, Colonel Edwardes, the chaplain, and four
other officers. They harnessed six artillery hors s,
each ridden by an officer, and they galloped all over
the cantonments. How the ladies must have suf-
fered, for there were no springs.
" Part of myold regiment that mutinie and went
to Delhi the other cfay, left it again and gave them-
selves up. This is the only eegineaut that has done
so. I don't know what has been done w;th them ;
for my part I would destroy them all, for it is im-
possible to believe them sincere in their repentance
when we consider theextraordinaryactsof treachery
these people have been guilty of towards us.
"The 91h Irregular Cavalry, now before Delhi,
allowed the enemy's cavalry to enter camp the
other day and cut down many of our people, and
yet they are trusted. What infatuation !
" But now nothing can prove in a stronger light
the folly of our Government entrusting to Mus,ul-
- and Hindoos any authority in the country.
Those very people, our own servants, educated by
us and placed in situations of trust, have turned
against us. Such treason has rarely been witnessed.
"The mouths of babblers at home will be stopped,
I hope, and India henceforward ruled with! the
strong hand. How absurb the folly of placing any
authority in the hands of such miscreants.
"You will bq glad to hear the news of the almost
total annihilation of the 55th N. 1., who were trying
to escape towards Gaghit ; they were attacked by
the Mahomedans in the mountains, many were
drowned in crossing a
mountain torrent, 60 taken
pria9ners, and the rest Sod in every direction.