The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-03-05
THE TIGRR OF CAwNpORE.

the horrible events which marked that
holocaust OF crime. 1t has been declar-
cd that the man who surrendered him
self Is not Mana Sahib, but some other
enthusiast who desired out of the no
Gogiety of the veritable beast to create for
himself momentary celebrity. Ambi
ton assumes fantastic forms, and certain
~ In the person of this half-naked Sepoy
the desire for publicity has sunk as low
as it can well stoop.
Cawnpore lies on the south bank of the
Ganges, Thousand miles from the bay
of Bengal In the spring of 1857 three
there, and of Europeans, including In
Gaish soldiers, there were little over one
thousand souls. The native army had
ceased to fear. Discipline WINS lax. In
subordination had been afoot since 1S45.
The British officers, stepped in idleness
and false confidence, had lost all control
over their men, but still they believed In
the fidelity of the troops. The mind of
che Sepoy soldier reeked with religious
preiudice. The fancied insult which had
been thrown upon their religion in greas-
ing the cartridges with the fat of the hog
had excited in the Hindoo mind an un-
uuenchable hatredwhich it was found inn
possible to overcome. Five parts tallow,
five parts steaEine, and one part wax were
the ingredients of that compound which
viii never be forgotten as long as Eng
land and India have q common history.
It has been denied by English officers
connected with the royal laboratory at
Woolwich that hogs lard formed any
part of the cartridge, but this is open to
grave doubts, inasrnuch as the officer
Who denied the presence of the lard was
also unable to testify as to the actual in
gredient which should have taken its
place. The supposed presence of hogs
lard, although without doubt a moving
cause of the rebelhons was not the only
reason that led up to the terrible events
which followed. There was man, and
his name was Seereek Dhoonda Punth,
fmrniliarly known as the Mana Sahib.
Baiee Rao, the peishwa of Poonah, was
the last monarch of the MahrattA dynas
ties which shared the sovereignty of the
Central Highlands. The English de-
fhroned Baiee Rao, contiscated his terri
tories, and then gave him residence at
Bithoor, with q handsome allowance of
800, 600. The peishwa had no children,
and so he adopted the man Seereek
Dhoonda Punth- When Bajee Rao died
in 1851, the heir put in q claim for the
continuance of the pension, which was
GlisaIlowed by England He sent to Lon
don Azimoolah Khan, a clever villain,
who began life as kitmutgar or footman
In an Anglo Indian family This fellow,
speaking English and French huently,
and sporting diamonds and cashmere
ahRwls without end, became not only q
ss lion" but q great favorite among the
aristocratic DANES of England. He fail
ed, however, In his suit, and returned to
Cawnpore without having secured to the
Mana the allowance of old Baiee Rao.
At this time the Mana was thirty-six
years old. He was fat, clean-shayen,
with sa1Iow complexion, and features
strongly marked. He was voluptuary
of that sensual character which defies de-
gcription. Pleasant in manner, he
sought all opportunities to make himself
familiar and popular with the sahibs of
the garrison and their families While
the smile was on his lip, however, the
Judgment of the East India Company
against his claim was forever torture to
his heart. His sole purpose in life was
vengeance on the race that had despised
and rejected his claim. With this for a
private wrong in the hands of desperate
and cunning adventurer, and the hogs
lard of the cartridges to excite the fana6-
cism of an enthusiastic people, the be.
ginning of the end was made easy. In
January the peasants of Bengal were re-
peating, every thing Is to become red, .
and in March the provinces of the Ganges
were receiving two chupatties or ban
nocks of salt and dough. It was the fiery
Cross of India, and notified men that
they should be prepared, for " that
something was In the air. Meanwhile
the Europeans at Cawnpore ate, drank
and were merry. The commanding
officer at this post was Maj. Gen. Sir
Hugh Wheeler, soldier of that class
which followed those who had won their
spars at SeringRpatam. He was seventy
five years of age, two-thirds of which he
had spent under an Indian sun, man
utterly untitled from his years and his
antecedents to deal with the bloody
perils of such time. On the 18th of
May, Gen. Wheeler telegraphed to the
government "An is well at Cawnpore. +"
An was far from well. Mana Sahib be-
sf1 inso1ent. He moved his quarters
from Bithoor to houses In Cawnpore oc-
cupied by civilians and their families.
The treasury containing 2100, 600 was
put under the custody of his body-guard,
and il was proposed that the ladies and
children should be placed IN Bithoor
palace. This was declined. The Gem
eral might have put the magazine In a
state of defense, but was content in his
imbecile way to throw up a mud wall
four feet high around what he was
pleased to cal an intrenchment Peas
and even these were insufficient
ssWhat do yon can that place ON the
plain Z" said Azimoolah to Lieutenant.
The Fort of Victory" was the answer.
tsNo," said the hyena, g call it the Fort
of Despair" On June 8 Sir Hugh
Wheeler sent the last telegraphic dis
patch that ever reached the outer world.
He sent out two officers and fifty men
and said, g This leaves me weak, but
trust TO holding my own until more
Europeans arrive.
That night drunken officer fred on q
cavalry patrol. He explained that his
piece had gone of by mistake. The
SepoyH, prepared for revolt, signif-
caatly remarked that their weap.
Ora also might 90 OFF by mistake be
fore long. Wires had been cut, mails
burned and roads blockaded, and the
cOrpses of an EnaGsh lady and gentle
man, murdered above, turned into the
canal that traversed Cawnpore. This was
the first sight Of white blood shed. Or
June 4. In the darkness of the night, thret
reports of pistol announced that tht
hour had arrived. Native officers turned
ont their troops, and Notwithstanding the
-