LITERATURE. (From the Naval and Military Herald.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XV, Issue 1200, 28 December 1858, Page 4

LITERATURE. (From the Naval and Military Herald.)

Xty byD»y at Lnoknow : By Mm. Cam. R. B)mtmt. "Thfc it Mother supplement to the many accounts we ' litre received «f the Indian horrors. It is a platnand aimple statement of what took place "day by day at Lucknow, during the fearful siege which served to prore, akhough hardly necessary, the wondrous perse. Verance of our men. It is a romance of history, but ha* the added charm of being truthful. Indeed, no •writer of fiction could hope to write any narrative bo ■welling in iv realities aa the truthful statement of •event*, for which we have to thank Mrs. Case. We subjoin a few excerpt*, to show that our praise i» not Ul'beatowed.

THE OUTBREAK OP THE MUTINY. •On the evening of the 30th, Saturday, just a* every on* was retiring for the niglu, guns were heard, and the gentlemen armed themselves, and immediately disappeared, leaving us very anxious. We went out on on* of the ♦erandaht, and there we distinctly heard the firing, and saw one bungalow aftei anotr.er set on fire. The stillness in the eUj was remarkable ; not a sound was to be heard. It vras avrful to ace the houses burning. About eleven, or half-past, the firing diminished, and a message came from Sir Henry Lawrence to say that it was nearly over ; and we went back to our rooms. Adelaide and I took in Mrs Boileau and her little boy, who had come over, with some other ladies, from Mrs. Gubbins'i and Mrs. Oramanney's. Most of them returned* Anxiously did we wait till day dawned." "The uiual messenger from the camp brought Ade laide a note from William, telling her the occurrences of the previous night. The sepoys had mutinied. They attempted to get hold of their officers, but failed. They then set fire to the bungalows, and plundered them. Lieutenant Grant, of the 71st Native Infantry, was betrayed and cruelly murdered receiving many wounds. A careless shot from one of our own guns, went through William's tent, an^ killed my horse 'Lallti 1 and the old •Sahib.' I could not hetp crying over my poor horse. •Lalla.* Many * ride have! enjoyed on him, and he brings back to my mind many a pleasant moment Now Ido not regret that he is g.ine. Brigadier Hanscombe was killed m he went up to harangue the native regiments."

DEATH OF SIR H. LAWRENCE. "When the firing diminished a little in the evening, ye managed to get across to the room Colonel Inghs ■had, been arranging for himself. It was about ten mmut»' vralk from the Residency House, in a square surrounded by other enclosures, and the wall* being Jiigh it waa considered to be about the safest place The room u juat large enough to contain us three ladies and thrrt children. It is a most bare-looking place. Colonel Ingli* had th* place whitewashed. It looks like * room where prorisions or something of the kind had bera kept. We h#ve a bath-rtom, where the grain for the goats is kept. Shortly after the siege began, Sir Henry was struck in the leg by a shot from that very howitzer we lost at Chinhut. He was sitting "writing at the time, and only survived two d«y§. He waa deeply regretted by the garrison, and was a very great lost as an artillery officer. Major Banks succeeded, but waa killed bf a round shot at Mr. Gubbina's. Since his death Colonel Inglis ( Brigadier} has had the entire command ot the garrison.

PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. "I cannot give an account of each of the different attack* of the enemy. At first the fire was continual, night and day. To give you an' idea how incessant it was, I mutt tell you, that when it ceased we quite missed it, and felt almost uncomfortable. Of course, I io not mean to say that when it did cease, after a time, it was not a great reprieve. The mutineers would then commence at different times, leaving you some days tolerafcly quiet. They would suddenly commence a heavy musketry firing, which might last an hour or so; and how glad we were when we heard our guns firing away upon them. We soon learnt to distinguish our guns from theirs. We have destroyed seven or eight of their mines. They never made a real attack ; they were never bold enough, after the first commencement, to push their way on. Th«se night attacks, for they were moit generally in the night, and the mines, were very harrassing to the men ; then the rains came on, and they had to undergo the extreme changes between heat and cold, but they kept their health better than might be expected under the circumstances. Casualties occurred daily ; not in the heaviest firing, when we expected to hear of many being hit, but by stray shots during the day, A. mine of the enemy's killed seven of our drummers. We lost nearly every good officer before the arrival of reinforcements, particularly among th« Engineers."

A STRANGE COINCIDENCE. "It i» now a fortnight since I last wrote to you ; I told you that poor Colonel Camp Sell was very weak. He rapidly sank, and on Thursday night, the 12th he died. I must tell you a strange circumstance in relation to his illness. A white fowl had been brought to Mrs. Inglis lor sale, but she thought the price, fire rupees, was much too high. However, Colonel Inglis bought it. Its legs were secured, and it constantly hopped about before our door. Mrs. Inglis thought it was t»o bad that it should be eating our rice, and was just going to order it to be killed and cooked for dinner, •wh«n little Johnny comes running in the room, — "Mamma, Mamma, the white fowl has laid an egg!" This saved its life. Colonel Campbell was very fond of an egg— it was the only thing he could take well. The white fowl from this notable day laid an egg daily till Colonel Campbell died, after which it never laid another. We have brought the fowl away, and, may be, it will tome day be in England.''

A NARROW ESCAPE. ••Wednesday, July 15th.— Last night appeared to me very noisy, but it does not serai to have been much more bo than usual. While we were dressing, a round thot fell close to our door ; most providentially no one happened to be on the spot at the time. A bullet fell close to the khanaaraah, while he was cooking the breakfast ; and one also close to the chick, near which Mrs. Inglis was sitting settling something in one of her boxes. For the first time, to-day the khanaamah hat complained of being short of wood for cooking, He has, however, feund some. If things came to the worst we should have to break up our tables and chairs for firewood. Some of the poor ladies fare badly, I believe, in the way of provisions, many having laid in no private stores of their own, and ate entirely dependent on their r*tiotis t which »f course are but scanty."

\ PROVISIONS RUNNING SHORT. •"It U »ow said we have only provisions fdr twenty days more. What is to become of us if our relief does not not arrtte before that time. By tome negligence fix fine bullocks were smothered in the bousse yesterday— a great loss at such a time. The commissariat butcher cams to atk iqr three of Colonel Inglis's goats this morning, te kill them for food, which looks as if we are beginning to run short of meat. In the midst of all this, it is scarcely possible to believe, but it is nevertheless true, that we have had to-day servants coming round with lists of ladies' clothes for sale, and u box with four very smart bonnets in it was also being taken round to see if any one would purchase them. What a strange contrast do such facts present to the awful scenes around us and the feelings that we are impressed with ! It is dreadful to think that we may be short of provisions."

PRICEB OF PROVISIONS. "Sir Henry Lawrence's things are being lold to day ; heard of a ham being sold for £7, and a tin of soup sufficient only for one day's dinner for £1 55. ! • ! Money has ceased to be of any value, and people are giving uuhfard-of prices for store of any kind— one dozen brandy, £20 , one box of vermicelli, £5 ; four amall cakes of chocolate, £2 10s. !!! "

RELIEF AT LAST. "Friday, September 25th.— What a day it this to be remembered for life with gratitude toward* our Heavenly Father, for His q eat mercies, by all those who have Jived through this siege ! Our relief has arrived ! Firing was heard all day, and at times very heavy. About noon our force was entering the city, and at four p.m the* firing in the direction of the old bandstand was said t«» be Very loud, though we did not hear it in our court* yard. At six we were sitting outside our door, when cheers were heard « great excitement prevailed ; servants and soldiers passed by, a,t the most rapid pace, and PJltcook came up to us looking as pale as a sheet irom excitement, and saying that some of the troops had at Ja«t arrived at the Residency. They consist. I believe, of the , Highlanders, and some of the Madras Fusiliers, besides Artillery ; Sir James Outram and General JUVel6ck both with them. They leit Cawnpore on the 18{h, j and, their losses coining here have been very .severe., jhat they have had 500 killed (a good many officers),, and . a number of wounded have been •brought in. They have pome up without tents through alltbe heavy rain; and with scarcely any provisions. The insurgents hid cut trenches in the streets, and Joo!n,-holed the. houses, bo that they could fire down upon them, and shoot them .like dogs. It is described ■4 having bttd a most mcitdtrona affitir !"