FURTHER DETAILS OF THE FALL OF LUCKNOW.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 72, 8 September 1858, Page 4

FURTHER DETAILS OF THE FALL OF LUCKNOW.

3Y W. 11. HUSSELL, OffX CORRESPONDENT OF THE

" TIMES."

Tuesday, March 16.— There has been little respite given to the enemy. All night long he fled out of the city by the stone bridge, and great multitudes of the inhabitants, with their property, escaped also, but to-day closed that means of exit. A heavy bombardment and fire were maintained on the portions of the city near the stone bridge, which may have had the effect of inducing the Begum to write an appeal to Sir James Outram, which he answered by calling on her to come in and surrender ; and he took steps to enable her to do so, if she pleased. He suspended our attack on the stone bridge, lest it might interfere witfc her movements, but as the morning advanced it was evident that her Majesty either would not or could not trust herself in our hands. The moment for action came, and the troops pressed on, but it was found that the enemy had retreated to the houses beyond the ruins of the Residency, close to the south side of the iron bridge, which they appeared resolute to defend, the houses and palaces between the iron and the stone bridges being occupied by them in force. The day was exceedingly hot, and I scarcely expected to see the men go through their work so well ; but the excitement carried them on, aud the blue-coated Bengal Fusiliers

and the red-coated Highlanders seemed as little fatigued as the 23rd in their light mud-coloured tunics. The bheestie moving lightly about with their skins of water no doubt helped to sustain them. As we advanced with the 23rd it was interesting to be told that our route lay through the very same buildings by which Sir Colin led out the garrison of Lucknoiv. Our

march went past and through a line of palaces — the Lalbagh, the Furraßux, Chuttur Munsil, till we came out upon a large space with pierced gateways, one shattered turret, and some tot-

tering walls, rising amid heaps of rubbish, and surrounded by traces of a trench. This gate was the Bailey Guard ; inside that broken window Lawrence met his death. Here was ground made holy by patient courage and by the noblest endurance and devotion all around us. We stood amid the ruins of the Residency and of the works defended by the garrison of Lucknow. The 23rd entered first, and were followed by the 79th ; the Bengal Fusiliers were in support, and as we passed through the Chuttur Munsil we found the 20th in reserve in case they were needed. The moment our men appeared above the ruins of the Residency the enemy opened fire on them, and their

bullets came " pinging " overhead. The gallant Fusiliers, in extended order, with loud cheers, dashed along the road and over the broken ground in front. On the road was a small intrenchment with an embrasure for a ninepounder. As our men got within 200 yards, this gun, deliberately laid, was fired. " Whish " went the grape with a murmur like a flight of birds ! Two, and two only, of our men fell, and in a moment more the gun is ours, and is tcrned on the enemy. More cheering ! The iron bridge is ours 1 Our guns from the north are turned against the stone bridge, across which the enemy are flying in thousands — horae, foot, guns, and baggage, men, women, and children. Qutram's guns open from the front of the Residency on the large Imaumbarrah, and in a few minutes we hear that the stone bridge is to be assaulted also. The men resc ("<jc a wftife — getting, by tfee, Gewevai's orders, as much into the shade as possible. Then orders come for the Bengal Fusiliers and the 79th to advance. We pass the Muchee Bawun, a fine building, blown up by Lawrence to clear the ground for his guns. There are dead Sepoys on the road — not many — and ruined houses. Our guns on the iron bridge are pounding away at the fugitives who are ruuning up and down on the stone bridge, for they hear that Grant is outside at the north, and they do not know what to do. We enter a broad street with magnificent arched gateways. Turn sharp to the left through one of them, and there stands the grand Imaumbarrah, the finest building I have as yet seen in India, with the grandest and simplest front — a noble mosque, amplesquares and flights of steps, broad esplanades, and gardens once rich with fountains. The 79th are soon installed in the great saloon, said to be one of the largest arched stone roofs in east or west. I paced it, and could only make out that it was 65 yards by 21. There was a throne covered with silver, and a silver mosque and many candelabra inside, but I was glad to get out of the dust and heat, and climb by a winding stair to the gallery outside the high and slender minaret of the mosque, from which there was a beautiful view of the city. To-day's proceedings were most successful. The whole of the city along the river's banks is ours up to the stone bridge, and there -, is no longer any escape for the enemy by the bridges. Those who have been cut off or have

fled from the interior of the city are collecting at the Mousabagh. All these operations have been so judiciously effected that our losses have been most trifling. Up to this date we have taken upwards of 80 guns, and killed at least 3,000 of the enemy. March 20.— The enemy, dismayed by the stern onslaught, by the fire of our artillery, and by the lesson they had received at the storm of the Bogum's palace, abandoned their position, and, flying in disorder into the Kaiserbagh, so entirely disheartened the garrison, already decimated by the bombardment, that they gave up the key of their position almost without a struggle. The news took us by surprise. Every one was on the spot as speedily as possible. The air was still heavy with gunpowder j bullets were whistling around from the desperate men shut up in the works, and

from the enemy in the inner line of defences. Our men were just crashing through the rooms of the palaces, which were as yet filled with the evidence of barbaric magnificence and splendour, and the cries of the dying were not yet stilled when we entered. The Kaiserbagh cannot be described. The place is a series of palaces, kiosks, mosques, all of fanciful oriental architecture — some light and graceful, others j merely -fantastic and curious, connected generally by long corridors archea and. open in the front, or by extensive Wings, which enclose the courts and gardens contained -within the outer walls. In every room throughout the endless series there was a profusion of mirrors in ponderous gilt frames. A universal gilding of

cornices, furniture, and everything that would ! bear the process seemed the prevailing taste in the royal court. From every ceiling hung glass chandeliers, of every age, form, colour, and design. As to the furniture/ in many w instances it looked like collections from the lumber rooms of all the old palaces in Europe — Louis Quatorze clocks and cabinets, renaissance mirrors and chairs, buhl-worked ebony chests, marqueterie tables, solid lumpy old German state chairs, gilt all over ; but these were relieved by the richest carpets, by sumptuous divans, by cushions covered with golden embroidery, by rich screens of Cashmere shawls, and by table-covers ponderous with pearls and gold. Down came chandeliers in a tinkling, clattering rain of glass — crash ! crash ! crash ! door and window, and mirror and pendule ! Sikh and soldier were revelling in destruction and delirious with plunder and mischief. Those who could not get in at once to carry on the work searched the corridors, battered off the noses, legs, and arms of the statues in the gardens, or, diving into cellars, either made their fortunes by the discovery of unsuspected treasure, or lost their lives at the hands of concealed fanatics. There was no time to guard against indiscriminate plunder, inasmuch as it never was expected that the Kaiserbagh and all its treasures would have fallen that day into our hands. How the soldiers cheered when Sir Colin made his appearance in the Imaumbarrah and proceeded through them to the stairs which led up on to the roof of the palace, from which a good view could be obtained of portions of the Kaiserbagh. It was rather a hot place at times, for the enemy in minarets and in the buildings all round us kept up a constant fire, and the people at the other side of the Kaiserbagh were firing at our men ; but still hotter was it from the burning sun, which blazed fiercely over the smoke and tumult in the courts below. The road to the Begum's palace and on to the Imaumbarrah, wasj thronged with dhooly-bearers, some returning with heavy litters full of groaning wounded men ; others in a stream trampling through the dust to join their regiments, each dhooly with its little distinctive flag, and the number of the regiment marked conspicuously upon it. J Artillerymen, sailors, and great trains of oxen \ were dragging up heavy guns and mortars to secure our new possession. Working our way through Sikhs, busy in melting down gold and silver lace in huge fires, under earthen pots, which served as crucibles ; through wounded Ghoorkas, staggering back to the rear; we approached the Kaiserbagh by the street along which Havelock's rear-guard marched towards the Residency. Every window of every house was filled with brick or baked mud and loopholed, and the tops of all the houses and walls had a raised parapet, pierced in the same way, above them. The heat and the dust were very fatiguing and oppressive, but the excitement carried one forward ; and at last we managed to get through the breach in the parapet of the outer work, which our sappers were rapidly enlarging for the passage of our guns, and to enter one of the courts of the Kaiserbagh through a small gateway or broken door. It was surrounded by rooms with latticed windows, to which access was gained by means of stairs opening into the court, the strong doors of which were barred on the inside. The walls were decorated with indifferent frescoes, representing feats of arms and female dancers. On one side the trees of a garden could be caught sight of through the Venetian blinds, and there ■was evidence that -we wete eJose to the king's ; zenana, and that the buildiugs about us were the houses of his eunuchs. A party of the 38th regiment at one gateway of the court and of the 90th at another were replying to the fire which was still maintained from the adjacent buildings aud the line of the enemy's inner and last defences ; but a stray bullet, whistling sharply through the court now and then, showed that some of the enemy were concealed in the rooms around. Our men were in high delight with the gay dresses of the eunuchs which they found in some of the rooms, and it was with difficulty they were induced to take off the crowns of lace and peacock's plumes, and bird of paradise feathers, aud the swordbelts they stuck over their heads and shoulders. Here, as in every other building, there were quantities of kites, the flying of which seems a favourite amusement of these childish but ferocious races. Goats, horses, the stately Cyrus cranes, tame monkeys, apes, antelopes, numbers of paroquets in cages were also appropriated by the men. But it was scarcely a place for zoological investigation. In the next court, which was sheltered from fire by the walls around it, our men had made a great seizure of rich plunder. They had burst into some of the state apartments, and they were engaged in dividing the spoil of shawls and lace and embroidery of gold and silver and pearls. In a nook of this court, where there was a little shade, we retired to rest ourselves, as there were no means of approaching the front, part of the buildings being on fire, and explosions of mines feared every moment. Two men of the 90th were in before us, and, assisted later by some of the 38th, we saw them appropriate moneys worth enough to make them independent for life. The rooms of this nook had been used as stores by the King, or some wealthy member of his household, and each moment these men went in only to emerge with a richer trophy. In one box they found diamond bracelets, emeralds, rubies, pearls, and opals, all so large and bright and badly set, that we believed at the time they were glass. In another there was a pair of gold-mounted and jewelled duelling pistols, of English make, and the bill, stating that his Majesty the King of Oude owed the maker .£280 ; then out they came with bundles of swords, gold-mounted and jewelled, which they at once knocked to pieces for the sake of the mountings, leaving the blades behind them. Next came out a huge chemical laboratory ; then 'a. gold saddle cloth, studded with pearls ; then gold-handled riding canes; then cups of agate and jade, gold-mounted and jewelled ; then — but I must really stop this broker's inventory. The happy possessors of these riches were quite mad with excitement. "Is this gold, sir ?" "Is that a diamond?'* "Is your honour shure thaPs TaalgooldV "Is this string of little white stones (pearls) worth anything, gintlemen?" It "was a great drawback to have a conscience under such circumstances; a greater not to have a penny in one's pockets ; for in this country no one except an old stager on the

look-out for loot carries a farthing about him ; and, as one of the soldiers observed, " These here concerns only carries on ready-money transactions !" He was an experienced operator, that gentleman. If a native soldier came in and walked off with anything which he found in a dark corner, out pounced our friend upon him, rifle in hand, " Leave that there, I tell you. I put that there myself!" and there was something in his eye which explaiued his meaning so clearly that the article was at once abandoned, and if found to be valuable was retained; if not, was "made a present of." Close to us were large boxes of japanned work, containing literally thousands of cups and vessels of jade, of crystal, and of china, which the soldiers were listlessly throwing on the ground and breaking into atoms. Had the enemy made a strong attack on us at that moment, not one-half of our troops could have been collected to repel it. And such were the scenes through every court of the many mansions of the Kaiserbagh. Meantime intelligence reached the Chief of the Staff, that the women of the Zenana were secreted in one of the strongest parts of the Kaiserbagh. Some engineer officers, whose names I do not know, Captain Hope Johnstone, of General Mansfield's staff; and Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, 8.A., with two companies of the 38th, immediately proceeded to the spot, into which some of our soldiers had already forced an entrance. In doing so, the son of one of the Begums, a deaf and dumb youth of 20 years of age, and two or three of the ladies of the Zenana, were unfortuuately killed by a discharge of musketry when the doors were burst in, before the soldiers saw that they were women. It may be imagined what a state of terror the Begums and their attendants were in when our men entered. They expected death every instant, and their agonies of fear were increased by the kuowledge of the fact that some armed Sepoys were shut up in a room close at hand, and one shot might seal their fate. Huddled together amid the smoke, they could scarcely be calmed by the assurances of the officers, who at once took measures to remove them to a place of safety. As they were going out, one of the ladies pointed out to Captain Hope Johnstone a box which he had just taken from the floor and laid upon the table. She told him it contained jewels to the value of 10 lacs of rupees, or £ 100,000. He at once placed sentries at the doors, and gave orders that no one should enter. Having, with the aid of his brother officers, taken the ladies out of danger, he retired to the Zenana. It was blazing from end to end. The sentries only escaped by clambering up to the roof, from which they were with difficulty saved. The jewels were gone. Had Captain Johnstone taken them they would have been his, for the Raisevbagh on this day was given up to plunder, and what each man could get became his property. Those stately buildings, which had never before been entered by European foot except by a Commissioner of Oude on the State day, were now open to the common soldier, and to the poorest camp follower of our army. How their spendour vanished like snow in sunshine. The destruction around one, the shouting, the smashing noises, the yells of the Sikhs and natives were oppressive. I was glad to get away just as our mortars began to thunder away at the enemy's works again. There were burning stockades, and thousands of pounds of powder near at hand. In every court there was abundance of all kinds of acnmunition, except six-pounder shot, which, as well as many nine-pounder balls, were rudely made of hammered iron. In one court we found a large brass mortar, with heaps of live brass and stone shells near it, but I could not find any fusees, as the enemy seldom used shell, notwithstanding that I saw a good many of our own in the Kaiserbagh ; I presume that they did not know how to manufacture the fusee composition. It was late in the evening when we returned to camp, through roads thronged with at least 20,000 camp followers, all staggering under loads of plunder; the most extraordinary and indescribable spectacle I ever beheld — Coolies, syces, kitmutgars, dhooly-bearers, Sikhs, grass-cutters, a flood of men covered with clothing not their own, carrying on their heads and shoulders lookingglasses, mirrors, pictures, brass pots, swords, firelocks, rich shawls, scarfs, embroidered dresses, all the loot of ransacked palaces. The noise, the dust, the shouting, the excitement were almost beyond endurance. Lucknow was borne away piecemeal to camp, and the wild Ghoorkas and Sikhs, with open mouths and glaring eyes, burning with haste to get rich, were contending fiercely against the current as they sought to get to the sources of such unexpected wealth. March 26. — The most stringent orders have just been issued for the suppression of plunder and outrage. An hourly roll-call will be called. No soldier is permitted to enter the city on any pretence. Camp followers will be hanged if found armed in the city. Arms are to be taken from all men not soldiers, and no soldier is to be permitted to wear his side-arms unless on guard or duty. Triangles are to be erected at proper places, and strong patrols appointed to clear the streets. The chicf v engineer, Brigadier Napier, 8.E., has prepared a report on the best way of clearing the city of Lucknow, so as to enable our troops to operate with efficiency in case of disturbance. A few shops have been opened. The first thrown open by the proprietor was one for the sale of — what do you think ? Of rice ? No. Of bread? No. Of meat? No. You might guess for ever. It was a boutique for small bottles of scents and attar of roses. The townspeople are fast returning now, and even some few of the old chiefs who lived in the city are making obeisance and demanding pardon. The civil power is gradually asserting itself, and its officers are feeling their way, impeded in doing so almost as much by the action of our own soldiery and disorderly camp followers as by the results of rebellion and war.

Gold Discovery in Western Australia. — From a private reliable source we are informed, that a gold discovery of an important character has been at last made in our neighbouring colony, in the vicinity of King George's Sound ; and a company incorporated in five hundred shares, which were so eagerly sought for, that 250 were taken up prior to the prospectus being published. — S. A. Advertiser.