exaggeration, but it is nevertheless certain that, through some source
or other, he made himself well acquainted with the doings and movements
of the mutineers.

Shortly after he left, the field-officer on duty appeared, who ordered
me, in case I should be attacked, to defend my post to the last
extremity, and in no case to fall back, adding that to my picket, and to
those on my right and left, the safety of the camp during the expected
sortie, together with the security of our left flank, was entrusted.

After darkness set in the enemy commenced a furious cannonade in the
direction of the three pickets, round shot whistling through the trees
and shells bursting around us. The din and roar were deafening, but
firing, as they did, at random, little damage was done. Nothing can be
grander than the sight of live shells cleaving the air on a dark night.
They seemed like so many brilliant meteors rushing through the heavens,
or like lightning-flashes during a storm, and this being my first
experience of the sort, no words can paint my awe and admiration.

We naturally expected an attack in force from the insurgents under cover
of the cannonade; but hours passed by in suspense and anxiety, and
none was attempted. The firing was continued all night--sleep being
impossible--and ceased only at daybreak, when the relief arrived, and I
marched the picket back to our camp.

_July 3_.--That day the monsoon--the Indian wet season--set in, and rain
descended in sheets of water for many hours.

In the afternoon it was reported that a large force of mutineers was
moving out of the city by the Kabul and Ajmir Gates into the suburbs