"The Kaiserbagh cannot be described; antelopes, and numbers of paroquets, in the whole place is a series of palaces, kiosks, cages, were appropriated by the men in this and mosques, all of fanciful Oriental archi- quarter; but as some officers were looking tecture-some light and graceful, others at one of the men who had dressed himself merely fantastic and curious, connected out in a fantastic eunuch's attire, a shot generally by long corridors, arched and from one of the rooms of the court passed open in the front, or by extensive wings, between them, announcing that that was which enclose the courts and gardens con- no place for antics, and the party speedily tained within the outer walls. In every shifted their quarters. "In the next court, room throughout the endless series, there which was sheltered from fire by the walls was a profusion of mirrors in ponderous gilt around it, some men had made a great frames; from every ceiling hung glass chan- seizure. They had burst into some of the deliers of every age, form, colour, and de- state apartments, and they were engaged in sign. As to the furniture, in many instances dividing the spoil of shawls and lace, and it looked like collections from the lumber embroidery of gold and silver and pearls. rooms of all the old palaces in Europe, re- In a nook off this court, where there was a lieved by rich carpets and sumptuous divans, little shade, we retired to rest ourselves, as by cushions covered with golden embroi- there were no means of approaching the dery, by rich screens of Cashmere shawls, front part of the buildings, which were on fire, and by table covers, ponderous with pearls and explosions of mines were momentarily and gold. In some of the rooms were a few expected. Two men of the 90th were in pictures in gorgeous frames; but the hand before us, and, assisted later by some of the of the spoiler had been heavy among all. 38th, we saw them appropriate moneys Those which hung out of the reach of the worth enough to make them independent musket-stock and bayonet-thrust, were not for life. The rooms off this nook had been safe from a bullet, or the leg of a table con-used as stores by the king or some wealthy verted into an impromptu missile for the member of his household, and each mooccasion. Down came chandeliers in a ment these men went in only to emerge tinkling, clattering rain of glass; crash fol- with a richer trophy. In one box, they lowed crash, as door and window, mirror and found diamond bracelets, emeralds, rubies, pendule were battered down by the excited pearls, and opals, all so large and bright victors. Sikh and soldier were revelling in and badly set, that we believed at the time destruction, and delirious with plunder and they were glass. In another was a pair of mischief: those who could not get in at gold-mounted and jewelled duelling pistols once to carry on the work, searched the of English make, and the bill, stating that corridors, and battered off the noses, legs, his majesty, the king of Oude, owed the and arms of the statues in the gardens; or, maker £280! Then out they came with diving into the cellars, either made their bundles of swords, gold-mounted and fortune by the discovery of unexpected trea- jewelled, which they at once knocked to sure, or lost their lives at the hands of con- pieces for the sake of the mountings, leavcealed fanatics. There had, as yet, been no ing the blades behind them. Next came time to guard against indiscriminate plun-out a huge chemical laboratory-then a der, inasmuch as it never was expected that gold saddle-cloth, studded with pearlsths Kaiserbagh and all its treasures would then gold-handled riding-canes and cups have fallen that day into our hands."

of

agate and jade, gold-mounted and jewelled. Our men were in high delight with the The happy possessors of these riches were gay dresses of the eunuchs, which they quite mad with excitement, and their enfound in some of the rooms; and it was quiries were almost too rapid for replywith difficulty they were induced to take off Is this gold, sir?' 'Is that a diamond?' the crowns of lace, and peacock's plumes, 'Is your honour shure that's raal goold?' and bird of paradise feathers, and the Is this string of little white stones (pearls) sword belts they stuck over their heads worth anything, gintlemen?' It was a and shoulders. Here, as in every other great drawback to have a conscience under building, there were quantities of kites, such circumstances-a greater not to have the flying of which appears to have been a penny in one's pocket; for in this couna favourite amusement with the childish try no one, except an old stager on the but ferocious races that inhabited the look out for loot, carries a farthing about place. Cyrus cranes, tame monkeys, apes, him; and, as one of the soldiers pithily ob

served, '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 explained 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 carelessly throwing about and breaking into atoms. Had the enemy made a strong attack upon 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.

"While these proceedings.were going on, intelligence reached General Mansfield, the chief of the staff, that some women of the zenana were secreted in one of the strongest parts of the Kaiserbagh, and Captain Hope Johnstone of the staff, with some officers with two companies of the 38th regiment, were immediately ordered to the spot indicated for their protection. Some of the soldiers had already in their search for plunder forced an entrance to the apartments, and in doing so, the son of one of the begums (a deaf and dumb youth of twenty years of age), and two or three of the ladies of the zenana, were unfortunately killed by a discharge of musketry when the doors were broken in, and before the soldiers saw that the persons before them were females. When the officers with their men entered, the terror of the begums and their attendants was extreme. They expected instant death. 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 ten 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 returned

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; but the jewels were gone. Had Captain Johnstone taken them, they would have been his own; for the Kaiserbagh 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 a state visit, were now open to the commou soldier, and to the meanest camp-follower of our army. Their splendours 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 ammunition, except 6-pounder shot; which, as well as many 9-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. 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-a flood of meu covered with clothing not their own, carrying on heads and shoulders, looking-glasses, mirrors, pictures, brass pots, swords, firelocks, rich shawls, scarfs, embroidered dresses, and 'loot' of all kinds, from ran sacked palaces. The noise, the dust, the shouting, the excitement, were almost beyond endurance. Lucknow was borne away piecemeal; 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. The commander-in-chief and the chief of his staff were already in camp, and the expression of Sir Colin's face told how much the result of the day's operations had pleased him."*

Having illustrated some striking incidents of the struggle for Lucknow, so far as the preceding extracts extend, the narrative of active operations is resumed.

* Russell's Letter, see Times, May 6th, 1858.