Jowahir Sing, by his own authority, carried the maharajah on his state-elephant, and presented him to the soldiery, accompanied by most of the influential chiefs at Lahore. This was, in effect, a subversion of the power of the minister, who had kept at home during this critical period, and now made preparations for flight to his uncle's fortress at Jumboo. At dawn of the 22nd December, he quitted Lahore, accompanied by the pundit, Meean Sohun Sing, Meean Lab Sing, and a few other adherents, with about 600 men, chiefly sowars (some of them said to have been corrupted by his enemies to betray him), and elephants with treasure, leaving about 3,000 hill troops to defend his house. As soon as Jowahir Sing became aware of his flight, he communicated the important fact to the troops; a general pursuit commenced, headed by that sirdar, and the fugitives were overtaken at a place called the Jemadar's Baolee (well), about thirteen miles from Lahore. It is said that, when the Khalsa troops came in sight, the traitors in the escort of Heera Sing turned upon him. The party took refuge in a village; the Khalsa troops surrounded and fired the hut in which Heera Sing and his adherents had concealed themselves, which compelled them to come forth. Heera offered to surrender, but was immediately cut down. It does not appear whether the rest of his party fell here or at other places; but it is certain that Meean Sohun, Mecan Lab, Pundit Jella, and the minister's secretary, named Dewan Chund, were put to death, with most of those of his followers who remained faithful. The heads of the principals were brought to Lahore, and paraded through the city.

Thus fell a personage who, whatever estimate may have been formed of him prior to his elevation to power, exhibited after it qualities which, under less intractable circumstances, might have secured to him a long tenure of authority. How far his acts may have been the result of his own prudence and judgment, or how far they may have been dictated by stern necessity, could only be determined by time and experience. His fall seems to have been brought about by causes independent of his own merits or demerits, arising from that total disorganization of the state which every one foresaw would follow the death of Runjeet Sing, and which no internal energy is capable of controlling.

The measures of the conspirators appear to have been so well taken, that this revolution was attended with little or no bloodshed at the capital. Jowahir Sing, on his return to Lahore, proceeded to the house of Heera Sing, the guard of which, learning their master's fate, offered no resistance, and even entered the service of the

state.

The sirdar accordingly took possession of the house and the treasure it contained. Riot and disorder had been in a great measure prevented by excluding the troops as much as possible from the city.

army.

The avenue to the vizierat was now apparently open to Jowahir Sing; but it appears that the Punches, or deputations from the Sikh battalions proper, assumed the management of affairs, ostensibly under the direction of the sirdar and the raní, but really for themselves. The raní proposed that her brother should be nominated minister; but the troops turned a deaf ear to the proposal, and caused letters to be written to Lena Sing, Majeeteea, at Benares, and to Prince Peshora Sing, at Ferozepore, inviting the former to accept the post of minister, and the latter that of commander of the On the 23rd December, a grand durbar was held, at which the chiefs congratulated each other on the emancipation of the state from the oppression of the Dogra family, though it is not mentioned wherein that oppression consisted. The recal of the European officers was ordered, and Golab Sing, the Rajah of Jumboo, was summoned to Lahore, to account for the treasures he had abstracted during the rule of his brother Dheean Sing and his nephew Heera Sing, preparatory to offensive operations against his state. These and other ulterior operations, however, were suspended till the promise should be fulfilled of augmented pay and gratuities to the troops, who declared that, otherwise, not a man should march; and negotiations had been going on respecting this matter ever since the revolution. The troops are meanwhile in a state of complete insubordination, beating and imprisoning their officers, and maltreating all who manifested the slightest inclination to oppose their wishes. We subjoin a sample of their proceedings:

Some artillerymen under Sultan Mahmood Khan, after placing their guns on the parade-ground, having taken some offence, brought them in position and began to abuse their general. The latter, mounting a fleet horse, rode into the fort and represented the occurrence to the sirdar (Jowahir Sing), who brought the maharajah to the place. Some of the artillerymen, meanwhile, had proceeded to the general's house, which they unroofed, and were about to set fire to it. The men paid marks of respect to the maharajah, but upon the sirdar addressing them in terms of admonition, they told him he had better mind his own affairs, as they did theirs; that they should dismiss their general if he did not attend to what they required of him, and were determined to appoint whomsoever they pleased to be their officers. They told the sirdar, further, that it was highly improper in him to bring out the maharajah. The sirdar, it is added, thought it best to return to the fort, greatly disappointed.

Meanwhile, Prince Peshora Sing had obeyed the summons, and returned to Lahore on the 1st January. Upon presenting himself before the maharajah, he unbuckled his sword and belt, and placed them at the feet of his highness. He was well received by the troops, but Jowahir Sing persuaded the raní not to countenance him. He was accordingly honourably exiled, by receiving a jaghire of Rs. 40,000 per annum, in the neighbourhood of Seealkote. The prince secretly sounded the troops, who at first evinced an inclination to support him, but finding that he had nothing to give them, whilst the raní lavished jewels and necklaces amongst them, they adhered to her, and recommended "patience" to the prince, who proceeded to his estate. Lena Sing manifested no alacrity to embrace the offer made to him, and, notwithstanding urgent messages, remained, at the date of the last advices, in his secure retreat at Benares. That the post of minister is not to be coveted is evident from the effect which a report of its being about to be conferred upon Ittur Sing wrought upon that sirdar, who was seized with alarm, and, proceeding to the durbar, entreated that he might not be placed in a post for which he was unfit.

One of the most lamentable incidents of this revolution has been the number of suttees, widows and slaves of the slaughtered chiefs. No less than twenty-four individuals have fallen a sacrifice to this barbarous custom amongst a people who profess to have renounced the tenets of Hinduism;-namely, two wives and ten slaves of Heera Sing, two wives and five slaves of Meean Sohun Sing, a wife and two slaves of Meean Lab Sing, the wife of Pundit Jella, and the wife (only fourteen) of Dewan Chund.

The latest advices represent the Sikh durbar as greatly disturbed by the movements of the British forces in the vicinity of their territories. Troops were despatched to the ghauts on the Sutlej, and efforts were making to inspire them with a good spirit by liberal distributions of gold necklaces. The utmost license, however, still prevailed amongst them; they flocked into the city, in contempt of orders, obtruded themselves into the palace, and behaved in the most disorderly manner even in the royal presence.

There is no difficulty in foreseeing that the state of that country, in which there is in fact no government, will compel interference on the part of the British-Indian authorities. This step will be delayed as long as possible, from motives of prudence and policy, as well as from a dread of that obloquy at home which has seldom failed to visit an Indian ruler who is supposed to pursue "schemes of conquest," though really measures of self-defence. The pre

sent Governor-General is concentrating a formidable force upon the north-west frontier, in order to be prepared for any emergency. The latest (Calcutta) papers are unable to speak with certainty as to the intentions of our Government. The Hurkaru says:- "A quiet concentration of troops in the north-west is in progress, but whether for immediate interference, or simply as a precautionary measure of defence, remains yet to be seen." The Calcutta Star speaks more decidedly :-"The Government is accumulating a large force on the north-west frontier, and we believe the crisis of our interference is rapidly approaching. The probabilities at present seem, that we shall meddle to mediate and settle, rather than to appropriate. There is no doubt that communications have passed between this and the court of Lahore; and we incline to the opinion, that, should Golab Sing and his party make any decisive movement in hostility to the young maharajah, we shall step in; the same should the Affghans attempt any irruption across the Attock. We deem it certain that the great preparations that have been gradually, though unostentatiously, going on, are far more than a mere precautionary measure." On the other hand, the Bombay Times considers it to be understood and admitted that nothing short of the violation of our frontier will induce the Governor-General to interfere.

The operations on the Bombay frontier have not yet succeeded in putting down what now appears clearly to be an insurrection of the people. "The troubles in the Kolapore and Sawunt Warree country, and the formidable robberies in the Northern Concan," says the Bombay Times,* "continue almost unabated, in defiance of the efforts of an army of 12,000 men, scattered in detachments above and below the ghauts. Various forts and villages have been taken; detachments have been parted from each other, united, and parted again; yet subordination can scarcely be maintained beyond gunshot from our pickets. Though the success of the troops has been uniform, and their conduct excellent, the insurrection continues apparently as far as ever from being subdued." This is discouraging intelligence, for the war, an inglorious one, is harassing and unpopular. Three officers had fallen during the month,-Capt. Taynton, 8th Madras N.I.; Lieut. Campbell, and Ensign Faure, both of the 2nd Bombay European Light Infantry; and seven had been wounded. Lieut.-Colonel Outram, with a light irregular detachment, was scouring the jungle in all directions,-attacking forts, and taking possession of them when evacuated by the enemy. The

* February 1st.

roads, nevertheless, continued blocked up, and general intercourse interrupted. The leaders of the insurgents exhibit a confidence bordering upon audacity. Soobana Neekum, the once-captured

chief, who made his escape, appears to keep the people of Belgaum and the surrounding villages in constant panic, whilst Ragojee Bangria plunders the Northern Concan, and Phonde Sawunt's gangs infest the Warree territory. All the efforts of Government to open a communication with some of the rebels have failed, so that there are no means of learning the secret haunts and projected movements of the insurgents, who are, on their part, minutely instructed respecting our proceedings.

The operations of the several detachments engaged in this country are so disjointed and desultory, that they cannot easily be combined into an intelligible narrative. The troops under General Delamotte and Brigadier Wallace, having advanced in separate detachments to the edge of the table-land, remained, at the end of December, posted on the verge of the mountain range which separates the plains of Kolapore from the low country towards the sea. Reinforcements had joined the camp at Kolapore and the headquarters of the field force at Hunmunt Ghaut. Colonel Carruthers, with a wing of the Queen's Royals, meanwhile, moved along the base of the mountains, with the view of closing up the bottom of the ravine, at the top of which the larger force was stationed, and so driving the insurgents before him, and placing them betwixt two fires. On the 27th December he had reached the bottom of the slope, near Rangna, which (as noticed in our last Review) had been evacuated by the enemy, and was afterwards destroyed. Brigadier Wallace's force was now at the top of the ghaut, and that of Colonel Carruthers at the bottom, and the attempts to establish a communication between them met with the fiercest resistance from an unseen enemy. A party of 150 men, of the 2nd Europeans and 20th Madras N.I., sent by Brigadier Wallace to reconnoitre the pass, encountered a flanking fire, and though they stormed and destroyed a stockade, they sustained a loss of four (Europeans) killed and twenty wounded. Here Lieut. Campbell fell, whilst leading his men through a densely-wooded defile commanded by the insurgents, who, from crevices and fissures of the scarp, and from behind rocks, opened a sure and deadly fire. Capt. Strettell, who commanded the party, deemed it prudent to retreat. On the 1st January, a party was sent down to communicate with Colonel Carruthers, when the precaution of raking the jungle with ordnance was adopted, which dislodged the enemy from a stockade