'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎507] (526/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
507
sions of disgust at the honest fellows chartering all the bug
gies on the Apollo Bunder, which, loaded inside and outside to
an extent that betokened imminent danger of a break-down,
were driven to some of those haunts in which the soul of Jack
delights.
That was an anxious day in October, at Bombay, when Drill
Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. Syud Hoossein, of the Marine Battalion, and Private
Mungal Guddrea, 10th Regiment Native Infantry,, who had
been tried on the 13th of October, 1857, for sedition, were
blown away from guns at a public parade on Bombay Green.
The prisoners were convicted on the following charge:—" For
having, on or about the night of the 3rd of October, 1857,
attended a seditious meeting, held in a house in a part of the
town of Bombay called Sonapore, and at that meeting, they,
the said Drill Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. Syud Hoossein and Private Mungul
Guddrea made use of highly mutinous and seditious language,
evincing a traitorous disposition towards the Government,
tending to promote rebellion against the State, and to subvert
the authority of the British Government.—The above being in
breach of the Articles of War." Every preparation was made
by the Military and Naval Authorities to meet any contingen
cies which might arise during the progress of the executions.
The wing of H.M.'s 95th Foot, stationed in the town barracks,
was ordered to the parade-ground about four o'clock in the after
noon, and Captain Bolton's half battery of Royal Artillery from
the Fort, occupied a semicircular position to the left of the
95th. The Ordnance Department, with four guns loaded with
canister and grape, took up a position in front of the 95th, and
a body of three hundred seamen from the 4 Assaye,' 4 Akbar,'
and others of the Company's vessels in harbour, armed with
muskets and cutlasses, were ranged alongside the guns to afford
them protection. The two prisoners, under an escort of the
95th Regiment, were brought from their cells in the Fort,
about four o'clock, and stood firm and erect in the midst of
their guards. About half-past four, the 10th Native Infantry,
the Marine Battalion, and the 11th Native Infantry, were
marched on to the parade-ground, and drawn up on the right
and left of the square. Hundreds of Europeans and many
thousands of natives gathered together in the rear to witness
the tragedy about to be enacted. The prisoners, after being
stripped of their uniforms, w 7 ere lashed to the muzzles ot the
guns, the signal was given, and in a moment the ground was
strewed with fragments of their bodies. The shuddering spec
tators dispersed in silence, and the ghastly sight, doubtless,
left an indelible impression on many dark-skinned traitors
there present, hatching incipient treason.
The surviving members of the European community in Bom
bay will, probably, not soon forget how much they owed to the
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