"تاريخ البحرية الهندية. (١٦١٣- ١٨٦٣)." [‎٤‎٤‎٠] (٦٢٢/٤٥٩)

4 W HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
poses, were yet prepared to go wherever, and do whatever thev
were ordered. Composed of a few Englishmen, of a sprinkling
ot Armenians, but principally of Eurasians, or half-castes, of
men belonging to all classes, and of all ages and professions, it
was not deemed advisable to expose them, except in case of
extreme necessity, to the risks and dangers inseparable from
actual conflict with the Sepoys, Yet they were well drilled and
confident in themselves, although so few in number, and might
have been safely entrusted to perform more hazardous duties
than they were required to do on this occasion.
" At half-past four o'clock on Sunday morning, the 22nd of
November, about thirty Volunteers had assembled at the
Bank. Not more than a hundred yards off was a guard of
fifty Sepoys over the Treasury, which, it was said, contained at
the time twelve lacs of rupees (<£120,000), and, a couple of
hundred yards distant, on the other side of the Treasury, was
the house occupied by the sailors as a barrack. These build
ings were situated in the centre of the Civil Station, between
which and the Sepoy lines, a distance of about a mile, was the
native city, chiefly inhabited by a large and fanatical Ma-
homedan population. It being necessary to disarm the Trea-
sury guard first, it was clearly of the utmost importance that it
should be accomplished without firing a shot, which would have
alarmed^the main body of the Sepoys on the other side of the
city. Ihis was managed with great success. The Volunteers,
according to agreement, reached the Treasury at a quarter to
five o'clock, when the sailors, after disarming the guard, were
in the act of marching out of the gateway. Not a hitch had
occurred, and the work had been done as quietly as possible.
It now devolved upon the Volunteers to act as a guard over the
Treasury, and to prevent the disarmed Sepoys from leaving
the large enclosure in which it was situated; while the sailors,
about eighty strong, accompanied by a few civilians and
Volunteers, and the two officers who nominally commanded
the Native troops, made the best of their way through the
city to the Lall Bagh, where they hoped to catch the Sepoys
napping.
44 The Lall Bagh was a large enclosure, which had formerly
been a garden attached to the fort and palace, now in ruins,
belonging to the Mahomedan rulers of Eastern Bengal. Im
mediately to the right, on entering the gateway, was a large
tank, and to the left a high embankment, between which ran a
narrow road, about forty yards long, which it was necessary to
pass before one could be said to be fairly in the Lall Bagh. In
the centre of the enclosure were two large, high, solid, stone-
built structures—a tomb and a mosque, each with a dome in
the centre, and minarets at their four corners, which were still
occupied by the Sepoys as barracks. These two buildings