"تاريخ البحرية الهندية. (١٦١٣- ١٨٦٣)." [‎٤‎٤‎٣] (٦٢٢/٤٦٢)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAYY.
443
Not a Sepoy remained alive in the place, excepting the three
who had been taken prisoners, and two of these were wounded.
That so much had been accomplished with comparatively so
small a loss on our side, was deemed worthy of sincere con
gratulation by everyone. The station was now perfectly safe,
for no one anticipated that the mutineers from Chittagong
would pay it a visit after the utter defeat of their brethren of
the 73rd Native Infantry. Still, every precaution was adopted.
Sailors and Volunteers remained on duty throughout the day
and the following night; and, for some days and nights after
wards, guards and patrols were active and vigilant both in and
around the city and station, but nothing further was seen of
the defeated and disbanded Sepoys, nor did the mutineers of
the 34th Native Infantry approach Dacca. The former were
flying northwards, it was reported, many of them mounted on
ponies, and in less than three weeks after their defeat, the
wretched remnant that still survived w 7 ere hunted through the
jungles of Cachar into the desert wilds of Bhootan, where
eventually they either became slaves or else perished
miserably.
The morning after the fight, Monday, the 23rd of November,
the three Sepoy prisoners were taken before the Zillah judge,
who summarily sentenced them to be hanged on the following
day. There was not the least doubt or hesitation about it;
and Lord Canning's celebrated Five Acts, which conferred upon
every civilian in the country the powers usually exercised
under martial law by a General Drum-head Court, fully war
ranted the procedure. At the appointed hour, the ground being
kept by the sailors and Volunteers, the three Sepoys were
escorted under the ugly and grim-looking beam by a strong
guard of Native police. A dense spectre-like multitude, dressed
in white, had assembled from the city, and occupied every
point from which a view could be obtained of the drop. A
dead silence prevailed among the vast multitude of people, who
could be seen in every direction as far as the eye could reach.
The magistrate read and explained to each of the three men
their crimes and sentences, but they said nothing; the sharp
cold of a chilly November morning made them shiver, and the
near approach of death had apparently struck them dumb with
terror. The two wounded men had to be assisted up the drop ;
the other, a Hindoo, went up the ladder unaided, and met his
doom with much fortitude. He at the last moment preferred a
request to the magistrate that his body should not be buried,
but be thrown into the river. He was told that his request
was granted. When the bolt was drawn, and the three men
were seen suspended in the air, a low long-continned moan
arose from the hitherto silent multitude, which soon afterwards
dispersed as quietly as it had assembled. This was the last
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