possession of the fort, before six in the evening. At a third interview with him, before seven, he repeated his assurances to me, on the word of a soldier, that no harm should come to us: and, indeed, I believe his orders were only general, that we should for that night be secured; and that what followed was the result of revenge and resentment in the breasts of the lower Jemmautdaars, or Serjeants (to whose custody we were delivered) for the number of their order killed during the siege. Be this as it may, as soon as it was dark, we were all, without distinction, directed by the guard set over us to collect ourselves into one body, and sit down quietly under the arched Veranda, or Piazza, to the west of the Black-hole prison, and the barracks to the left of the court of guard. Just as it was dark, about 400 or 500 men, who were drawn up upon the parade, advanced, and ordered us all to rise and go into the barracks. We were no sooner all within them, than the guard advanced to the inner arches and parapet-wall; and with their muskets presented, ordered us to go into the room at the southernmost end of the barrack, commonly called the Black-hole prison. Few amongst us, the soldiers excepted, had the least idea of the dimensions or nature of a place we had never seen; for it we had, we should, at all events, have rushed upon the guard, and been, as the lesser evil, by our own choice cut to pieces.
Amongst the first that entered were myself, Messieurs Baillie, Jenks, Cooke, T. Coles, Ensign Scott, Revely, Law, Buchanan, &c. I got possession of the window nearest the door, and Messieurs Coles and Scott into the window with me, they being both wounded (the first I believe mortally.) The rest of the above mentioned gentlemen were close round about me. It was now about eight o'clock.
Figure to yourself, my friend, if possible, the situation of a hundred and forty-six wretches, exhausted by continual fatigue and action, crammed together in a cube of eighteen feet, in a close sultry night, in Bengal, shut up to the eastward and southward (the only quarters from whence air could reach us) by dead walls, and by a wall and door to the north, open only to the westward by two windows, strongly barred with iron, from which we could receive scarce any the least circulation of fresh air.
What must ensue, appeared to me in lively and dreadful colours, the instant I cast my eyes round and saw the size and situation of the room. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to force the door; for having nothing but our hands to work with, and the door opening inward, all endeavours were vain and fruitless.....
Amongst the guards posted at the windows, I observed an old Jammautdaar near me, who seemed to carry some compassion for us in his countenance. I called him to me, and pressed him to endeavour to get us separated, half in one place and half in another, and that he should in the morning receive a thousand rupees for this act of tenderness. He withdrew; but in a few minutes returned, and told me it was impossible. Then thought I had been deficient in my offer, and promised him two thousand; he with-
