he placed the belt of districts round Delhi under martial law. He strained every nerve to get touch of Delhi. But, in a few days he found that he could obtain no news of what was passing there. On May 25 he writes that, 'we have nothing from Meerut for a week. The difficulty of getting messages through is inconceivable.' On May 29, eighteen days after the news of the first outbreak came to him, 'not a line has reached me,' he tells Lord Canning, 'from the Commander-in-Chief since the commencement of the disturbances.' 'The reason why messages are not delivered,' he adds, 'is, that the belief in our power is shaken, and men will not run the risk of detection. On the whole there is (its police force being dispersed) no support to the Government.' On May 31 the two native regiments at Agra are disarmed. In a day or two the group of districts round Agra, such as Alígarh, Muttra (whence his son Elliot narrowly escaped), and Etah, 'are in a blaze of riot and carnage.'
'Etáwah has been reoccupied by the advance which I directed of the Grenadier Regiment, Gwalior Contingent Infantry, from Gwalior. Mynpoory has saved its treasure, prisoners, and records, by the determined energy of Mr. John Power, the Collector. ... The country north of Meerut is at the mercy of the most daring and criminal. ... I wield but the purest shadow of government.'
Appeals for aid reached him from his officers. None could be given. District after district 'went,' as the phrase ran. There were no troops, no police,
