the magazine. Then, believing he had scored a triumph, he dismissed the European troops, and went comfortably to his luncheon. But when an hour or two later the officers, by his direction, endeavoured to persuade the sipáhís to surrender the caps in their actual possession, the latter broke into open mutiny, and went off towards the river Són, in the direction of Árah. The European troops were at once called out, but there was no one present to give any orders. The General had gone on board of one of the steamers, and in the matter of taking upon themselves the smallest responsibility in his absence the two officers next in command took example from the Government of India. Nothing, or next to nothing, was done. The mutineers got off scot free. It was one of the most painful incidents of those troublous times.
Nor was the calamity confined to Dánápur. The telegraph did its work. The very evening of the day on which these events occurred the troopers of the 12th Irregulars rose in mutiny and murdered their commanding officer and his wife. Similarly, Kunwar Singh, a large landowner, who had considerable estates at Jagdíspur, not far from Árah, and who had had bitter reason to complain of the action of the law courts of Calcutta, intimated to the sipáhís, by some very practical assistance, his sympathy with their movement. It seemed probable that, unless the British should take prompt action, the whole of Western Bihár would be in a blaze.
There were two officials in the province upon whom, at this period, devolved enormous responsibility. The one was ready to take that responsibility, and did take it. The other had completely lost his head. The action of these two officials will now be related. It was the obvious duty of General Lloyd to despatch English troops at once in pursuit of the rebels. He had a sufficient
