success, as it seemed, of the British in the storming of Dehlí, on the 14th, had not discouraged them. The success of the British on the following days had even had the effect of releasing from Dehlí a considerable body of men who hoped to renew their tactics elsewhere. A number of these had reached Mathurá, on the 26th, and joined there by a large body of mutinied sipáhís, effected a day or two later a junction with the rebels from Central India. These were the men whose threatening attitude was now causing consternation in Agra, though so indifferently was the Intelligence department managed that no one within the fort knew exactly where they were.
Meanwhile, Greathed, pushing on with speed, crossed the bridge of boats under the walls of the fort at sunrise on the morning of the 10th. Inquiring as to the position of the rebels, he was told by the authorities within the fort that 'the insurgent force from Dholpur was beyond the Kárí Nadí, ten miles from cantonments, across which they would find difficulty in passing.'[1] The same authorities wished Greathed to encamp in a 'series of gardens overgrown by brushwood, where their guns would not have had a range of fifty yards, and where the cavalry could not possibly act.'[2] But Greathed was too good a soldier to accede to such a proposition. He insisted on encamping on the parade ground, a magnificent grassy plain, with not an obstacle within three or four hundred yards of it, and at that distance only some high crops. There the camp was pitched, the horses were picketed, and the men proceeded to divest themselves of their accoutrements, preparatory to taking their well-earned breakfasts. Between the camp
