Page:The Indian Mutiny of 1857.djvu/419

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Mr Forjett in Bombay.
383

under Colonel George Malcolm and Brigadier Le-Grand Jacob, and finally the suppression of the rebellion in the August following.

In Bombay itself the danger had been no slight one. Fortunately the arrangements for the maintenance of internal order had been entrusted to the competent hands of Mr Charles Forjett, Superintendent of Police. That most able and energetic officer detected the conspiring of the sipáhís stationed there; brought it home to some of the sipáhí officers, theretofore incredulous, that his suspicions had been well founded; prevented by his daring courage, an outbreak when it was on the point of explosion, and literally saved the island. That this is no exaggerated statement is proved by the terms of address made to Mr Forjett by the native mercantile community of Bombay when, on his retirement, they presented him with a testimonial. 'They presented it,' they wrote, 'in token of strong gratitude for one whose almost despotic powers and zealous energy had so quelled the explosive forces of native society that they seemed to have become permanently subdued.' Lord Elphinstone likewise recorded a minute expressive of his deep sense of the services rendered by this able, energetic, and honest servant of the Government.

I have stated that among the earlier acts of Lord Elphinstone was the despatch in the direction of Central India, of a column composed of the troops then available. This column marched from Puná on the 8th of June, under the command of Major-General Woodburn, whose orders were to proceed to Máu. Woodburn reached Aurangábád the 23d of June, disarmed there a cavalry regiment of the Haidarábád contingent which had mutinied, but lost much precious time by halting to try the prisoners he had taken. Fortunately sickness com-