Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay

“ Places once inhabited by human beings now became infested with ferocious tigers; quarters that had once resounded with the music of the ornaments and with the lilt of the laughter of happy women, now became dens where bears reared their cubs ”

“ Temples became homes for jackals and owls; and within the music rooms of the past, venomous snakes trapped frogs in bright daylight. Crops were plentiful, but there were not people enough to consume food; no customers to buy the grain. ”

“ The owners of land became poor. People everywhere became poverty-stricken. Men lived by looting. Thieves and bandits were active again. Honest people protected themselves within their own homes.
The Children, however, were on the move once more and began a campaign of seizing rifles and revolvers. ”

“ The living ones had enough to eat; but those who were sick and famished through starvation were unable to tolerate food and died. The famine-hit areas were devoid of population. In the villages, home after home became merely hunting grounds for ghosts and resting-places for cattle. ”

“ He gathered together the local and the provincial sepoys, and mingled with them his own expert soldiers. He divided this mixed command into different companies, placing each company under an experienced and efficient officer. ”