| John Tulloch Nash

“ And on our approaching the locality, we beheld literally an army of vultures settled down on the blood-stained plains on which we had fought so often, and so fat and unwieldy had they become on the flesh of rebels, that not one among their countless numbers seemed disposed to quit the scene of their festivities, or move out of our way as we positively rode through them, amidst shocking sights which, in compassion to the feelings of my readers, I pass over in silence. ”

“ The dismounted portion of the Brigade therefore naturally suffered more in proportion to ourselves, and as they droopingly dragged themselves along the line of march, and struggled on with the hardships of their lot, they looked sun-dried, ghastly, and like ghosts, while a large number among them presented a pitiful appearance, with blood trickling down their sun-cracked cheeks and blistered noses. ”

“ Apart, however, from this hobgoblin of Buddhistic tradition, the pepul tree is a grand product of the vegetable kingdom, and its dense foliage will not only defy the rays of the sun, but its gigantic leafy canopy will effectually shade a whole regiment of a thousand men. ”

“ Notwithstanding, however, this prolonged halt under a waterspout in the dark, and the road having become a river of mud, the whole Brigade reached Cuptāngung before noon, and encamped under some of those well-known pepul trees which grow to such colossal size in India, and are “reverenced” by all Hindus, owing — as tradition tells them — to Old Buddha having invariably meditated and taught his profoundly beautiful precepts under the benevolent foliage of the pepul tree! ”

“ There can be little doubt that never in any war, since the world began, was the sun a greater enemy than in the Mutiny campaign. And some idea may be gained of the insufferable heat under his vertical beams, when I state the fact that we could not retain our feet in the burning stirrups, and the ground was heated to such a degree, as not to be borne by the naked foot. ”

“ And the truth of this remark requires no confirmation, because the insurgents well knew that in action they were always within arm’s length, so to say, of mounted men with drawn swords, who never did things by halves, and from whom they could not easily escape in flight. ”

“ The reader will remember that when we passed through Buste, half-dead from the effects of hardships, and privations sustained in the early part of the year, its inhabitants, instead of showing some sympathy in behalf of our deplorable condition, received us with scowls and growls ”