The heroic soldiers accomplished their task. They succeeded in silencing the fatal guns. But only one hundred and ninety-eight returned; the rest lay dead or wounded on the fatal plain. Eleven days later, 15 the Russians made another desperate attack at Inkerman. The assault was made in the early morning, and was meant to be a surprise.

Accordingly, the battle was fought almost in the dark, and was gained rather by the courage of the soldiers than the skill of their leaders. Never was the valour of our men shown to greater advantage. For the entire day, eight thousand British troops and six thousand of our brave allies held the heights against sixty thousand of the foe.

The Sufferings in the Trenches: Close of the War. -After this battle, the trenches were opened against Sebastopol, and the army settled down to pass the winter as best it could. It was then that our soldiers felt to the full the horrors of war. The weather was terrible -wind and rain and sleet and snow; the malignity of nature as well as the enmity of man assailed the devoted band. Even their friends failed them-the men suffered terribly from want of food and clothing. Parties that were at work in the trenches returned worn out to the camp, only to find the shelter of the tents destroyed by a hurricane, and the encampment one great morass. Then cholera came and claimed its victims, for there was a want of medical stores at the proper places, and the hospitals were in a wretched condition. All this created 16 but the story of Eng

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.

terrible indignation in England; lish suffering had a noble result, for it induced Florence Nightingale and a band of Englishwomen to hurry to the scene of war; and their good sense and energy, and indeed their very presence, soon worked a complete change for the better in the surroundings of the sick and wounded.

At length, after nearly a year's siege, and after having sustained successfully many hostile attacks, the Russian garrison withdrew from Sebastopol. The Allies entered and took possession, but found only a heap of ruins,

The war was now practically over; and after a few months spent in negotiations, a treaty of peace was signed at Paris.17 The main point was an agreement by the Great Powers 18 to respect the independence of Turkey, and a promise on the part of the Sultan to grant equal rights to his Christian subjects. Both Russia and Turkey were forbidden to put ships of war into the Black Sea.19 These seem to be small results for so great a struggle; and the interest of the expedition for us now is chiefly in the proof it afforded of the valour and endurance of English soldiers.

The Indian Mutiny. 20-That valour and endurance was soon again put to the proof, for in the next year a terrible mutiny broke out in our Indian empire. The mere fact that in India we were outnumbered in the proportion of two thousand to one, and that we differed from the people in race and religion, rendered an outbreak possible at any time. Further, we had a large military force of natives, and our losses in the Crimea. had been so magnified among the credulous population that our power was believed to be on the wane.

Now it so happened that at this very time, greased cartridges were served out to the Sepoys,21 and the grease was said to be a mixture of cow and hog fat. In the days of the muzzle-loader, the soldier had to bite the cartridge. But our native army was composed partly of Hindus and partly of Mahommedans; and neither of these races could touch the cartridges without being defiled; for the cow is sacred to the former, while the hog was an unclean beast to the latter. In vain, it was explained to the discontented soldiers that they were mistaken; the excitement daily increased.

22

Outbreaks took place in various places; and, at length,

23

on Sunday, May 10th, the native troops at Meerut mutinied.2 When driven from that city, they fled to There the Delhi, thirty-eight miles to the south-west.

24

mutineers were at once joined by the Sepoys in the city and the neighbourhood. The mutiny had now fairly commenced. By meeting it in time, the Punjab, that great district to the north-west of India, was saved; but at Lucknow,25 Sir Henry Lawrence was shut up in the British Residency, and forced to endure a siege. The most dreadful scene of the whole insurrection

26

After a brave defence, the garrison were induced to lay down their arms by the promises of the notorious Nana Sahib, who, while pretending to be a friend of the This misEnglish, was in reality their deadliest foe.

creant promised a safe passage down the river to Allahabad; but no sooner had the unarmed party left the cover of the Residency, and entered the boats, than they were assailed with a furious fire.

The men were all killed; 27 and the women and

children, almost dead with terror, were thrust into a narrow prison. Here, while Havelock and his men were pressing forward to the rescue, five armed men were sent among the captives. Those outside listened and shuddered, for the evening silence was broken by the death-shrieks of the unhappy victims. The next day, the whole of the bodies were thrown into a well in the courtyard, although some of the children were not even yet dead.28

Soon after the English soldiers arrived, routed the forces which the Nana

had collected, entered the city, but found none of their own race to greet them. They looked down into that 'well of horrors,' they entered that chamber of death and were kindled into fury by the proofs of the terrible tragedy which met their eyes.

SIR HENRY HAVELOCK.

We need not trace in detail the series of successful movements by which the mutiny was finally crushed. First, after a long siege, Delhi fell before a daring assault; and, five days later, Havelock relieved Lucknow. He was immediately surrounded by an enormous multitude of the enemy, but was easily able to hold out till November 17, when he was in turn relieved by Sir Colin Campbell. It was thought best at the time to withdraw from the position; and when this had been safely effected on March 19, 1858, the rebellion was practically over.

29