Bombay was able to afford material assistance to her hard beset neighbours in the north, and yet to take care of herself. It is true that the Bombay Native Army could not rival the fidelity of that of Madras; for the Bombay Sepoys had been to a certain extent recruited from Oudh and Behar, and were tainted with disaffection. Nevertheless, instances of overt mutiny were exceptional, while it is a significant fact that the Presidency authorities had sufficient confidence in their Native Army as to increase its numbers. Moreover, Bombay was able to organise an efficient military transport, and to procure from various places, within a short time, many thousand horses of all kinds for general use in the campaign. Unfortunately for the Western Presidency, the withdrawal of a large portion of its army for service in the Persian expedition had necessitated the occupation of certain places within its limits by Bengal Sepoys, whose mutinous conduct disturbed the peace and afforded a dangerous example to their fellows-soldiers.
Although the Punjab was a comparatively new province of British India, bordered on one side by tribes of wild, fanatical hill-men, and itself inhabited by a warlike people sorely tempted to take advantage of existing difficulties, yet in the hands of such officers as Lawrence, Montgomery and others, the country west of the Sutlej remained for the most part tranquil during the progress of the rebellion. Moreover, although about 36,000 Sepoys, recruited from Oudh and Behar, were scattered in various stations through
