CHAPTER VIII
The Mutiny at Barrackpur
One of the saddest episodes of Lord Amherst's administration was the Mutiny at Barrackpur. It belongs in part to the history of the Burma campaign, but as a symptom and a cause it may be more appropriately treated as an event of domestic import. We have seen what a strain had been placed upon the resources of the Government towards the end of 1824 by the necessity of assembling an adequate force for expelling the Burmese from Arakan. To meet the difficulties of transport there had been an extraordinary demand for beasts of burden in Lower Bengal. According to the ordinary terms of service the Sepoys were bound to provide carriage for their personal baggage. An indispensable part of this was the collection of cooking utensils, since the usage of caste compelled each man to take his own set. Under normal conditions it would have been a simple matter to hire cattle; but the requirements of the Government had swept the country of most of the available beasts, and for those offered for hire a payment was
