bloodthirsty traitors at the commencement of the Mutiny; and they lost their lives in consequence. But, after all, it is not conjectural to say, this “infatuated confidence” originated from ignorance of the inborn Asiatic deceit, and honeyed lies, which are ever hidden under the smooth language and manners of Orientals, and by which many Englishmen — though they may have lived in India among the natives for years — are so easily deceived.
It was with no reluctance that we passed on from this sad and silent cantonment, and in spite of frightful roads, rendered in places almost impassable by the recent rains, entered the Bitteah rāj. And here, to relieve the dryness of antecedent details, I may remark in passing that late in the evening of our arrival in the town, we were not a little surprised to hear the tolling of the “vesper bell”; and yet not a single European was living in the place, nor even in its neighbourhood. We were, however, told that Bitteah contained a substantially built Roman Catholic chapel in thorough repair, and that the appurtenances of every description appropriated to the uses of the religion were in perfect preservation. Hence it would seem an interesting question to ask how this Papal sanctuary, situated as it was in the very port-hole of the rebellion, escaped destruction or desecration, when elsewhere the rebels destroyed or defiled all Christian churches and chapels.
However, as the chapel at Bitteah happened to
