he base murder of Sir William and
Trevor. He informed us that the head of the former had been
carried about the city in triumph. We of course spent a
miserable night. The next day we were taken under a strong
guard to the house of Zuman Khan, where a council of the Khans
were being held. Here we found Captains Conolly and Airey, who
had some days previously been sent to the hurwah's house as
hostage for the performance of certain parts of the treaty
which was to have been entered into. A violent discussion took
place, in which Mahomed Akber bore the most prominent part. We
were vehemently accused of treachery, and every thing that was
bad, and told that the whole of the transactions of the night
previous had been a trick of Mahomed Akber, and Ameenoollah, to
ascertain the Envoy's sincerity. They declared that they would
now grant us no terms, save on the surrender of the whole of
the married families as hostages, all the guns, ammunition, and
treasure. At this time Conolly told me that on the preceding
day the Envoy's head had been paraded about in the court-yard;
that his and Trevor's bodies had been hung up in the public
bazar, or _chouk_; and that it was with the greatest difficulty
that the old hurwah, Zuman Khan, had saved him and Airey from
being murdered by a body of fanatics, who had attempted to rush
into the room where they were. Also, that previous to the
arrival of Lawrence, Skinner, and myself, Mahomed Akber had
been relating the events of the preceding day to the _Jeerga_
or council, and that he had unguardedly avowed having, while
endeavouring to force the Envoy either to mount on horseback or
to move more quickly, _struck_ him; and that, seeing Conolly's
eyes fastened upon him with an expression of intense
indignation, he had altered the phrase and said, 'I mean I
_pushed_ him.' After an immense deal of gabble, a proposal for
a renewal of the treaty, not, however, demanding all the guns,
was determined to be sent to the cantonments, and Skinner,
Lawrence, and myself were marched back to Akber's house,
enduring _en route_ all manner of threats and insults. Here we
were closely confined in an inner apartment, which was indeed
necessary for our safety. That evening we received a visit from
Mahomed Akber, Sultan Jan, and sever