was their
amazement when they were escorted to the Black Hole, a little chamber no
more than eighteen feet square, which was only used as a rule for the
confinement of one or two unruly prisoners. In vain they protested; their
brutal guards forced them, a hundred and forty-six in number, into the
narrow space, and locked the door upon them. It was one of the hottest
nights of the year; there was but one small opening in the wall, and
before long the want of air and the intense heat drove the poor people to
fury. They trampled each other down in their mad attempts to get near the
opening for air and the water which one of their jailers, less brutal
than the rest, handed in to them.

The horror of the scenes that passed in that small room baffles
description. Men and women in the agonies of thirst and suffocation
fought like tigers. Many prayed their guards to shoot them and end their
sufferings, only to meet with jeers and laughter. Some of the native
officers took pity on them and would have opened the door, but none durst
move without the Nawab's permission, or brave his fury if they roused him
from his sleep. From seven in the evening till six in the morning the
agony continued, and when at length the order came for their release,
only twenty-three of the hundred and forty-six tottered forth, the
ghastliest wrecks of human beings.

Mr. Holwell and three others were then conveyed as prisoners in a bullock
cart to Omichand's garden, and thence to Murshidabad; the rest were
bidden to go where they pleased.

The news was kept from Desmond. It was not till weeks after that he heard
of the terrible tragedy. Then, with the horror and pity he felt, there
was mingled a fear that Bulger had been among those who perished. The
seaman, he knew, had taken a stout part in the defense of the fort; Mr.
Merriman had not mentioned him as being among the prisoners; it was
possible that he had escaped; but the thought that the brave fellow had
perhaps died in that awful hole made Desmond sick at heart.

Though the season was now at its hottest, the fresh sea air proved a
wonderful tonic to him, and he rapidly regained his strength. The voyage
was slow. The Hormuzzeer beat down the Bay of Bengal against the monsoon
now beginning, and it was nearly two months before she made Penang. She
unloaded there: her cargo was sold at great profit, she being the only
vessel that had for some time left the Hugli; and Desmond found his
capital