: Since the above was written, especial honour has been shown
to those who participated in the hardships and glories of the campaign
by His Majesty King Edward VII., who received the surviving officers at
a levee at St. James's Palace on June 3, 1907.

A public dinner was also given by the proprietors of the _Daily
Telegraph_ in the Albert Hall on December 23 of the same year to all the
surviving veterans who had taken part in the suppression of the Mutiny
in 1857.]

[Footnote 2: White people.]

CHAPTER VI

THE RICHES OF DELHI

The riches of the city of Delhi and the opulence of its Princes and
merchants had been celebrated in Hindostan from time immemorial. For
ages it had been the capital of an empire extending from the snows of
the Himalayas to Cape Comorin; and to Delhi, as to a centre, gravitated
the wealth of the richest country in the world. Fabulous reports had
reached us of the booty carried away to distant regions by the numerous
warriors who burst like a torrent over Hindostan, making that city the
goal of their conquests and the scene of their predatory forays. During
the nineteenth century Delhi, since its capture by Lord Lake in 1803,
had remained in the hands of the British, the city owing a nominal
allegiance to the King, who, to all intents and purposes a State
prisoner, was a pensioner of our Government up to 1857, holding a Court
(consisting for the most part of wretched dependents and ragamuffins) in
the Palace of the Great Mogul.

The quiet which reigned during that period had a salutary effect on the
prosperity of Delhi; its merchants and storekeepers, trading with
the inhabitants of the richly-cultivated Dooab and with more distant
countries, became rich and prosperous, accumulating vast treasures,
while the people, with the instinct of a penurious race, converted their
ready-money into jewels and gold and silver ornaments, and safely stowed
them away in hidden receptacles within their houses.

The numerous races of India--and notably the Sikhs--burning for an
opportunity to plunder the imperial city, cast longing eyes towards
these hidden treasures, the fame of which had spread far and wide; and
to this desire may be attributed, as much as any other reason, the
willingness of that warlike people to help us during the Mutiny.

While the siege was progressing, even at a time when clouded with
anxiety as to the future, men's minds were full of the uncertain issue
of the fight; the thou