ard as my horse
would go, till I arrived at the river. The crossing, at this part of the
river, was completely commanded by three guns, which the good-natured
souls in the fort had laid for me when I should get in the middle of the
said crossing. The water was about four feet deep; consequently, my
progress was slow. The first shot went about twenty yards over me; the
next fell short; but the third struck the water so close to me, that the
spray covered both myself and my horse, and I was wet through. In this
state I dismounted, keeping my horse between me and the fort, for I had
still the worst part to go over. The moment they saw me dismount, there
was a general shout from the bastion, conceiving that the last shot had
killed me. This shouting and taunting roused the indignation of the
aid-de-camp, and, to check their mirth, he mounted again, and took off
his hat and waved it in defiance of them. Upon this they sent three
messengers at once, but not one came to me. Before I reached the battery
the enemy were, naturally enough, very busy in availing themselves of
the general panic caused by our mortar magazine having blown up. Near
the battery, the first object that met my sight was a native gunner
literally skinned from head to foot, crying most piteously for a drink
of water. Nearer the battery lay several European and native soldiers
dead. Everything was in the greatest confusion, and consternation was on
every countenance. The dreadful catastrophe happened in the following
manner:--

Behind the mortars lay some hundreds of shells, ready loaded, to be used
as they might be required; a shell, fired from one of the centre
mortars, burst in the muzzle; the fusee recoiled and fell on the loaded
shells; these exploded, and communicated with the magazine, which, at
that moment, a person had entered for the purpose of bringing out some
requisite. The explosion blew up this poor man, the unfortunate native
gunner before spoken of. It was more than twenty paces between the
magazine and the spot where this poor creature was found. In two days
after, he died. The melancholy event could not have been foreseen or
prevented; but the consequences were serious--sixteen men suffered, four
of them Europeans. Three of the victims were lying in the battery,
without their bodies having been even touched with gunpowder. They died
from concussion of the brain. One European was blown some yards into the
river, without the slightest injury.