f so large an extent as the town occupied, and therefore the
tiny garrison decided on retiring to a large wooden building on the
wharf, whither the Sepoys conveyed three cannon and as much powder as
they expected to want, throwing the rest down wells. This was not done
without constant skirmishing, and was not completed till three o'clock,
when the refugees were collected,--namely, a hundred Sepoys, with their
wives and children, stripped of all their ornaments, which they had
buried; some Hindoo and Burmese servants; a few Portuguese traders; a
wily old Mussulman; Mrs. Boardman and Mrs. Burney, each with her baby;
and seven Englishmen besides Mr. Boardman. Among them rode the ghastly
figure of the sick officer, who had been taken from his bed, but who
hoped to encourage his men by appearing on horseback; but his almost
orange skin, wasted form, sunken eyes, and perfect helplessness, were to
Mrs. Boardman even more terrible than the yells of the insurgents around
and the shots of their scanty escort.

Three hundred persons were crowded together in the wooden shed, roofed
over, and supported on posts above the water, with no partitions. The
situation was miserable enough, but they trusted that the enemy, being
only armed with spears, could not reach them. By and by, however, the
report of a cannon dismayed them. The jingals, or small field-pieces,
were brought up, but not till evening; and the inexperienced rebels took
such bad aim that all the balls passed over the wharf into the sea, and
the dense darkness put a stop to the attempt; but all night the trembling
inmates were awakened by savage yells; and a Sepoy, detecting a spark of
light through the chinks of the floor, fired, and killed an enemy who had
come beneath in a boat to set fire to the frail shelter!

In the morning the firing from the walls was renewed, but at long
intervals, for there was a great scarcity of powder, though the unhappy
besieged apprehended every moment that the right direction would be hit
upon, and then that the balls would be among them. They could send
nowhere for help, though there was a Chinese junk within their reach, for
it could not put to sea under the fire of the rebels; and two more days,
and two still more terrible nights, passed in what must have been almost
a black hole. The fifth night was the worst of all, for the town was set
on fire around, and by the light of the flames the enemy made a furious
attack; but just in t