He had engaged himself to
breakfast with Mr. Cherry, and the parties met in apparent amity. The
usual compliments were exchanged. Wazir Ali then began to expatiate
on his wrongs; and having pursued this subject for some time, he
suddenly rose with his attendants, and put to death Mr. Cherry and
Captain Conway, an English gentleman who happened to be present. The
assassins then rushed out, and meeting another Englishman named
Graham, they added him to the list of their victims. They thence
proceeded to the house of Mr. Davis, judge and magistrate, who had
just time to remove his family to an upper terrace, which could only
be reached by a very narrow staircase. At the top of this staircase,
Mr. Davis, armed with a spear, took his post, and so successfully did
he defend it, that the assailants, after several attempts to dislodge
him, were compelled to retire without effecting their object. The
benefit derived from the resistance of this intrepid man extended
beyond his own family: the delay thereby occasioned afforded to the
rest of the English inhabitants opportunity of escaping to the place
where the troops stationed for the protection of the city were
encamped. General Erskine, on learning what had occurred, dispatched
a party to the relief of Mr. Davis, and Wazir Ali thereupon retired
to his own residence.' Wazir Ali escaped, but was ultimately given up
by a chief with whom he had taken refuge, 'on condition that his life
should be spared, and that his limbs should not be disgraced by
chains'. Some of his accomplices were executed. 'He was confined at
Port William, in a sort of iron cage, where he died in May, 1817,
aged thirty-six, after an imprisonment of seventeen years and some
odd months.' (_Men whom India has Known_, 2nd ed., 1874, art. 'Vizier
Ali.') But Beale asserts that after many years' captivity in
Calcutta, the prisoner was removed to Vellore, where he died (_Or.
Biogr. Dict._, ed. Keene, 1894, p. 416). It will be observed that the
author was mistaken in supposing that 'all the European gentlemen,
except Mr. Davis and his family, were included in the massacre.'

21. These names stand in the original edition as 'Tyz Mahomed Khan,
of Ghujper,' and 'Tyz Alee Khan'. In 1857 the then Nawab of Jhajjar
joined the rebels. He was accordingly hanged, and his estate was
confiscated. It is now included in the Rohtak District. See
Fanshawe's _Settlement Report_ of that District.

22. The disastrous retreat of Colo