THIRTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 1 29 



The principal cause of this by no nneans insignificant 

 Tiot, was said to be that an English soldier of the garrison 

 gave a cut with his sword to an ox, which is esteemed by 

 the Brahmins as a sacred animal. Since then, however, 

 oxen are not only killed at Lahore, but at Umritsir, the 

 holy city, and the meat is publicly sold at the bazaars. 

 The Sikhs and Hindoos, who consider the killing of oxen 

 and cows to be a capital sin, can do nothing but grieve 

 at the sacrilege, and weep at their inability to prevent it. 

 Their feelings on this point, however, would sometimes 

 take a more active and dangerous turn ; and on one 

 occasion, when the Resident gave an entertainment in 

 the royal gardens, called Shallemar, to which many ladies 

 and gentlemen, and their children were invited, and I 

 also happened to be among the number of the guests, we 

 were near falling victims to the people's vengeance. By 

 good fortune, however, the Resident was apprised of the 

 conspiracy, and all preparations were made for our security, 

 otherwise it would, I am afraid, have gone hardly with 

 us, as the quarters of the troops were at Anarkhali, five 

 miles from the gardens. 



Bad health induced the Resident to accompany the 

 Governor-General, Lord Hardinge, to England, and Sir F. 

 Currie replaced him ; but as he treated the Sikhs with 

 more indulgence, not being so well acquainted with oriental 

 policy as Sir H. Lawrence, the people soon began to 

 abuse his kindness- Two officers also, named Agnew and 

 Anderson, both of them unacquainted with the manners 

 and customs of the country, and therefore ignorant of the 

 proper method of dealing with such a people, were sent, 

 accompanied by a native, Serdar Kan Sing, to Mooltan, 

 to receive the state accounts from the Mulraj, and to 

 take their posts as governors of that district. Both these 

 officers were barbarously murdered ; and the natives, as 

 if by a given signal, rose in revolt against the English. 

 The troops of the provinces Banu-Tank, Hazareh and 

 Peshawur also joined the hostile movement ; and a cons- 

 iracy was detected at Lahore, in which, as before mentioned, 



