Memoir of Capt. Jas. Forsyth, by the Rev. Jas. Forsyth. 61 



at that depot of military instruction, and was ordered shortly 

 after to join the regiment to which he was to be permanently at- 

 tached, the 49th N. I. at Meean Meer. He resolved on making 

 a leisurely journey of it, that he might see something of the 

 country. Had he been aware of what was impending he would 

 have hastened forward, and so probably escaped the perils to 

 which his delay exposed him. The Sepoy revolt, so long secretly 

 preparing, was now imminent, and on the very day of his arrival 

 at Delhi, broke out, in all its violence of rapine and massacre. 

 On reaching that city, he asked admission to the traveller's bun- 

 galow, but was informed that it was fully occupied, mostly by 

 ladies. He resolved therefore to proceed, leaving his baggage 

 to its fate (all of which excepting what he carried with him 

 was lost) and it was well he did, for scarcely two hours after he 

 left, the bungalow was sacked, and plundered, burned to the 

 ground, and nearly every person in it massacred, and the wildest 

 destruction revelled in the city. He records in his journal his 

 gratitude to Almighty God for the narrow escape he had made. 

 He had got as far as Umballah, when he learned that the Sepoy 

 regiments at Meean Meer had risen, and his own among the 

 number, and that the rebels were along the roads bent on mur- 

 der and plunder. What was he now to do ? He was not a whit 

 in greater safety to remain where he was than to go forward. 

 Arming himself with rifle and revolver, he determined to 

 go on, resolved to sell his lif e,at the dearest. For thirty-six hours 

 he travelled on his way in the greatest alarm, from the yelling 

 and hooting of the mutineers all around him. However, none 

 came directly in the route he had taken, and at length all the 

 yelling ceased. He then uncocked his rifle and gave himself 

 up to the repose which exhausted nature demanded. When he 

 arrived at the Cantonments, there was the greatest surprise at 

 his escape. The details of this most perilous journey were given 

 in a letter to myself published in The Meld, in which he says, that 

 on arriving at Meean Meer he found the officers in a state of 

 defence, all assembled in the adjutant's bungalow, doors and 

 windows barricaded, guns, pistols, and rifles loaded, and every 

 preparation made for holding out until relieved. This, he says, 

 is what is called joining your regiment. 



My son remained connected with the army as a regimental 

 officer for about five years, concluding his service by acting as 



