Page:Earl Canning.djvu/141

Rh but to hunt down the refugees, who were still lurking in the surrounding regions of Nepál and the jungles that fringe the base of the Himálayas.

In May, 1859, Sir Hope Grant, who had been entrusted with the task of stamping out the last embers of rebellion, was able to report that Oudh was completely tranquil and the Mutiny at an end.

Such, in the barest possible outline, is the story of the great military revolt with which it was Lord Canning's task to deal. From first to last it occupied two years. For the first six months the tide of rebellion rose fast and flowed strongly against the rulers of the country. The fall of Delhi came at a moment when the fortunes of England in India seemed to be trembling in the balance, and, but for some such signal demonstration of prowess, the wavering powers of India would presently have thrown in their lot with that which seemed the winning cause. Lord Clyde's rescue of the Lucknow garrison and great victory, at the close of the year, over Tántia Topi struck one staggering blow at the rebel cause; his capture of Lucknow a second; Lord Strathnairn's campaign in Central India a third. The honour of these splendid successes is justly due to the Generals, by whose genius, and the troops by whose gallantry and endurance they were achieved. The general superintendence and direction of the entire series of campaigns, by which the Mutiny was stamped out and the pacification of India secured, rested with