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86 cartridges had spread. The 36th Regiment, which formed General Anson's escort on his march, had a detachment in the rifle depôt. Two Sepoys from this detachment visited the General's camp, and learned with horror that their comrades regarded them as Christians and outcasts, and refused to eat with them. The men reported the incident to Lieutenant Martineau, the Musketry Instructor at the depôt, with tears in their eyes. If this, they argued, could occur in the Commander-in-Chief's camp, what would be their fate when they returned to their homes? They were ruined.

Then the Commander-in-Chief attempted to allay their anxiety. Summoning the native officers before him, he assured them that the Government harboured no design against their caste, and that their fears were baseless. The native officers, respectful, but unconvinced, pointed out in reply that, however groundless it might be, the story was universally believed in the country, and that, though they were ready to obey any order to use the new cartridge, its use would render them outcasts. General Anson then raised the question, whether it might not be well to meet an irrational panic by the simple expedient of breaking up the depôt and dispersing the detachments to their regiments. Upon consideration, however, Lord Canning decided that it would be a mistake to postpone the target drill. On no possible ground could objection to the cartridge paper be justified. 'If we give way upon this,' he wrote, 'I do not see