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48 fact in the revelations of Major Cavenagh, described in the last chapter; and a fourth in the fact that between Calcutta and Dánápur, a distance of 344 miles from Calcutta, there was but one weak English regiment. The disaffection at Barhámpur had, they knew, been produced by the communications received by the sipáhís of that regiment from the men of a detachment which had marched thither from Barrackpur. Who was to guard the line of 344 miles if the sipáhís of Barrackpur should emulate the conduct of the men whom some of their comrades had perverted? These facts, and this consideration, produced the conviction that it was necessary to strengthen the central position. They resolved to strengthen it by ordering the 84th regiment to proceed with all speed from Rangoon to the Presidency. On the 20th of March that regiment arrived in the Húglí. Orders were then transmitted to Colonel Mitchell to march the 19th N. I. to Barrackpur.

But there had been many significant occurrences before the 84th reached the Húglí. Máhárájá Sindhiá had visited Calcutta early in March, and, as a return for the civilities showered upon him, had invited the élite of the society of the Presidency to a fête at the Botanical Gardens, situated on the opposite bank of the river Húglí, on the 10th of the month. There can be little doubt but that the leaders of the conspiracy had resolved to strike their blow on that day. During the absence of the official English across the river they had planned to seize the fort and to strike terror into the town. A circumstance, slight in itself, frustrated their combinations. Rain, most unusual at that time of the year in India, fell heavily the day before and on the morning of the 10th, and the Máhárájá, aware that an out-of-door fête could be successful only when the weather was propitious, sent out notices to postpone the entertainment. It happened accidentally that no notice of the