Page:The Indian Mutiny of 1857.djvu/98

72 daring and an energy which had inspired their native comrades, they listened for some time anxiously for the sound of the galloping of the horses of the Carabineers. But when hour succeeded hour, and silence still reigned on all sides, they lost all apprehension, and galloping on with a light heart, caught sight of the minarets of the Jamí Masjíd glittering in the morning sun. Spurring their horses, they reached the waters of the Jamnah, crossed by the bridge of boats which spanned it, cut down the toll-keeper on the other side, fired the toll-house, slew a solitary Englishman whom they met; then hastening to the palace of the King, clamoured for admittance, declaring that they had killed the English at Mírath, and had come to fight for the Faith. We must leave them there whilst we examine the relative positions of the English and the Mughal Court at the Imperial city.

The city of Dehlí had and has still a circumference of five and a half miles. That of the King's palace, within its walls, is nearly one and a half. The city itself I shall describe when I come to the operations undertaken by the handful of soldiers who laid siege to it. For the moment our attention must be riveted to the palace.

The palace, more correctly called the inner fort or citadel, was built by the Emperor Sháh Jahán (1638-58). It is a magnificent series of structures, reached by a flight of 113 steps, and covered on its eastern face by the Jamnah, It contained some magnificent buildings: the Diwání Ám, or public Hall of Audience, built of red sandstone; the Diwání Kháss, or Privy Council Chamber, of white marble, ornamented with gold, and inlaid; the King's Baths, the Moti Masjíd, or Pearl Mosque, a real architectural gem. Above the entrance gate was a turret twenty feet high