1857 First tidings of the mutiny--Prompt action at Peshawar -- A bold policy--The Movable Column--An annoying occurrence -- I leave Peshawar The first threatenings of coming trouble were heard in the early part of 1857.

During the months of February, March, and April, rumours reached us at Peshawar of mysterious _chupattis_ (unleavened cakes) being sent about the country with the object, it was alleged, of preparing the Natives for some forthcoming event.

There was also an evident feeling of unrest and dissatisfaction in the minds of the sepoys.

We heard that the 19th Native Infantry at Berhampur, a military station about 100 miles from Calcutta, had broken open the bells-of-arms,[1] and forcibly taken possession of their muskets and ammunition; that a sepoy named Mangal Pandy,[2] belonging to the 34th Native Infantry at Barrackpore, had attacked and severely wounded the Adjutant and Sergeant-Major of his regiment; that it was found necessary to disband the 19th on the 30th March, and the 34th on the 6th May; that bungalows had been burnt in several stations; and that the sepoys at the Schools of Musketry had objected to use the cartridges served out with the new rifles, because, it was asserted, they were greased with a mixture of cow's fat and lard, the one being as obnoxious to the prejudices of the Hindu as the other is to those of the Mussulman.
It seems strange on looking back that these many warnings should have passed almost unheeded, and that there should have been no suspicion amongst the officers serving with Native regiments that discontent was universal amongst the sepoys, and that a mutiny of the whole Bengal Army was imminent.

But at that time the reliance on the fidelity of the Native troops was unbounded, and officers believed implicitly in the contentment and loyalty of their men.