"Just as I was getting strong enough to walk, and was beginning to think
of making my escape, a band of five or six fellows, armed to the teeth,
came in, and made signs that I was to go with them. It was evidently an
arranged thing, the girls only were surprised, but they were at once
turned out, and as we started I could see two crouching figures in the
shade with their cloths over their heads. I had a native garment thrown
over my shoulders, and in five minutes after the arrival of the fellows
found myself on my way. It took us some six hours before we reached our
destination, which was one of those natural rock citadels. Had I been in
my usual health I could have done the distance in an hour and a half,
but I had to rest constantly, and was finally carried rather than helped
up. I had gone not unwillingly, for the men were clearly, by their
dress, Dacoits of the Deccan, and I had no doubt that it was intended
either to ransom or exchange me.
"At the foot of this natural castle were some twenty or thirty more
robbers, and I was led to a rough sort of arbour in which was lying, on
a pile of maize straw, a man who was evidently their chief. He rose and
we exchanged salaams.
"'What is your name, sahib?' he asked in Mahratta.
"'Hastings--Lieutenant Hastings,' I said. 'And yours?'
"'Sivajee Punt!' he said.
"This was bad. I had fallen into the hands of the most troublesome,
most ruthless, and most famous of the Dacoit leaders. Over and over
again he had been hotly chased, but had always managed to get away; and
when I last heard anything of what was going on four or five troops of
native police were scouring the country after him. He gave an order
which I did not understand, and a wretched Bombay writer, I suppose a
clerk of some money-lender, was dragged forward. Sivajee Punt spoke to
him for some time, and the fellow then told me in English that I was to
write at once to the officer commanding the troops, telling him that I
was in his hands, and should be put to death directly he was attacked.
"'Ask him,' I said, 'if he will take any sum of money to let me go?'
"Sivajee shook his head very decidedly.
"A piece of paper was put before me, and a pen and ink, and I wrote as I
had been ordered, adding, however, in French, that I had brought myself
into my present position by my own folly, and would take my chance, for
I well knew the importance which Government attached to Sivajee's
capture. I read out loud all that I had written in English, and the
interpreter translated it. Then the paper was folded and I addressed it,
'The Officer Commanding,' and I was given some chupattis and a drink of
water, and allowed to sleep. The Dacoits had apparently no fear of any
immediate attack.
"It was still dark, although morning was just breaking, when I was
awakened, and was got up to the citadel. I was hoisted rather than
climbed, two men standing above with a rope, tied round my body, so that
I was half-hauled, half-pushed up the difficult places, which would have
taxed all my climbing powers had I been in health.
"The height of this mass of rock was about a hundred feet; the top was
fairly flat, with some depressions and risings, and about eighty feet
long by fifty wide. It had evidently been used as a fortress in ages
past. Along the side facing the hill were the remains of a rough wall.
In the centre of a depression was a cistern, some four feet square,
lined with stone-work, and in another depression a gallery had been cut,
leading to a subterranean store-room or chamber. This natural fortress
rose from the face of the hill at a distance of a thousand yards or so
from the edge of the plateau, which was fully two hundred feet higher
than the top of the rock. In the old days it would have been
impregnable, and even at that time it was an awkward place to take, for
the troops were armed only with Brown Bess, and rifled cannon were not
thought of. Looking round, I could see that I was some four miles from
the point where I had descended. The camp was gone; but running my eye
along the edge of the plateau I could see the tops of tents a mile to my
right, and again two miles to my left; turning round, and looking down
into the wide valley, I saw a regimental camp.
"It was evident that a vigorous effort was being made to surround and
capture the Dacoits, since troops had been brought up from Bombay. In
addition to the troops above and below, there would probably be a strong
police force, acting on the face of the hill. I did not see all these
things at the time, for I was, as soon as I got to the top, ordered to
sit down behind the parapet, a fellow armed to the teeth squatting down
by me, and signifying that if I showed my head above the stones he would
cut my throat without hesitation. There were, however, sufficient gaps
between the stones to allow me to have a view of the crest of the Ghaut,
while below my view extended down to the hills behind Bombay. It was
evident to me now why the Dacoits did not climb up into the fortress.
There were dozens of similar crags on the face of the Ghauts, and the
troops did not as yet know their whereabouts. It was a sort of blockade
of the whole face of the hills which was being kept up, and there were,
probably enough, several other bands of Dacoits lurking in the jungle.
"There were only two guards and myself on the rock plateau. I discussed
with myself the chances of my overpowering them and holding the top of
the rock till help came; but I was greatly weakened, and was not a match
for a boy, much less for the two stalwart Mahrattas; besides, I was by
no means sure that the way I had been brought up was the only possible
path to the top. The day passed off quietly. The heat on the bare rock
was frightful, but one of the men, seeing how weak and ill I really was,
fetched a thick rug from the storehouse, and with the aid of a stick
made a sort of lean-to against the wall, under which I lay sheltered
from the sun.
"Once or twice during the day I heard a few distant musket-shots, and
once a sharp heavy outburst of firing. It must have been three or four
miles away, but it was on the side of the Ghaut, and showed that the
troops or police were at work. My guards looked anxiously in that
direction, and uttered sundry curses. When it was dusk, Sivajee and
eight of the Dacoits came up. From what they said, I gathered that the
rest of the band had dispersed, trusting either to get through the line
of their pursuers, or, if caught, to escape with slight punishment, the
men who remained being too deeply concerned in murderous outrages to
hope for mercy. Sivajee himself handed me a letter, which the man who
had taken my note had brought back in reply. Major Knapp, the writer,
who was the second in command, said that he could not engage the
Government, but that if Lieutenant Hastings was given up the act would
certainly dispose the Government to take the most merciful view
possible; but that if, on the contrary, any harm was suffered by
Lieutenant Hastings, every man taken would be at once hung. Sivajee did
not appear put out about it. I do not think he expected any other
answer, and imagine that his real object in writing was simply to let
them know that I was a prisoner, and so enable him the better to
paralyse the attack upon a position which he no doubt considered all but
impregnable.
"I was given food, and was then allowed to walk as I chose upon the
little plateau, two of the Dacoits taking post as sentries at the
steepest part of the path, while the rest gathered, chatting and
smoking, in the depression in front of the storehouse. It was still
light enough for me to see for some distance down the face of the rock,
and I strained my eyes to see if I could discern any other spot at which
an ascent or descent was possible. The prospect was not encouraging. At
some places the face fell sheer away from the edge, and so evident was
the impracticability of escape that the only place which I glanced at
twice was the western side, that is the one away from the hill. Here it
sloped gradually for a few feet. I took off my shoes and went down to
the edge. Below, some ten feet, was a ledge, on to which with care I
could get down, but below that was a sheer fall of some fifty feet. As a
means of escape it was hopeless, but it struck me that if an attack was
made I might slip away and get on to the ledge. Once there I could not
be seen except by a person standing where I now was, just on the edge of
the slope, a spot to which it was very unlikely that anyone would come.
"The thought gave me a shadow of hope, and, returning to the upper end
of the platform, I lay down, and in spite of the hardness of the rock,
was soon asleep. The pain of my aching bones woke me up several times,
and once, just as the first tinge of dawn was coming, I thought I could
hear movements in the jungle. I raised myself somewhat, and I saw that
the sounds had been heard by the Dacoits, for they were standing
listening, and some of them were bringing spare fire-arms from the
storehouse, in evident preparation for attack.
"As I afterwards learned, the police had caught one of the Dacoits
trying to effect his escape, and by means of a little of the ingenious
torture to which the Indian police then frequently resorted, when their
white officers were absent, they obtained from him the exact position of
Sivajee's band, and learned the side from which the ascent must be made.
That the Dacoit and his band were still upon the slopes of the Ghauts
they knew, and were gradually narrowing their circle, but there were so
many rocks and hiding-places that the process of searching was a slow
one, and the intelligence was so important that the news was off at once
to the colonel, who gave orders for the police to surround the rock at
daylight and to storm it if possible. The garrison was so small that the
police were alone ample for the work, supposing that the natural
difficulties were not altogether insuperable.
"Just at daybreak there was a distant noise of men moving in the
jungle, and the Dacoit half-way down the path fired his gun. He was
answered by a shout and a volley. The Dacoits hurried out from the
chamber, and lay down on the edge, where, sheltered by a parapet, they
commanded the path. They paid no attention to me, and I kept as far away
as possible. The fire began--a quiet, steady fire, a shot at a time, and
in strong contrast to the rattle kept up from the surrounding jungle;
but every shot must have told, as man after man who strove to climb that
steep path, fell. It lasted only ten minutes, and then all was quiet
again.
"The attack had failed, as I knew it must do, for two men could have
held the place against an army; a quarter of an hour later a gun from
the crest above spoke out, and a round shot whistled above our heads.
Beyond annoyance, an artillery fire could do no harm, for the party
could be absolutely safe in the store cave. The instant the shot flew
overhead, however, Sivajee Punt beckoned to me, and motioned me to take
my seat on the wall facing the guns. Hesitation was useless, and I took
my seat with my back to the Dacoits and my face to the hill. One of the
Dacoits, as I did so, pulled off the native cloth which covered my
shoulders, in order that I might be clearly seen.
"Just as I took my place another round shot hummed by; but then there
was a long interval of silence. With a field-glass every feature must
have been distinguishable to the gunners, and I had no doubt that they
were waiting for orders as to what to do next.
"I glanced round and saw that with the exception of one fellow squatted
behind the parapet some half-dozen yards away, clearly as a sentry to
keep me in place, all the others had disappeared. Some, no doubt, were
on sentry down the path, the others were in the store beneath me. After
half an hour's silence the guns spoke out again. Evidently the gunners
were told to be as careful as they could, for some of the shots went
wide on the left, others on the right. A few struck the rock below me.
The situation was not pleasant, but I thought that at a thousand yards
they ought not to hit me, and I tried to distract my attention by
thinking out what I should do under every possible contingency.
"Presently I felt a crash and a shock, and fell backwards to the ground.
I was not hurt, and on picking myself up saw that the ball had struck
the parapet to the left, just where my guard was sitting, and he lay
covered with its fragments. His turban lay some yards behind him.
Whether he was dead or not I neither knew nor cared.
"I pushed down some of the parapet where I had been sitting, dropped my
cap on the edge outside, so as to make it appear that I had fallen over,
and then picking up the man's turban, ran to the other end of the
platform and scrambled down to the ledge. Then I began to wave my arms
about--I had nothing on above the waist--and in a moment I saw a face
with a uniform cap peer out through the jungle, and a hand was waved. I
made signs to him to make his way to the foot of the perpendicular wall
of rock beneath me. I then unwound the turban, whose length was, I knew,
amply sufficient to reach to the bottom, and then looked round for
something to write on. I had my pencil still in my trousers pocket, but
not a scrap of paper.
"I picked up a flattish piece of rock and wrote on it, 'Get a
rope-ladder quickly, I can haul it up. Ten men in garrison. They are all
under cover. Keep on firing to distract their attention."
"I tied the stone to the end of the turban, and looked over. A
non-commissioned officer of the police was already standing below. I
lowered the stone; he took it, waved his hand to me, and was gone.
"An hour passed: it seemed an age. The round shots still rang overhead,
and the fire was now much more heavy and sustained than before.
Presently I again saw a movement in the jungle, and Norworthy's face
appeared, and he waved his arm in greeting.
"Five minutes more and a party were gathered at the foot of the rock,
and a strong rope was tied to the cloth. I pulled it up. A rope-ladder
was attached to it, and the top rung was in a minute or two in my hands.
To it was tied a piece of paper with the words: 'Can you fasten the
ladder?" I wrote on the paper: 'No; but I can hold it for a light
weight.'
"I put the paper with a stone in the end of the cloth, and lowered it
again. Then I sat down, tied the rope round my waist, got my feet
against two projections, and waited. There was a jerk, and then I felt
some one was coming up the rope-ladder. The strain was far less than I
expected, but the native policeman who came up first did not weigh half
so much as an average Englishman. There were now two of us to hold. The
officer in command of the police came up next, then Norworthy, then a
dozen more police. I explained the situation, and we mounted to the
upper level. Not a soul was to be seen. Quickly we advanced and took up
a position to command the door of the underground chamber; while one of
the police waved a white cloth from his bayonet as a signal to the
gunners to cease firing. Then the police officer hailed the party within
the cave.
"'Sivajee Punt! you may as well come out and give yourself up! We are in
possession, and resistance is useless!'
"A yell of rage and surprise was heard, and the Dacoits, all desperate
men, came bounding out, firing as they did so. Half of their number were
shot down at once, and the rest, after a short, sharp struggle, were
bound hand and foot.
"That is pretty well all of the story, I think. Sivajee Punt was one of
the killed. The prisoners were all either hung or imprisoned for life. I
escaped my blowing-up for having gone down the Ghauts after the bear,
because, after all, Sivajee Punt might have defied their force for
months had I not done so.
"It seemed that that scoundrel Rahman had taken back word that I was
killed. Norworthy had sent down a strong party, who found the two dead
bears, and who, having searched everywhere without finding any signs of
my body, came to the conclusion that I had been found and carried away,
especially as they ascertained that natives used that path. They had
offered rewards, but nothing was heard of me till my note saying I was
in Sivajee's hands arrived."
"And did you ever see the women who carried you off?"
"No, Mary, I never saw them again. I did, however, after immense
trouble, succeed in finding out where it was that I had been taken to. I
went down at once, but found the village deserted. Then after much
inquiry I found where the people had moved to, and sent messages to the
women to come up to the camp, but they never came; and I was reduced at
last to sending them down two sets of silver bracelets, necklaces, and
bangles, which must have rendered them the envy of all the women on the
Ghauts. They sent back a message of grateful thanks, and I never heard
of them afterwards. No doubt their relatives, who knew that their
connection with the Dacoits was now known, would not let them come.
However, I had done all I could, and I have no doubt the women were
perfectly satisfied. So you see, my dear, that the Indian bear, small
as he is, is an animal which it is as well to leave alone, at any rate
when he happens to be up on the side of a hill while you are at the
foot."
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