We drove to an ancient city some distance off, and saw several old palaces; passed through great groves of mango trees and plantations of beans, peas, wheat, rice, etc. Natives, beggars, and children in great numbers crowded around our carriages. We met a regiment of native cavalry with white officers and a fine band of native musicians.
[CHAPTER XIX.]
LUCKNOW.
Lucknow, January 13, 1890.
WE arrived here at twelve last night, after a tedious ride by rail, and I was up at seven this morning, and have been all day seeing the wonders of the city.
Since a visit to the field on which the battle of Waterloo was fought, I have never spent a day of such absorbing interest as this, for here Lawrence, with one thousand eight hundred men, held the fort against fifty thousand rebels for six months, and up the road we saw came Sir Colin Campbell and Havelock's army of relief. The buildings are riddled with balls, and we saw where Lawrence fell and the room where he died, July 4, 1857. Nothing could be more thrilling than to hear many incidents of the siege related in an admirable manner by a native guide.