22. On the 14th September insurrection broke out between Googairah and Hurruppa. Many horses of the mail cart establishment were carried off by the rebels. Several carts were burnt, and communication by the direct route between Lahore and Mooltan was for several days wholly cut off. The local authorities of the district had no warning of the outbreak till the morning of the night on which it took place. The District Officers gave me reason to hope that the insurrection would be instantly put down, but unfortunately, owing to their paucity of troops, the rebels were not overawed sufficiently to admit of the mails being conveyed by the direct road within fifteen days. In the interim, however, they were, after several days' stoppage, conveyed via Shahpore and Seeah to and from Mooltan and Lahore.
23. It is here worthy of remark that the successful assault of Delhi on the 14th September by our troops was telegraphed to Lahore, and full particulars thereof were transmitted by the mail of that date from Lahore to Mooltan, Scinde, Bombay, etc., before the outbreak between Googairah and Humppa. The receipt of the news of the successful assault of Delhi was signally opportune in Scinde, as the native troops then at Karachi, Hyderabad and Shikarpore were in a state approaching to open mutiny.
24. The route for the mail between Lahore and Mooltan via Shahpore being very circuitous and also unsafe as the country between the Sutledge and Ravee and even for some distance west of the Ravee was in open revolt, it became necessary to determine on having a more direct line of communication between Lahore, Scinde and Bombay. Accordingly a camel dak was established by the Chief Commissioner of the Punjab between Bhawulpore and Ferozepore. The head overseer of the Jullunder Division, Hurdeo Bux, was transferred for the superintendence of this dak and managed it most successfully.
25. The establishment of runners between Ferozepore, Lahore and Loodianah was at the same time strengthened in view to provide for the extra weight of the mails in transit via Bhawulpore, and thus the stations east and west of the Sutledge were rendered independent of the direct mail line between Lahore and Mooltan in respect to Scinde, Bombay, Calcutta, etc., etc.
26. The post offices and mail lines at and above Meerut and throughout the Cis-Sutledge States and Punjab have continued in uninterrupted operation excepting those situated on the line of road between Googairah and Humppa, which were for a short time the scene of insurrections in September.
APPENDIX H
THE WORK OF THE FIELD POST OFFICE BETWEEN 1867 AND 1912
The Abyssinian Expedition.
At the end of September, 1867, the Postmaster-General, Bombay, reported that a reconnoitring party under Colonel Merewether, Political Agent, had left for Abyssinia and a Field Force was shortly to follow. A post office under Mr. J. Gardiner as Inspecting Postmaster sailed for Abyssinia on the 25th November along with the second detachment of the Expeditionary Force. A portion of the staff was left at Massowah, where the troops disembarked, and the rest was ordered to advance with the Army. Having fallen ill through overwork, Mr. Gardiner was replaced by Mr. E. de C. Williams on the 1st March, 1868.