The announcement that land was in sight produced some excitement, and the speaker good-naturedly paused to enable the company to see whatever was to be seen. They looked to the eastward, but they could see nothing. They stood upon the promenade, and strained their eyes to the utmost; but it required a nautical eye to make land out of the dim haze in the distance, for that was all there was of it.

"I can readily understand your desire to obtain the first view of India," said Lord Tremlyn.

"But they will not obtain it yet a while," added the commander.

Louis and Felix had ascended the fore-rigging, and discovered what might have been the land or a bank of clouds. There were a great number of boats and small craft in sight, but none of them were near enough to be seen distinctly. They observed that the Guardian-Mother had reduced her speed.

"We shall not be where you can see anything for an hour or more," continued Captain Ringgold. "We have to pass some rather dangerous rocks in this vicinity, and we shall proceed cautiously till we take a pilot."

"A number of large vessels have been wrecked in this locality," said the viscount; "and in a little while you will get in among the multitude of fishing-craft that swarm off the islands."

When the company were satisfied that there was nothing to be seen, they resumed their seats, and the "live boys" in the fore-rigging returned to their places. All were greatly interested in the viscount's account of the mutiny; and he had suspended his narrative just where cunning writers of exciting stories place the "To be continued."

"I had hardly finished what I had to say, or at least what I intended to say; for there are still a great many points upon which I have not touched, leaving them to be brought up as you proceed on your travels through this interesting country," said Lord Tremlyn.

"Go on! Go on!" said quite a majority of the party.

"I have been here before, and perhaps you will excuse me if I have occasion to leave before your lordship has finished; and with this understanding, I think you had better proceed," added the commander.

"I will do so with the greatest pleasure," replied the speaker, as he took his place on the rostrum again." I have described the terrible situation to which the English in India had been reduced, with nearly a hundred thousand Sepoys in rebellion, and the troops outnumbered a hundred to one, shut up in camps and forts. The fanatical and blood-thirsty mob, far greater than the body of native soldiers, were eager to fall upon and slaughter all Europeans.

"At this time there were 40,000 British troops scattered over the country; several thousand men on their way from England to China were diverted to this country. Forty thousand from home were on their voyage of 12,000 miles around the Cape of Good Hope to relieve the besieged garrisons. But in the midst of the gloom of this miserable summer there was a gleam of sunshine, and the sad disasters at Cawnpore and elsewhere were partially retrieved. This came on the appearance of Henry Havelock, whose noble example of a true life I commend to my young friends here who are just entering upon their careers.

"Havelock was born in 1795. His father was a merchant, and he was well educated. He was at first intended for the law; but he followed the example of his brother, and entered the army a month after the battle of Waterloo. In 1823 he was sent to India; and on the voyage he became a Christian in the truest sense of the word, and this event influenced his life. He was employed in the Afghan and Sikh wars; but he had learned 'to labor and to wait,' and he was still a lieutenant after twenty-three years' service.

"He was in command of a division of the army that invaded Persia in 1856. The news of the Indian mutiny called him hastily to Calcutta. Following the Ganges to Allahabad," continued the speaker, pointing out the river and the city on the map, "he organized, at this point, a force of two thousand men, and pushed on for Cawnpore, driving the enemy before him. At Fatehpur the rebels made a stand; but they broke before his little band, and he hastened on to his destination.

"Nana Sahib, the native leader of the mutiny, was the adopted son of the former peshwa, or ruler, of the Mahrattas, as certain states in the west and middle of India are called. His foster-father had been deprived of his dominion, and lived on a pension paid by the British. The son had been brought up as a nobleman, with expensive habits. When the father died in 1851, the pension was not continued to the son. He was bitterly disappointed that his income was cut off, and it stirred up all the bad blood in his nature, and there was a good deal of it. He did his best to foment discontent, and succeeded too well; for the mutiny was his work.

"As Havelock and his puny force approached Cawnpore, this miscreant incited the cold-blooded massacre of all the women and children the rebels had captured on the day before the place was taken. The intrepid general found the Sepoys strongly intrenched at a village; but he turned their left, and carried the works by a splendid charge of the 78th Highlanders. Entering Cawnpore, he saw the results of the atrocious massacre in the mutilated bodies of the women and children with his own eyes.

"The sight inspired the little band of heroes with renewed courage, and Havelock began his march upon Lucknow.

"After fighting eight victorious battles, his little force was so reduced by sickness and fatigue that he was forced to retire to Cawnpore. In September General Outram arrived there with additional troops, and operations against Lucknow were renewed. The general in command of this force outranked Havelock, and the command belonged to him; but with a noble generosity he waived his claim, and served in the expedition under his victorious subordinate as a volunteer.

"Havelock's army now numbered 2,500 men, with seventeen guns. He encountered the enemy, and scattered them several times. They reached the thickly settled town where each house was a fortress, and with valor equal to anything on record, fought their way to the Residency, where they were rapturously received by the beleaguered garrison.

"But with all that could be mustered they were only a handful of men compared with the hosts that surrounded them, and in turn they were at once besieged b............