The taunt created a wild panic at
Barrackpur. Strange to say, however, none of the new cartridges had been
issued to the sepoys; and had this been promptly explained to the men,
and the sepoys left to grease their own cartridges, the alarm might have
died out. But the explanation was delayed until the whole of the Bengal
army was smitten with the groundless fear; and then, when it was too
late, the authorities protested too much, and the terror-stricken sepoys
refused to believe them.
The sepoys had proved themselves brave under fire, and loyal to their
salt in sharp extremities; but they are the most credulous and excitable
soldiery in the world. They regarded steam and electricity as so much
magic; and they fully believed that the British Government was binding
India with chains, when it was only laying down railway lines and
telegraph wires. The Enfield rifle was a new mystery; and the busy
brains of the sepoys were soon at work to divine the motive of the
English in greasing cartridges with cow's fat.
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