He was told that he might carry the
intrenchment if he could, but that the English had enough powder left to
blow both armies into the air. Accordingly Nana agreed to wait until the
morrow.
At early morning on June 27th the garrison began to move from the
intrenchment to the place of embarkation. The men marched on foot; the
women and children were carried on elephants and in bullock-carts, while
the wounded were mostly conveyed in palanquins. Forty boats with
thatched roofs, known as _budgerows_, were moored in shallow water at a
little distance from the bank; and the crowd of fugitives were forced to
wade through the river to the boats. By nine o'clock the whole four
hundred fifty were huddled on board, and the boats prepared to leave
Cawnpore.
Suddenly a bugle was sounded, and a murderous fire of grape-shot and
musketry was opened upon the wretched passengers from both sides of the
river. At the same time the thatching of many of the budgerows was found
to be on fire, and the flames began to spread from boat to boat.
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