१८५७ का स्वातन्त्र्य समर (वीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर - अंग्रेजों द्वारा छपने से पूर्व प्रतिबन्धित महाग्रन्थ)

THE ERUPTION
river Gogra. They encountered many dangers and hard-
ships on the way and those of them that survived arrived
safely at the house of the Raja of Gopalpur. That Raja
entertained the twenty-nine English with great hospitality,
for some days, and then sent them safely to the English
camp. Most of the Englishmen who escaped in the trials
of 1857 have written long accounts of their experiences.
They are all very instructive and are a living monument
to the nobility of sentiment of the people of our nation.
Though there was so much hatred all over Oudh against
the English, they were entertained hospitably, when they
surrendered, even in the houses of those Rajas who fought
on the side of the Revolutionaries. And such examples are
not isolated. Busher writes: “Now, I alone remained. Run-
ning on, I came across a village on the way. The first
man I saw there was a Brahmin. I asked of him some
water to drink. He saw my misery and took pity on me
and told me that that village consisted of Brahmins and
that my life was safe.... Buli Singh came up in pursuit.
I ran into a gully when an old woman came up to me and
pointed out a cottage. I went in and hid myself in the
grass. Shortly after came Buli Singh’s men and began
to pierce everywhere with the ends of their swords to
find me. They soon found me and dragged me out by
my hair. The people in the village began to heap curses
on the Feringhis ! Then, Buli Singh conducted me to
another place, amidst the hootings of the village crowd.
My execution was postponed everyday. I fell on my
knees and craved for mercy. In this way, I was taken,
at last, to Buli Singh’s house.” After a long time, he was
sent away to the English. Colonel Lennox writes : “While
we were running, the men of Nazim Hossein Khan caught
us. One of them drew out his revolver, gnashed his teeth
and said that his hands were throbbing to despatch the
Feringhis away in an instant but that he could not do it !
We were next taken up to Nazim. He was sitting in the
Durbar leaning on a cushion. He told us to drink a little
sherbet and rest, and not to be frightened. When the
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