Breakfast came; no tidings of
them: ten; eleven o'clock; and they began to be the talk of the whole
camp. However, we speculated that the worst that could have happened to
them was being taken prisoners by a party of Beloochees, and kept as
hostages, or something of that sort. At twelve, General Willshire became
so alarmed and anxious about them that he sent out a troop of the 1st
Light Cavalry to scour the jungles, and discover what they could of
them; another officer sent out a party of six natives, with the promise
of a reward of two hundred rupees if they could find any tidings of
them. Well; the day went on; and at mess, at six o'clock, nothing had
been heard relative to their fate, except that a little dog belonging to
poor Nixon returned to camp about four o'clock. About eight o'clock I
was in Dickinson's tent, smoking a cheroot, &c., previous to turning in,
when one of our servants rushed in with the dreadful intelligence that
the bodies had been found in the jungle by the Light Cavalry. It struck
us at first so unexpectedly, and as being a thing so dreadful, that we
would hardly believe it; however, all doubt was soon changed into
horrible reality by the arrival of the bodies within our lines.
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