Nana Sahib seems to have been more or less aware of this state of affairs. He had entertained a large number of Mahratta soldiers ostensibly to help the British to suppress the sepoys; just as the ex-Peishwa had raised a Mahratta army in 1817 ostensibly to help the British to suppress the Pindharis. Meanwhile Nana Sahib quietly sold out the half million sterling which had been invested in government paper. He had thus ample funds for carrying out his designs. But neither Nana Sahib nor the sepoys betrayed the thoughts that were agitating their brains. Secrecy and surprise, with the necessary element of duplicity, are the main strength of Orientals. [Sidenote: Mutiny of 4th June.] §8. On the 4th of June, the very day that Neill reached Benares, Sir Hugh Wheeler was warned that the sepoys were plotting mutiny and murder. Accordingly he ordered the British officers to leave off sleeping at the sepoy lines. That same night the sepoys broke out in mutiny. The cavalry galloped off to the treasury and helped the Mahrattas to plunder it. The British officers left the barracks and hastened to the lines, but were fired upon by the sepoys. The rebels loaded a number of country carts with plunder from the treasury and magazine, and then set off with all speed to the first stage on the road to Delhi. [Sidenote: Nana Sahib joins the sepoys.] Nana Sahib accompanied the rebels, but implored them not to go to Delhi. He swore that a large treasure was hidden away in the barracks, and urged the sepoys to return and capture it, and slaughter all the Feringhis. Asiatics will believe any stories of hidden treasure. The sepoys were also told that enough guns and powder remained in the magazine to enable them to storm the barracks with ease. Accordingly, on the 6th of June, the sepoys returned to Cawnpore with Nana Sahib at their head. [Sidenote: Propitiates Mohammedans and Hindus.] Nana Sahib now began to appear in his true colours. He pitched his camp in the centre of the station and hoisted two standards, to conciliate both Mohammedans and Hindus; namely, the green flag of Islam, and the Hindu god Hanuman, the friend of Rama, the avatar of Vishnu. He sent a body of horsemen into the town of Cawnpore to kill every European and Christian they could find. He mounted some heavy guns and prepared to assault the entrenched barracks. [Sidenote: Bombardment of European barracks.] Next morning, the 7th of June, Nana Sahib sent a letter to General Wheeler threatening to attack the British garrison. Several guns began to open fire on the barracks, and volleys of musketry were discharged from all quarters. Meanwhile Nana Sahib was reinforced by mutineers from Allahabad, by irregulars from Lucknow, by rebels from Oudh, and by armed bands of brigands and blackguards from all the country round. [Sidenote: Cruelty and cowardice.]