"Exempt as the post carriers have been from concurrence in the general insurrection, the conduct of the other descriptions of postal servants has been not less good, with the exception of those attached to the Indore post office. There the temptation of plunder excited an overseer and peon, and the people of the workshop, to join in plundering the post office and premises, and one kitmutgar (table servant), a Mussulman at Samwere, near Oojein, hounded on some miscreants to murder an European serjeant from Mahidpore, who took refuge in it, for which he was subsequently hanged, and the others transported. "In the higher grades, the conduct of the postal officers has been very exemplary; no instance has occurred in which a postmaster either deserted his post, or has been suspected of having made use of his position to give information, to open letters, or to favour in any way the rebel cause. "Ten travellers' bungalows and seven post offices have been burned down, and ten evacuated, of which three only have remained closed. This does not represent the extent of injury done, or loss occasioned, the destruction of stamps, and in other ways by the carrying away of mail carts, destruction of property, and loss in postage collection, and compensation to people in postal employ for good behaviour, or for personal suffering." The success of the postal arrangements during the Mutiny is largely due to the organization and example of Mr. Riddell, the Director-General, who attended to all important matters personally. He was assisted by the loyal devotion of the entire staff, and the men whose names may be mentioned for special services are Mr. Dove, officiating Postmaster-General, Bengal; Mr. Bennett, Mr. Wallace and Mr. McGowan, of the Bengal establishment; Lala Salig Ram in the North-Western Provinces; Dr. Clark and Mr. H. A. Brown in Agra; Captain Fanshawe and Babu Eshan Chander Mookerjee in Aligarh; Mr. Taylor in the Deccan and Babu Sheo Pershad in Delhi. Where so many did well it seems invidious to mention only a few names, and the President in Council, when thanking the Director-General for the work done by the Post Office during the crisis, expressed the high opinion which the Government entertained of the services rendered by all the officers of the Department, European and Indian, in circumstances of the greatest difficulty. Enough has been written to show the nature of the help given to the Indian Empire by the staff of the Post Office during the Mutiny. It is a record of loyalty and devotion to duty of which the Department may well be proud. CHAPTER XVII THE INDIAN FIELD POST OFFICE