Soon after the Mutiny the fort began to overflow, for the country was
now getting more settled, and British officers could venture to build
houses outside the walls of fortified enclosures. Thus the
Assistant-Commissioner migrated eight hundred yards to the south-east,
while an officers' mess was built on the river bank two hundred yards to
the north-west. A quarter of a century passed before more houses were
added, and then at intervals of a few years came the church and more
houses, while extensions of the soldiers' lines took place to
accommodate the increasing numbers.
And thus it stands to-day, the little five-bastioned fort, round which
are loosely thrown half a dozen houses and a church. And yet there is a
difference, for the picture is now set, not in dull desert tints, but in
soft shades of green. Everywhere are avenues and clumps of great trees,
hedges of roses, of limes, and deronta encircle every garden, the green
of the polo grounds is as that of the Emerald Isle. Even the old fort
has lost its grimness, and the mud walls have given place to beautiful
terraces bright with every flower; while the once formidable moat is
spanned by peaceful rustic bridges, clustered thick with climbing roses,
and giving access to the gardens and orchards which spread along the
_glacis_.
On the Hodson bastion stands the old mess, now an officers' quarter,
where in bygone stormy days they used to sit at dinner with revolvers
handy, and swords stacked in the corner, alert and ready for sudden
alarm or excursion.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190