1 HISTORY OF THB SIKHS. 263
2 for a few months for the protection of the young
3 Bulwunt Singh, the state has remained in a peace-
4 ful and flourishing condition for a period of twenty
5 years. But in making this comparison, we must
6 not forget, that the strong fortress of Bhurtpore
7 was dismantled, and its walls so far destroyed as
8 never again to offer a resistance which had twice
9 defied the power of the British. In the Punjab,
10 the strongholds of the Sikhs remain entire: no
11 breach has been made in the walls of Lahore,
12 Umritsir, or the still stronger fort of Govind Ghur;
13 and though one of .these is at the present moment
14 in possession of a British force, and the others no-
15 minally in the power of the government, it would
16 be no difficult matter for the Sikhs to render both
17 Umritsir and Govind Ghur strong garrisons, capa- State of the
18 a 7 ast Sikh garri-
19 ble of standing a siege. That the British have sons.
20 taken all the guns that had been pointed against
21 them is true, but there is every reason to believe,
22 that there are many more in Govind Ghur and
23 Umritsir. The treasury of Lahore may be ex-
24 hausted, but what has become of the vast wealth
25 amassed by Runjeet Singh? A great deal, no
26 doubt, fills the coffers of the Rajah of Jummoo, but
27 much of it must be in the possession of the various
28 Sirdars of the Punjab, and it only requires a c- The Sirdars
29 alition amongst them, to raise the means of arming aca
30 their followers, and rendering them once more
31 formidable even to the British. The wealth and Poverty of the
32 strength of the government itself have been exhaust- vernment.
33 ed or destroyed, but the private resources of the