1 17G THE WAR WITH THE BRITISH.
2 Lall Sing*, and had been routed and driven back by the British,
3 fled tumultuously across the Sultej, many men being drowned
4 in the hurry and confusion of passing- that river. Arrived on
5 the opposite bank some ten thousand of them, including
6 many officers, dispersed and fled to their houses. It would
7 however have been better for them to have held together,
8 even at the risk of an attack from the British, for the strag-
9 gling fugitives received very rough usage at the hands of their
10 countrymen and even of their countrywomen, the inhabitants
11 of the district through which they fled. Those who reached
12 their houses had to encounter the taunts and reproaches of
13 their friends and neighbours, and in many instances even of
14 their wives, who bitterly reviled them for the cowardice. They
15 were robbed and abused and beaten, even the women of the
16 villages turning- out to rail at them and strike them as they
17 hurried along. At Lahore the gates were shut against them
18 by order of the Ranee, and an order went forth that all
19 fugitives from the camp should be imprisoned, and their property
20 confiscated. This had the effect of checking the desertions
21 and even of inducing many of those who had retired to Lahore
22 and the places adjacent, to return to their posts on the banks
23 of the Sutlej. Rajah Lall Sing, who was one of the first
24 to flee from the fight, made his way to the camp of Runjoor
25 Sing near Philoor, whence he hastened to Umritsir, where he
26 secreted himself for some time.
27 The Seik army under Teja Sing now lay encamped on the
28 right bank of the Sutlej, in the neighbourhood of Hurree-ka-
29 puttun ; the British on the opposite bank, meanwhile, waiting
30 for reinforcements and supplies, which were fast pouring in.
31 The Khalsa soldiers entertained strong suspicions that their late
32 defeats were brought on by the treachery of their chiefs,
33 prompted by the Ranee, who sought their destruction in revenge
34 for the death of her brother Jewahir Sing. These suspicions
35 were loudly expressed even in several messages to the Ranee,