Ravenscroft had, in the
interval, caused to be erected over the remains of her husband; and,
at the suggestion of Colonel Patton, this tomb was rebuilt and
improved at the cost of Government, who were perfectly satisfied with
the result.
But in its reply, dated the 31st July, Government very justly
remarks, that all the unnecessary trouble which had attended this
investigation, as well as the very painful step of having the body
disinterred, which the Resident found himself compelled to adopt in
obedience to its orders, arose from a want of those obvious
precautions in the first instance which ought to have suggested
themselves to Colonel Patton. Had he made the requisite inquiries at
Secrora, he must have learnt that an English officer belonging to his
own regiment, who had been present at the interment, had been wounded
when Mr. Ravenscroft was murdered, and, for a time, rendered unfit
for duty. The facts since deposed to on oath by Ensign Platt might
have been elicited, and his testimony, if necessary, might have been
confirmed by the evidence of the widow of the deceased; and had such
conclusive evidence been submitted to Government in the first
instance, the doubts excited by the extraordinary circumstances of
the whole affair would never have existed. When ordered on the
inquiry to Bhinga, had Ensign Platt at once declared at Secrora that
he could there afford all the information required as to the fact of
the murder and interment of the body, the necessity of further
inquiry on the spot would have been obviated.
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