28th P.N.I., and four horse artillery guns on elephants. He started with some infantry and guns to follow General Massy.

There is no doubt the enemy began evacuating their position as soon as it was dark; and when a strong patrol crept into their camp at midnight they found all had fled. Guns, tents, camp equipage, &c., fell into our hands. Seven bodies were found buried on the heights, and three others were lying on the rocks. Whether the fugitives carried off others, we have no means of telling. There were no casualties on our side. General Baker sent information to General Massy of the flight of the enemy, and the cavalry started off on the Bamian Road at 5.30 A.M., but only one small party of twenty-one was overtaken on the Kotal-i-Takht. These took refuge on a low hill and fought desperately, the good luck of surrounding and shooting them down falling to the 5th P.C. The single combat between Rahmat Ali, a native officer, and the leader of the party, was a pretty piece of business. The Afghan tried to escape on a fast pony, but was overtaken by Rahmat Ali, who, after warding off two blows from his opponent's tulwar, got well down upon the man's head. Unluckily his sword snapped at the hilt, but the blow had knocked the fugitive off his horse, and he was pistolled before he could recover himself. It was the hardest day's work the cavalry have had for a long time, over thirtysix miles being covered in the day. The men were without food both days they were out, but they behaved splendidly, not a grumble being heard. For instance, the 9th Lancers started on the morning of the 8th, after having received one loaf to every three men. They carried no food, as only a reconnaissance was intended, and at night some sheep were killed for them, and they tried to eat the flesh after roasting the animals whole. They had nothing but their swords to use in cutting up the carcases, and they found it quite impossible to eat the flesh; so on the 8th they went supperless to bed. On the 9th they were in the saddle from 5 A.M. to 9 P.M. (when they reached this camp), and the pursuit and return were made in such quick time that again there. was no chance of their getting food. Horses and men of all the regiments out with General Massy were quite exhausted when they at last reached their quarters here. Some score of horses were lost on the road, having literally died in harness. There was no slackness

Hostile Villagers.

49

in the pursuit when once it began, but the enemy had too great a start to be overtaken, and it now seems probable they dispersed to the hills and made for their homes, many doubtless taking refuge in the city. One piece of experience was certainly gained, and that was that the villagers about Cabul are hostile to us almost to a man. Five of them belonging to Aoshahr were made an example of by Colonel Ross, of the 14th Bengal Lancers. They treacherously fired into the Lancers, after having salaamed to them as they passed. The ruffians were captured with their guns still in their hands, and were shot without further parley. It is only by such severity, and by taking no prisoners in action, that any impression can be made upon the Afghan mind. Such prisoners

as are brought in are tried by a military commission, and the great majority are shot. There is just a fear that too much leniency may be shown, as the work is rather distasteful to British officers; but as we are an " avenging army," scruples must be cast aside. The army moved into this camp yesterday afternoon. It was only about a four miles' march from Beni Hissar, and the 72nd were left in charge of all stores that could not be got off by the transport animals in the day. On the night of the 8th there was some lively firing by small bodies of budmashes, who tried to shoot down men on picquet and sentry duty; but, as is usual, the bullets did no mischief. Last night there was news of what threatened to be a better organized attack by local villagers and tribesmen. Mounted sowars, it seems, were sent round to the tribes in this neighbourhood asking them to gather in force and to attack the camp, as much loot could be got, and only a few men had been left in camp. The exemplary severity we have shown in shooting all the men caught in arms against us, deterred the villagers from combining together, and no attack was made. The 72nd had drawn in their camp well under the walls of a garden overlooking the ground, and had formed a kind of laager with flour bags, &c., but not a shot was fired all night. The 72nd were ready for any number of assailants, and from behind their barricades of flour bags they would have read the Afghans as sharp a lesson as the Zulus received when trying to storm the mealie redoubt at Rorke's Drift. The whole of the stores were brought in here to-day. The 5th Ghoorkas hold the ridge overlooking the

E

Bala Hissar, and the 5th Punjab Cavalry are in the Sherpur Cantonment, to prevent the barracks there being destroyed by the local peasants for the sake of the woodwork and other material. In two or three days we shall probably move into the Bala Hissar, in which five months' provisions are to be stored. The city is quiet, and the camp is quite thronged with petty traders, who bring in food, clothing, &c., for sale, and move freely among our troops. Sir Frederick Roberts inspected the Sherpur Camp and the captured guns to-day, but no movement of troops took place. In a short time a small force under General Gough will march back to the Shutargardan to re-open communications in that direction, pending further news of the Khyber Force, whose advance seems to be very slow owing to transport difficulties.

Cabul itself is quite open to us now, and we can enter it whenever we choose. The guns captured on the Asmai ridge were six field-pieces and six mountain guns. Two field-pieces were also found in camp, and an immense store of ammunition. Thirty camels, four elephants, and several mules and ponies also fell into our hands.

It is now well established that the leaders of the mutineers are the Amir's most trusted friends. Kushdil Khan, who was sent specially by him to meet Cavagnari at Shutargardan, was a prominent leader both at Charasia and on the heights yesterday. Mahomed Jan, a general in Yakub's army, and of some importance among the powerful Wardak section of the Southern Ghilzais, is also mentioned. There is no doubt of concealed action among the Amir's officers, and unluckily none of the leaders have been taken. Sirdar Nek Mahomed Khan is really the head of all. It now appears that only one quarter of the magazine in the Bala Hissar was looted, and there are now in that fortress about twenty-six guns in perfect order and several rockets, old presents of the Indian Government. Nawab Khan, colonel of artillery, came in yesterday to know what orders General Roberts had to give about them, and was told they were to remain there for the present. No one can suppose any captured guns will be given to the Amir, who is still with us.

It was rumoured that 800 sepoys had kept together in a body, but this story is now said to be false, all having dispersed except

100 who escorted their leader, Mahomed Jan, towards Turkistan. The three regiments at Ghazni are reported to be only five miles out of that place, while four days ago our force from Candahar was at Makr, four long marches from Ghazni. The enemy has been extremely well informed of all our movements, though their source of information cannot be absolutely fixed upon. Regular news was probably given by some of the Amir's retainers, who see all that goes on in our camp.

The political situation shows no development; the Amir coinciding in all that is done, now that the flight of the mutineers has removed his apprehension of Cabul being sacked. If the attack on the 8th had been made earlier in the day, the only outlet for Mahomed Jan and his 2,000 troops would have been to Cabul itself. The city would then of course have been taken by storm, and, as Sir Frederick Roberts said in his proclamation, we could not have been held responsible for the consequences. At present the strictest orders prevail against any one entering the city, which perhaps even now may harbour many mutineers.

CHAPTER V.

Visit to the Residency-Description of the Bala Hissar-The Ruins of the ResidencyProbable Plan of the Attack and Defence-The Amir's Palace-Formal Occupation of the Bala Hissar, and Proclamation to the People of Cabul-The Punishment of the City--Arrest of the Amir's Ministers--Text of the Proclamation.

CAMP SIAH SUNG, 11th October.

TO-DAY Sir Frederick Roberts and his Staff visited the ruins of the Residency within the walls of the Bala Hissar. The visit was

General Massy's withdrawal of his patrols was severely criticized, and capital was afterwards made out of it by the military authorities in India. As showing how utterly helpless the troopers would have been in the darkness to check an enemy, I may quote my own experience. On the morning of the 9th I rode from General Massy's force to join General Baker, taking an Afghan guide, and two sowars as escort. Innumerable watercourses had to be jumped, and both sowars were left behind in the ditches. My horse had nearly to swim one stream, and the strain and toil of climbing up the banks were such that I lost even the felt numdah from under my saddle. The willow-trees lining the stream were also great obstacles to horses and men, even in daylight.

made quietly and unostentatiously, only a sufficient escort being taken to guard against such accidents as a ghazi running amuck, or a handful of quondam rebels making an attack upon the leader of the army that has punished them. There is so much of historical interest attaching to the fortress which guards Cabul, and this interest has been so intensified by late events, that all of us who rode from Camp yesterday were full of expectation as to what we were likely to see. Following for half a mile the Jellalabad Road, lined on both sides with closely-planted trees, we turned sharply to the left when nearing the city, and were soon underneath the walls of the Bala Hissar itself. The shallow bed of the moat supposed to surround the city is nearly dry, and the road runs only a few yards from the foot of the rock against which the walls are reared. The masonry is crumbling to decay, but there are still signs of great stability in it, and the natural features of the ground have been so utilized that a precipitous face of 30 or 40 feet is presented to any enemy. This is on the eastern side to the right of the entrance-gate, just where Shere Ali's palace, with its zenana, tops the wall. The road rises some 10 or 12 feet to the gate itself, which must once have been of enormous strength, as solid masonry 20 feet thick still remains. Here, again, there is evidence of ruin, the inner supports having crumbled away and the defensive position overhead lost its protecting parapets. The lower Bala Hissar once entered, one comes upon the usual narrow winding lanes and commonplace mud buildings of all eastern cities. The place looks filthy and uncared for, and the doorways leading to the courts of the tumble-down houses give a view of squalor and dilapidation suggestive of worse to follow. The few shops are miserable specimens of their kind, and their owners are in keeping with the general associations of the place. There is nothing better to describe than dust, dirt, and dreariness, on every hand; and even the small square, where a few guns were standing in front of a dozen dirty tents used by the gunners, gave as little idea of the interior of a fortress as a few grains of sand would of a desert. Six field-pieces and as many mountain guns were parked in the square. This was part of the artillery quarters, and a few gunners with a trumpeter were standing near the guns. The men wore no uniform and looked like unwashed coolies. They