Proceedings of the Military Commission.

III

estly enough to shield their master, while he was still protected by us; but now that he is a nonentity, and all semblance of power has passed from him, there may be a change in their attitude. They have a certain rude idea of faithfulness to their salt; but when they see their Chief arrested without a word of warning, after being allowed to move freely among us for weeks, their fortitude may not be equal to the emergency, and they may seek to purchase their own safety by voluntary disclosures. For these we must wait.

In the meantime the smaller fry are being dealt with by the Military Commission, under whose orders eleven prisoners have been hanged. The order of procedure is that the case against men under arrest is fully gone into by Colonel Macgregor, aided by Hyat Khan; and when the evidence and witnesses are ready, the prisoners are "committed," so to say, to the Commission, just as in ordinary criminal inquiries they would be passed from the Police Magistrate to the Assize Judge. There is no unseemly hurry or vindictive haste displayed in the inquiry. All goes on systematically and deliberately; and before the Commission the men under arrest are allowed to hear all that has been stated against them and to give such explanation as they desire. If there then appears new matter for inquiry, they are remanded from day to day; and no effort is spared, in common fairness to them, to test the truth of their statements. If found guilty, they are condemned to death; but even then the sentence is not carried out without reference to a third source of authority-that of Sir Frederick Roberts himself. If he approves the finding, he signs the order for execution, and the Provost-Marshal has then to fulfil the duty of his office without delay. But if there seem doubtful points strong enough to be yet a third time considered, the sentence of death is held in suspense; and even now we have in our quarterguards men in this stage, with the halter dangling before their eyes. It will be seen that nothing can be fairer than the course taken by Sir Frederick Roberts to punish such as deserve death for their past actions in the early weeks of September; and in the face of it there is none of that reckless blood-spilling which we may get the credit for. In our Assize the old line

"And wretches bang that jurymen may dine-"

is unknown and if there is grumbling occasionally at the pains. taken to convict prisoners instead of hanging them on mere suspicion, it is all the more creditable to our Chief and his Commissioners that no attention is paid to it. To-day two men were marched off to execution who richly deserved their fate. The one was the jemadar of the rascally Kotwal of Cabul, himself hanged on the 20th. Like the Kotwal, he was most servile in offering aid to us after our arrival, and, on the night of the 8th, acted as a guide to some troops marching up the Bala Hissar Ridge, in connection with the action against the rebels on that day. The second prisoner was a Mahomedan resident of Cabul, in whose house a box, marked "Cabul Embassy," was found by a searching party of the 28th Regiment. He could give no explanation of how he came by the box, except the colourless one that it had been placed in his rooms by an enemy. Several guns and swords were also found in his house; and nothing in his favour being forthcoming, he was sent to execution. The guilt or innocence of the confidential friends of Yakub Khan, who are now prisoners, is still a question of doubt; but none are arrested without justification, and their cases will undergo the usual scrutiny.

There is a probability that the taking of Cabul may not be so barren as we first thought in the matter of loot. The city itself having been respected, there was not much to get out of the Bala Hissar beyond warlike stores and ammunition. But to-day the news has been made known that a vast store of treasure is hidden in houses belonging to Yakub Khan, or his near relatives living within the walls. Our treasure-chest has sunk very low of late by reason of the enormous purchases made by the Commissariat, which has to provide five months' stores for the army. Carriage was so scarce when we marched up from Ali Kheyl, that only a few lakhs were brought up, and poverty is staring us in the face. Such expedients as giving bills upon India to Hindu and Kizilbash merchants in Cabul, or in receiving from Wali Mahomed and his sirdars many thousands of Bokhara gold tillahs (worth Rs. 9 or Rs. 10 each), or Russian five-rouble pieces said to be worth Rs. 11-8, though nobody really knows their legitimate market valuesuch expedients could not last long; and as nothing has been done to exact the fine imposed upon the Cabulis, it was clear that specie

Discovery of Treasure.

113 would have to be raised from some source yet untouched. It is said that Yakub Khan, on assuming the Amirship, appropriated many lakhs of rupees which his father had given to the mother of Abdullah Jan, Shere Ali's favourite son, and these he had cleared out of the Bala Hissar, and, with other property of value, had hidden in the city. A little party of British soldiers filed off to the house indicated by our informers this morning, and the officer in charge of our treasure-chest (Major Moriarty) and Lieutenant Neville Chamberlain, Assistant Political Officer, had soon their eyes gladdened by bags and boxes of gold coins, besides finding on all sides rich silks, brocades, and other portable property of enormous value. About eight lakhs in gold were secured, and native rumour affirms that before the examination comes to an end, a million sterling may be unearthed. Boxes innumerable have still to be opened, and our spies are firm in their assurance that the value in coin and precious stones alone is eighty lakhs of rupees. To-morrow the examination of the place will be continued, and it is hoped another good day's find will be the result. This prize-money, for no doubt it will be considered as such, if it is confiscated, will be a just reward for the energy and dash our commander and his troops have shown in the capture of Cabul; and even if it is found necessary to use the money now for our immediate wants, the debtor and creditor account should be carefully kept in view of future distribution. Such scandals as that of Delhi and Kirwee need not be repeated in the case of Cabul.*

It has since been ruled that the treasure is not to be considered prize money. Abdur Rahman, upon his accession to the Amirship, was given 19 lakhs of rupees, of which 9 will appear in the accounts as "refunded to the Afghan Government." This was the sum found in Cabul as detailed above.

I

CHAPTER X.

The Force moves into Sherpur Cantonments-Building Winter Quarters-The Sirdar and the Soldier-A Trying Climate-General Macpherson starts for Jugdulluck—Arrival of Stores from the Shutargardan-The Khyber Line of Communication-Various Routes to Jugdulluck-The Luttabund Kotal-The Chinari Route-The Khurd Cabul Defile- Its Difficulties Exaggerated-General Macpherson marches to Sei Baba-Reception of the Shatargardan Garrison-Padshah Khan dismissed to his Home-Death of Allahaddin.

SHERPUR CANTONMENTS, 1st November. THE scattered camp on the Siah Sung Ridge, though well situated from a military point of view, and extremely healthy and dry, involved such heavy duties for the troops, that it was resolved to move into these cantonments sooner than was originally intended. The reserve Commissariat stores were all sent here; and as a large quantity of food had also to be kept at Siah Sung, there was double guard-duty to be done; and this in addition to such work as furnishing a picquet on the Bala Hissar Heights, a strong guard in the city, another over the Amir's tent, and a third to watch the excavations in the Residency and the Arsenal ruins. Besides all these, the European regiments had nearly every day to send a company to guard prisoners on their way to execution, while the cavalry were out on escort duty with Commissariat officers, buying up food, forage, and firewood. All these multifarious duties. resulted, technically, in giving the men only two nights a week in bed; and as after sunset the cold makes itself felt very sharply, the work became very trying. The 5th Ghoorkas and 23rd Pioneers, too, were separated from the rest of the force, being sent down here to build their winter quarters, the barracks built by Shere Ali not being equal to accommodating all the regiments. Under these circumstances it was thought best to move everybody to Sherpur-except, of course, such regiments as were to move out towards Jugdulluck for the purpose of opening up communication with the Khyber Force. We struck our tents on Siah Sung Ridge yesterday morning at nine o'clock, and we are here encamped on

The British in Sherpur.

115

the cultivated fields which the three walls of the cantonment enclose. The change is one for the better, as all duties are lightened, picquets only being wanted on the Bemaru Heights, which shut us in on the north side. A few sentries at the five large gates, and others scattered about the camp, are all that are required; and orders can be transmitted to regiments or brigades in a few moments, as all are within the line of walls. Some thousands of masons, carpenters, and Hazara coolies are busily engaged under our Engineer officers in plastering, whitewashing, and making generally comfortable the long rows of rooms once intended for the Afghan army, while blocks of rooms are also being built in the open for such regiments as have not had quarters assigned to them in Shere Ali's barracks. The foundations of a pretentious palace had been begun by our late enemy at the foot of the Bemaru hills, and three sides of this had been raised some six or seven feet high-good, solid masonry, well cemented together. Mud buildings, with wooden framework, are being raised on both sides of these walls by the Ghoorkas; and as they work with their customary earnestness in things great and small, they will soon be under first-rate shelter. The Pioneers are building their barracks a little higher up the Ridge to the north-east, but only one company is now engaged on them, the regiment being away on service with General Macpherson, who has started eastwards to join hands with General Charles Gough's Brigade, now somewhere near Gundamak, on the Khyber side. Wood in abundance, from the houses in the Bala Hissar, has been brought in; and in the matter of doors and windows, Cabul mistris are hard at work all day, turning them out by the score. There is much to be done yet before we are all housed for the winter, and the camp-followers and kahars have yet to be provided for, it being found impossible to clear out the Bemaru village for them, as the inhabitants are more numerous than were at first supposed, and they would have difficulty in finding shelter in Cabul or the villages about. Bemaru, which is embraced within the line of fortifications, will, therefore, remain undisturbed, for the present. If Bemaru could be turned into a large bazaar it would be a great gain, as the Cabul bazaar is a mile and a half away; and when snow is on the ground, such a distance cannot be travelled daily by our