Message from Mahomed Jan.

293

power of the British to hold it against another army of 50,000 Afghans.

Our news from Ghazni still shows that there is energy left in Mahomed Jan, and that he has held his own against the Jagri and Besud Hazaras, who have tried to drive him from the neighbourhood. His latest plan to collect a new army is very ingenious. He has placed Musa Jan solemnly before his followers, and made the child repeat after him an oath upon the Koran, by which all true Mahomedans who join in another attack upon Sherpur shall be exempt from taxation for three years. The bait is a tempting one to indigent tribesmen; but some of the more wary may refuse the offer, as they must see how unlikely it is that our army will ever be expelled by force.

The force has just expneumonia, of Dr. Porter, Dr. Porter was so uni

There is not much cantonment news. perienced a heavy loss in the death, from principal medical officer of the division. versal a favourite, both with his own medical officers and with every soldier in the Cabul army of occupation, that his loss is a matter of personal sorrow to all of us. His high professional ability gave him a prominent place in the first rank of army surgeons.

17th January.

The malcontents at Ghazni have at last given us an idea of the terms to which they would be willing to agree: these being nothing short of the recall of Yakub Khan, and his replacement. on the throne. It is difficult, in the present state of affairs, to gain accurate news from Ghazni, but from letters which have been received, it would seem that a secret council of chiefs was held at that place a few days ago, and it was decided to send Sir Frederick Roberts a kind of diplomatic message. The purport of this message was that Mahomed Jan and his adherents would fight to the end unless the ex-Amir was instantly sent back from India, and once more given charge of Afghanistan as supreme ruler. Young Tahir Khan is the originator of this new scheme, but it is uncertain how far it is shared in by Mushk-iAlam. It is pretty certain that the latter was sorely displeased by his jehad being perverted into a raid upon the city of Cabul;

and on this point he quarrelled with Mahomed Jan, even before the investment of Sherpur was at an end. This quarrel was partly instrumental in causing the rapid dispersion of the tribal gathering; factions being formed, and discussion running very high. The more fanatical sided with the moollah; while the disorderly element supported Mahomed Jan. The letter conveying the decision of the Ghazni council has duly reached us, and we are rather amused at the coolness of the proposal. The removal of Yakub Khan is in the eyes of many people a very inadequate punishment for his culpable weakness in allowing an Envoy to be slaughtered, and we should be stultifying ourselves if we were even seriously to think of "giving him another chance." If he were a strong and capable ruler, able to carry out the terms of an alliance with us; a leader who had been captured in opposing our armies, and had been deposed after defeat, there might then enter into our calculations such a possibility as making him Amir once In the old war we so far sacrificed our pride as to send back Dost Mahomed to Cabul after he had been deported to India; but Dost Mahomed was a ruler worthy of respect, and a soldier who could keep his unruly subjects fairly well in hand. One can almost imagine that a few fanatics are hugging the belief that, as the Dost was reinstated, so will Yakub Khan be again placed in power; but such a consummation can never occur. It is doubtful whether Mushk-i-Alam has accepted the decision of the council. Our first information was to the effect that the arch-moollah had gone to Ghazni and harangued a large meeting of the malcontents; but it has since been reported that he was not present at the consultation. Mahomed Jan's movements, too, are difficult to follow. One day he is said to be among his kinsmen at Wardak; the next that he is stirring up the Zurmut people east of Ghazni; and then come all sorts of absurd rumours about his being on the way to Kohistan to see what Mir Butcha is doing.

more.

Our intelligence department is growing at last to be something more than a name. Before the events of the 11th and 23rd December, the only reports that were received as trustworthy were those given by paid spies and followers of the sirdars-followers who are, as a rule, of the purest type of ruffianism. One always looks upon a sirdar as a past-master in the art of deception, who

News of Abdur Rahman.

295

would sacrifice the British at any moment if he could do so with impunity; and the hangers-on of these chiefs are not a whit better than their masters. The action of the 11th in the Chardeh Valley proved to demonstration that no trust could be placed in the reports given by the sirdars: there were found to be 10,000 or 15,000 men within ten miles of Sherpur, whereas we had only heard of 5,000 being at Argandeh. Now there has been established a regular system of patrols, and a certain number of Kizilbash horsemen are stationed at various points on the Argandeh Kotal, Surkh Kotal, the Kohistan Road northwards over the Paen Minar Kotal, and about Charasia. They are under the command of one responsible native leader in Sherpur, who again is directly controlled by Lieutenant-Colonel Lockhart, the QuartermasterGeneral of the division. As these horsemen are paid, not by results, but for regular service on patrol work, they are likely to be more trustworthy than the highly-paid spies hitherto employed. If the system could be a little more extended on the lines I have before pointed out in previous letters-viz., regular establishment —it might be a great aid to us in the guerilla warfare we are engaged in.

Important news has been received that Abdur Rahman Khan has left Tashkend, and is now probably in Turkistan. If his residence among the Russians has not thoroughly converted him to their views, he might be a useful man for us to take up. He is ambitious, and, if we can trust Mr. Schuyler's estimate of him, has some ability which might now be turned to good use. What his influence would be now in the country after so many years of absence we cannot tell; but to-day, in mentioning his name to an old Cabuli, and saying that he was possibly already in Turkistan, my listener's face lighted up with pleasure, and he eagerly asked if he would return to Cabul. There are so many possibilities to be weighed in calculating the chances of settling affairs here on a fairly safe basis, that Abdur Rahman's claims may come to be considered. Unless, as I have said, he has been Russianised, he might fall in with our views, and, at least as a provincial governor, be trusted with authority.

In the meantime we are making preparations to hold Cabul as well as Sherpur in case of an attempted repetition of the events of

December 11th to 23rd. General Charles Gough's brigade in the Bala Hissar is busy at work, cutting a broad road from the Shah Shehr Gate (that facing Siah Sung) to the gate overlooking the city near Chandaul. The broken places in the walls have been built up, and improvements made by the Engineers, so as to give shelter to the garrison if an attack were attempted from the city. The Sherderwaza Heights immediately above the Bala Hissar are also to be held in future by one battalion (say 500 or 600 men), stationed in three strong towers, now in course of construction. The first and strongest of these is on the spur above the Arsenal; a steep point completely commanding the Upper Bala Hissar already being crowned with strong walls, the basement of the tower. The crest of the Sherderwaza Heights already boasts of a strong wall, part of the Afghan fortifications; and this position is naturally so strong, the hillside sloping down almost perpendicularly towards Chardeh Valley, that with the two towers now being built it could defy assault from any force destitute of artillery. The ridge running down westwards to the Cabul gorge would also be held if an enemy menaced the city, and on the Asmai Heights on the northern side a strong fort is to be built. The military roads converging upon Dehmazung from Sherpur cantonments unite in Deh-i-Afghan and pass by the foot of the Asmai Hill, whence they are to be continued in one broad road until the main Bamian Road through Chardeh Valley is gained. The towers above mentioned are to be provisioned and watered, always, for ten days, and are to contain small-arm ammunition equal to the requirements of a battalion for that period, calculated on the basis of serious fighting. A road broad enough for guns will also be made about Cabul itself from Deh-i-Afghan to the Bala Hissar, in addition to a circular road about Sherpur cantonments. Another road is to be cut from Bemaru village to the Siah Sung Heights, with a bridge spanning the Cabul river; and yet another from the 67th Gateway (near the south-eastern bastion) direct to the Bala Hissar, this also crossing the river by a new pile bridge. These two roads will ensure communication between Sherpur and the fortress without our troops having to pass near the city walls; and will give us alternative bridges over the Cabul, whereas we formerly had only one bridge, that on the city road from Sherpur.

Military Precautions.

297

With regard to the cantonment itself, the clear space for 1,000 yards about the walls is already partly made, although the débris of forts and villages destroyed requires much levelling before it can be said that all cover has been swept away. The blocks of solid mud and the loose rubbish could be utilized by skirmishers advancing to attack, and until this accumulation of ruins has been thoroughly levelled, our rifle-fire will not have a fair chance. On the eastern point of the Bemaru Heights a very strong tower is now being rapidly built, and the hill about it is to be scarped for ten yards, so that to assault it from outside cantonments would be impossible. At the north-west corner, below the western end of Bemaru Heights, the line of trenches with their parapet of guncarriage wheels (described in one of my letters written during the siege) will also be strengthened by a broad and deep wet ditch.

CHAPTER XXII.

Philanthropic Work in Cabul-Dr. Owen's Hospital-Prejudices gradually OvercomeThe Attendance of Women-The Hospital Wrecked by Fanatics-The Place Reestablished-A Visit to the Wards-Gratitude of the Patients-Treatment of Men Wounded in Action-Confidence in the Surgeon's Skill-Life in Sherpur-Freedom of Criticism upon Current Events-The Sherpur Club-Amusements of the Garrison -The First Theatre - The Pleasures of Skating and Sliding-A Snow Fight on Bemaru Heights-"How they Live in Cabul"-Zenana Life-Prevalence of Intrigues-Shopping--A Cabul Interior-A Lady's Dress-Cabuli Children-Character of the Citizens of Cabul-The Sirdar-Ambition and Sensuality-A Sirdar's House The Rites of Hospitality-The Cabul Trader-His Manner of doing Business.

22nd January, 1880.

As there seems to be an impression gaining ground, at least in England, that our army of occupation have adopted the Russian plan of settling a country-the institution of a Reign of Terrorit may be worth while to describe fully the means which we have taken for drawing the people towards us. After the capture of Cabul in October, it was found that there was a vast amount of disease and suffering among the poorer inhabitants of the city, and that native surgery never attempted to cope with these, except