Recovering the Killed. 79 on the Asmai Heights on the 8th. Early yesterday morning it was observed that the fire in the Upper Bala Hissar had died out, and that only a smoking heap of rubbish marked the spot where the explosions had occurred. Half the southern and western walls of the Arsenal had been thrown outwards down the hillside, and within was a chasm in which cartridges still exploded, though only faintly, as if in protest at being ignominiously smothered under crumbling walls. It was by means safe walking in such near proximity to half-consumed boxes of cartridges; and as there was the off-chance of a jar of powder going off at any moment, the risk was proportionately increased. Besides, there might be vaults loaded with powder, and Sir F. Roberts very wisely ruled that the lives of his soldiers were too valuable to be endangered in such a neighbourhood. It was, however, necessary that search should be made for the poor fellows who had been killed; and, accordingly, a number of the city people were impressed and made to work upon the ruins. Dry earth and rubbish were thrown down upon the smouldering embers, and the three godowns filled with powder were banked up with mud and made as fireproof as possible in the time. Kahars from the ambulance corps were also sent up, and in the afternoon they discovered Captain Shafto's body and the charred remains of the Ghoorkas. They had all been buried under the falling walls. The loss to the regiment of the subadar-major and four pay-havildars is very serious; while we all deplore poor Shafto's death, as he was a universal favourite. He was buried with military honours this morning; the 67th furnishing the firing party. Yesterday afternoon a strong wind swept across the ridge for several hours, and in the evening the fire in the ruins broke out afresh and blazed up till long past midnight. Small explosions occurred from time to time, showing that much powder was still buried and ready to ignite. Fortunately, the wind dropped about ten o'clock, or the remaining godowns might have been burnt down. To-day valuable stores of poshteens and warm clothing, enough for many hundreds of men, were come upon, and these have been carried into camp by fatigue parties without delay. They will be of immense service, as warm clothing for the followers is much needed. The troops, also, are not too well pro vided for; but now European and sepoy alike can be made comfortable for the winter. It is already bitterly cold at night, and it has been decided to move us all into the Sherpur Cantonment, where are already barracks equal to accommodating 3,000 or 4,000 men. Huts will also be built below the Bemaru Ridge, which forms the fourth side of the fortified parallelogram, and the Bemaru village will be cleared of its inhabitants. All the houses therein will then be available for our army of followers, who are always the greatest sufferers when snow falls and frost sets in. This ridge on which we are now encamped is very exposed; and as the sun is still powerful in the day, the health of the men will be sure to suffer unless they are protected against the cold wind which rises as the sun sets. There is but little news of military moment just at present. From the Shutargardan we hear of another attack by 3,000 Mangals and Ghilzais; but three companies of the 3rd Sikhs and the 21st P.N.I. scattered them in the most admirable manner, charging up hill at the sungars and carrying them with the bayonet. This hand-to-hand fighting is far better than pitching shells at long ranges, as it teaches these ruffians the material our men are made of. There were only 300 sepoys engaged, but they were more than enough. The gallant way in which they took the sungars and bayoneted forty of the defenders on the spot has given us all, from the General downwards, unqualified satisfaction. There is grand fighting material still to be found in many of our native regiments, as Colonel Money's two engagements on the Shutargardan have clearly proved. General Gough, with the 5th P.C., the 5th P.I., and four mountain guns, left Cabul yesterday for the Shutargardan to bring down all the supplies accumulated there, and to close the line by way of Kotal for the winter. Snow may now fall at any time at such an altitude as the Shutargardan, and it behoves us to clear out the post before further difficulties are added to what is already a very difficult bit. General Gough may be molested on his march, as the districts of the Logar swarm with robbers; but it is unlikely any organized attack will be made upon his party, whatever attempt to loot his convoy may be attempted upon his return journey. As he will bring back the head-quarters and a squadron of the 9th Lancers, the H The Captured Artillery. 81 3rd Sikhs, and the mountain guns now on the Shutargardan, he will be able to defend his charge without fear of consequences. If, as we learn this afternoon, the Mangals have occupied the heights in force, and have cut off even the grass-supply of Colonel Money's little garrison, General Gough's arrival may be most opportune, and the tribesmen may receive another sharp lesson. Sixty headmen of the Gajis, Turis, Mangals, and other tribes between here and the Shutargardan have come in at Sir Frederick Roberts's request. The General pointed out to them how utterly useless resistance was to the British, as exemplified in the fall of Cabul, and this they acknowledged, promising to keep their followers in good order and not to molest us. As we shall soon be moving into our winter quarters, I send you a complete list of the guns captured up to date : CHAPTER VII. Execution of Five Prisoners-The Kotwal of Cabul-His Proclamation to the PeopleNek Mahomed and the Amir-Aghir Khan's Crime-The Moollah Khwaja Nazir and his Attempt to raise a Jehad-Effect of the Executions upon the PeoplePreparing Winter Quarters-Dispersion of the Tribes at the Shutargardan— Execution of Afghan Officers-The Course of Justice-Stern Reprisals necessaryAfghan Fanaticism-Hostility of the Mass of the People-The Position of the Amir-Political Problems. CAMP SIAH SUNG, 20th October. TO-DAY we have had the satisfaction of seeing marched out to execution in the Bala Hissar five prisoners, more or less directly concerned in the events of the last few weeks, whose guilt was very clearly established in our eyes. As might have been expected, it has been no easy matter to collect evidence in Cabul, many witnesses being afraid of after-consequences if they bore testimony to the conduct of men under suspicion. We have not notified in any way what is to be the duration of our stay here, and once our protection over our well-wishers is removed, their fate may be readily imagined. There is no one who cherishes revenge more fervently than an Afghan, and every witness would be marked down by the kinsmen of those against whom he had appeared. By a little judicious management, however, in which Hyat Khan, Assistant Political Officer, has been chief agent, pretty full evidence has been obtained without publicity, and after being carefully sifted, it has been submitted to the Military Commission,* of which General Massy is President, as the various prisoners implicated have been brought up. Yesterday this Commission had before it five prisoners, all of whom it sentenced to death by hanging, and to-day this sentence was carried out. The terms of the proclamation issued by General Roberts from Zerghun Shahr left no outlet of escape for all such persons as were concerned in the massacre of Sir Louis Cavagnari and his com * The members of the Commission were Brigadier General Massy (President), Major Moriarty, Bengal Staff Corps, and Captain Guinness, 72nd Highlanders. The Case of the Kotwal of Cabul. 83 panions, or who offered armed resistance to the British troops advancing with the Amir under their protection. Death was the penalty incurred in either case; assassination being the one offence, and treason against their lawful sovereign the second. This dual mode of dealing with offenders was no doubt due to the inference that those who chose to fight against us must have so far committed themselves in prior events as to make them in technical term "accomplices after the act." To aid and defend a murderer is to participate in his crime; and the leaders at Charasia and on the Deh-i-Afghan Heights, though nominally only accused of high treason against Yakub Khan, were really guilty of abetting the men who had fired the Residency and slaughtered its inmates in the early days of September. In the attack upon our Embassy and in the after-tumult and organized resistance to our troops, it was known that the city people had borne a prominent part, and it was therefore necessary that one of their leaders should be made to suffer for their offences. Accordingly, the Kotwal, or chief magistrate of Cabul, was arrested immediately after the proclamation of Sir F. Roberts had been read in the Amir's garden, and he was the chief personage among the five tried yesterday. The evidence against this man, Mahomed Aslam Khan, was that after the Residency had been stormed, he ordered and superintended the throwing of the bodies of the Guides over the Bala Hissar wall into the ditch below, where they now lie in a deep hole covered over with stones and rubbish. This was his active participation in the first series of events, and there was no doubt the influence his position gave him was exercised in every way in favour of the mutineers, and that he made. no effort to control the city rabble. When it became known in Cabul that our forces were encamped at Charasia, he showed himself most active in organizing measures to drive us back. the night before the fight, when all the fanatical passions of the soldiery and the populace were excited to the utmost, he issued a proclamation in which all faithful Mahomedans were called upon to assemble and march out to do battle against the British. This was circulated throughout the city and neighbourhood, and brought in many recruits; while, to keep the ill-organized army up to its work, he gave Rs. 1,000 to the bakers to cook food for the troops. On |