We were now about to explore a part of Toorkisth[=a]n which I have
reason to believe had never been visited by Europeans; the distance
between Ghoree and Badjgh[=]ar is about eighty miles, across as wild
and romantic a country as can well be conceived, consisting of a
succession of difficult and in some places perilous defiles; the last
of these was the famous Dushti Suffaed, which leads to Badjgh[=a]r.
There is a sameness in the features of these Toorkisth[=a]n passes
which renders a faithful description tedious, from its monotony and
the necessary repetition of similar characteristic features; yet the
reader will hardly fail to draw important conclusions from the immense
difficulty and almost practical impossibility that a modern army
of considerable numbers, with all its incumbrances, through such a
country, with any hope of its retaining its efficiency or even a
tithe of its original numerical strength, will encounter. And when we
consider that the passes of Toorkisth[=a]n embrace only a small part
of the distance to be traversed by an army from the west, we may
well dismiss from our minds that ridiculous impression, once so
unfortunately prevalent in India, that is now justly denominated
_Russophobia_. What a fearful amount of human suffering might have
been averted! what national disgrace might have been avoided! and what
millions of treasure saved, had the authorities in India but examined
the practicability of an invasion which Russia had too much wisdom
ever seriously to contemplate!
But to return to our wanderings. As I said before, we left Ghoree
early in the morning of the 28th, and soon reached the foot of the
hills, ascending a narrow valley which gradually contracted into a
rocky ravine. As we traversed the higher levels all vegetation ceased,
excepting the Pista tree already alluded to; yet there must have been
some herbage in the gullies, as we saw several flocks of wild goats,
so wild indeed that it was impossible to get within rifle range
of them. We had heard of a place called Shull[=a]ctoo, within the
distance of a day's march, and conceiving naturally that it was a
habitation of men, we determined to pass the night there. As the
evening advanced, the aspect of the country assumed a still wilder
and more desolate character, our cattle began to show symptoms of
distress, and as the hills were apparently destitute of water, we
became a little uneasy regarding the nature of our billet. A sudden
turn of the ravine brought us to a small open space, without a blade
of grass or a vestige of any thing human, which our guide complacently
informed us was Shull[=a]ctoo, a mere "locus standi." After the first
feeling of dismay had subsided, we recollected that we had a small
supply of food for our horses; and water being now found for the first
time since we entered the hills,--and we had come a good sixteen
miles,--we determined not to proceed further, so pitching our little
tent we made ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would admit.
On the 29th we marched, a distance of fourteen miles, to a small fort
called Keune. But I unfortunately commenced the day's work by losing
my way amongst the rocks, with some of the guard: after wandering
for some hours, surrounded by scenery the grandeur of which I should
better have appreciated under different circumstances, one of the
Affgh[=a]n soldiers hit upon a pathway, and seeing a man in the
distance, he made for, and, seizing him in the most unceremonious
manner, brought him to me. The poor fellow was in the greatest state
of alarm; he had evidently never seen a Feringhi before, and fancied
that his last hour had arrived. I put a rupee into his hand, and
endeavoured to make him understand that we were neither robbers nor
murderers, but travellers who had lost their way; he was naturally
incredulous, for certainly our appearance gave but small indication of
our respectable character.[*] At length we were obliged to intimate
that his fears might be realized unless he showed us the way to Keune,
which we eventually reached in the evening, much exhausted with our
excursion.
[* Note: I was armed with a huge old-fashioned sword of the 11th
dragoons, purchased in the Cabul bazaar, (marked D-XI Dr.) and clad in
a green Swiss frock. I had a coloured turban wound in copious folds
round my head as a protection from the sun, beard of nearly three
months' growth, and accompanied by a ferocious-looking tribe of
Affghans, all unshorn as well as myself, created anything but
a prepossessing impression to a stranger. The reader will not,
therefore, feel surprised at the man's hesitation in meeting us.]
The chief of the fort at first declined furnishing us with any
supplies, though we offered liberal payment, declaring that he had
only sufficient for his own consumption; he, however, relented, and
sent us enough for our immediate wants. He afterwards came himself,
and informed us that we had acted very unwisely in mentioning at
Ghoree the route we proposed to follow, as one of the Sheikkallee
Huzareh chiefs, who was in a state of rebellion, had passed through
Keune the day before, and had stated that a party of Feringhis were
about to pass through his country with a quantity of odd looking boxes
filled with money, (alluding, I suppose, to the theodolite, &c.)
and that he would with his whole tribe waylay and rob us. This was
pleasant news, but we took the hint and determined to be on our guard.
In return for this piece of information, the inhabitants of Keune
expressed a desire to see the _Feringhis feed_; rather a novel
request, but one which we easily gratified by striking the walls of
the tent while we eat our dinner. The natives squatted down in a
circle outside the tent pins, and watched every morsel we put into our
mouths with the utmost interest and with many exclamations of surprise
and astonishment; and when before retiring for the night we as usual
had a skinful of water poured over us, their wonder knew no bounds;
they were evidently but slightly acquainted with the use of water as
applied for the purposes of cleanliness.
We left Keune at daybreak on the 30th, hoping to be able to make our
way to Badjgh[=a]r, distant about forty-five miles, by surmounting the
Keune pass and proceeding down the Surruk Kulla valley. The ascent
was long and steep, the distance we had to travel before reaching the
summit being above thirteen miles; and though we had been on the move
nearly all day, such were the difficulties of the pass that night
overtook us shortly after we had reached its crest.
Not a sign of habitations or trace of cultivation was visible; we had
no corn for our cattle, but fortunately the more sheltered spots in
the vicinity of water were clothed with luxuriant grass, which the
horses greedily eat. Our followers had, with the improvidence of
Asiatics, brought but a scanty supply of food, and indeed we were
all to blame for having trusted too much to the wild mountains
for supplies. There were plenty of chikore, however, and as I had
succeeded in shooting two or three in the morning we were not entirely
without food; and having pitched our tent, we retired to rest in the
hope that the next day we should come upon some fort where we might
recruit.
As we were preparing to start early on the morning of the 31st, we met
a traveller pursuing his solitary way to Keune, who, after expressing
his wonder at encountering a party of Feringhis in such a place,
inquired our proposed route. We informed him that our intention was to
proceed over the Surruk Kulla pass and make our way to Badjghar, but
he cautioned us not to attempt any such thing; for though the road
was better than the more direct one, called the Espion Pass, it was
infested by a robber tribe from whose hands he had himself only
escaped, not having any thing to lose.
This unwelcome intelligence induced Sturt to change his plan, and we
agreed that having done our utmost to fulfil the wishes of government
in ascertaining the nature of the passes in the vicinity of Badjghar,
it was our duty to consult the safety of ourselves and followers, and
get them as soon as possible within reach of protection. We had no
food of any kind left, but after all we did not anticipate much
serious evil from a forced fast of forty-eight hours; so, after
rewarding our wanderer for his very seasonable warning, we struck off
to cross the Espion Pass. The event proved how imminent had been our
danger, for after reaching Badjghar we were made aware that a large
body of horsemen had assembled in the Surruk Kullah valley for the
purpose of attacking us--that they had come up the road to meet us,
and had actually reached the point where we turned off about two hours
after us.
We travelled the whole of the 31st August across a succession of
broken passes; so complicated were the valleys and so broken were
the range of hills, that we were unable to tell when we reached the
back-bone of the ridge, and we struggled on in doubt and difficulty
till we were again overtaken by the shades of night.
Our cattle were quite exhausted; our followers grumbling, dispirited,
and frightened, the prospect of a second bivouac by no means improving
their discipline and insubordination.
While I was endeavouring to pacify them by the only argument I had
at my disposal, founded on the principle of "_levius fit patientiâ
quidquid corrigere est nefas_," one of our servants brought us the
joyful news that from an eminence adjacent he had discovered an
abatta, or clump of blanket tents, surrounded by cultivated land,
about a mile off. Where tents were, food would probably be obtainable;
and as we were not in a condition to be very particular as to the
character of the inhabitants, we immediately despatched an embassy
with money to purchase whatever edible substances they could procure.
Our anxieties were now relieved by the return of our mission, driving
before them a couple of very thin sheep, and carrying a small supply
of corn for the cattle. With this reasonable supply we made a
tolerable meal, and succeeded in putting the discontented into a
better frame of mind.
We determined to make a push next morning for Badjghar, and started
before day-break for the Dushti Suffäed Pass, the crest of which we
reached after travelling a distance of about nine miles over very bad
ground. We were now "_en pays de connoissance_," but our cattle were
so much weakened by the work and privations of the last three or four
days, that we could not attempt the long and difficult descent into
the valley beneath. I therefore rode on alone and reached Badjghar in
a few hours. I immediately visited Capt. Hay, and having procured a
supply of food, returned with it the same night to the party, much
exhausted with my trip, but satisfied now that there could be no
further cause for grumbling on the part of our followers.
The state of our baggage-equipage next morning was so bad, that Sturt
thought it advisable to give them another day's rest, and he went
on himself to Badjghar; but in the course of the day I received an
express from him, stating that circumstances had occurred which made
it absolutely necessary for me to bring in the whole party without
delay. I knew Sturt too well to doubt the urgency he represented, and
in spite of lame legs, sore backs, &c. I managed to bring all hands
safe into Badjghar late on the evening of the 2d of August. Our men
were taken every care of, (which indeed they required, as fever and
ague had weakened them much,) and in a few days all traces of their
sufferings had disappeared; but poor Sturt, who had been complaining
for some days before of great debility and headache, was seized on the
morning of the 3d with a violent attack of Koondooz fever, which soon
prostrated his strength and caused me some uneasiness. He weathered
the storm, however, and by the 11th was sufficiently recovered to
enable him to resume his duties.
I have before mentioned, I think, that we had left some of our
followers and a considerable portion of our baggage at Ghoree,
intending to return to that fort after visiting the passes which I
have alluded to; but on our reaching Badjghar we found that the clouds
which had been gathering for some time past in the political horizon
had assumed so threatening an appearance that it would be madness to
attempt to prosecute our examination of the nature of the country,
when its wild and lawless population were in such an excited state.
The intentions of the Koondooz ruler were not known, and we felt very
anxious for the safety of the sick whom we had been necessitated
to leave at Ghoree, as in addition to his natural sympathy for a
fellow-creature's sufferings, Sturt feared that if any misfortune
befel them, he might, though unjustly, be accused of having deserted
them. His uneasiness was increased by receipt of a letter from Ghoree
from one of our people, in which it was stated that the baggage we had
left behind had been opened and some things abstracted, and that they
themselves were in imminent danger of being seized and sold as slaves.
After making every allowance for the exaggerations of fear, there
was still sufficient in this communication to aggravate poor Sturt's
difficulties; he was in doubt whether to assume a high tone, or to
endeavour by flattery to save his followers, and his last act before
the violence of the fever obliged him to succumb was a firm but
respectful letter which he wrote to Meer Moor[=a]d Beg, in which he
stated that reports inconsistent with that chief's known good faith
had reached him; that he had heard that his property had been seized
and his people threatened; that he was sure they were lies invented by
Moor[=a]d Beg's enemies to create a bad feeling towards him; and that
he requested the men and property might be immediately forwarded safe
to Cabul. Those who are familiar with the vanity and punctiliousness
on points of etiquette of the chieftains of the Hindoo Khoosh will
easily conceive how much depended upon the wording of this letter.
In the written intercourse between equals it is customary to put the
impression of the signet at the top of the sheet, but from an inferior
such an act would be considered as highly presumptuous. Sturt, though
advised to assume the humble tone, was resolute in putting his seal at
the beginning of the letter, and the event proved that his judgment
was as usual correct, for though (it was stated) the chief of Koondooz
was but a few months after in arms against the British, yet our people
and property were safely forwarded to us at Cabul.