ADVANCE FROM SHIKARPORE--PASSAGE THROUGH THE BOLAN PASS INTO
AFGHANISTAN--ADVANCE FROM QUETTA.
Sir John Keane's force was advancing by another route, nearer the foot
of the mountains of Beloochistan, towards the Bolan pass; and Sir
Willoughby Cotton, thinking it prudent to secure that defile with the
least possible delay, pushed on after one day's halt at Shikarpore.
The commissariat subsequently urged this rapid advance as the cause of
many difficulties, alleging that they had no time given them to make
arrangements for the conveyance of supplies.
To enhance these difficulties, an order arrived from Sir John Keane,
directing a large number of camels to be furnished by the Bengal
commissariat for the supply of the Bombay troops, who were almost at
a stand-still for want of carriage.[21] We had now scarcely a month's
supplies for the army, and were about to enter a country of which
little was known beyond native reports of its remarkable barrenness.
Mehrab Khan of Kebat, the most influential chief of this portion of
Beloochistan, had given the British agent assurances of furnishing the
army with supplies, and, relying on his assistance, the forces advanced
towards those sterile regions.
Mr. M'Naghten (the envoy to Cabul) received intelligence of the
pass being occupied by the enemy, but he did not deem the source a
creditable one; however, military precautions were properly taken,
supposing the information correct.
The first march from Shikarpore was partly through a low jungle, which
yielded, as we advanced, to a barren plain, that had lain apparently
under water, and been recently dried by the powerful effects of the
sun, which had cracked the surface with innumerable fissures. Not a
shrub nor a blade of grass was visible, as far as the eye could reach,
around this desert, which was bounded on our front by a lofty barrier
of mountains, at about a hundred miles' distance. We had become nearly
reconciled to barren views when they caused us no inconvenience beyond
unsightliness; but when, after a wearisome night-march of twenty-eight
miles over the desert, we reached our halting-place, where only two or
three wells of muddy and brackish water (and these nearly exhausted)
were found, matters began to look serious for man and quadrupeds.
Orders were sent to the rear to stop the progress of the army, whilst
a wing of the 16th Lancers were detached, as a reconnoitring party, in
advance. We started in the evening, and marched, till the following
morning was well advanced, over precisely the same picturesque country,
as far as the imperfect light showed us, for about thirty miles, when
our eyes were rejoiced by the sight of a clear, rippling stream in the
desert, near whose banks patches of grass and small fields of young
wheat were growing, announcing the grateful intelligence of the desert
being passed. Those who have suffered the pangs of thirst in a hot
climate will estimate the feelings of the cavalcade as they hastened
to avail themselves of the watery blessing.
Over the blighted waste we had crossed, (the Putt,) the deadly simoom
occasionally blows in the hot season. Fortunately for us, we made the
transit when the climate was moderate; but four months afterwards, two
melancholy tragedies occurred to detachments marching to join the army
in Afghanistan.
A portion of a native infantry regiment, escorting treasure from
Shikarpore, were passing the desert in the night, when they mistook the
way, and wandered the greater part of the next day in search of the
track without meeting with any water to moisten their parched throats.
One after another, they dropped, until two officers and twenty-one
sepoys were lost. The remainder, many of them delirious, found the
track and a stream of water in the evening.
The second catastrophe occurred to an officer of her Majesty's 17th
Regiment, who with a Serjeant and twelve men was sent to recover a gun
which had stuck in the sand. The difficulty was greater than had been
anticipated, and they were detained till mid-day, by which time the
officer and eight men had fallen victims to the sun, and died raving
mad. The serjeant and four men returned, debilitated for life, to
report the success of the expedition.
The forces gradually closed to the front on receiving the report of the
reconnoitring party.
Several marauding Beloochees, who had been hovering near us,
committed a most impudent depredation here on some camels, which they
carried off in broad daylight. General Thackwell, who was one of the
sufferers, ordered a squadron in pursuit. Away we went, in full cry,
at a hand-gallop, across some ten miles of country, mostly rocky,
and intersected by numerous ravines; here and there, the steep and
dangerous chasms were so artfully hid that it required a keen eye to
avoid them. At length, we came to a halt, no Beloochees in sight, and
our list of casualties great: three horses lame, and ten horses and
men missing, who had been deposited in the cavities by the way. We
now scoured the country in every direction, but found no suspicious
characters, except in a small village, where the inhabitants forthwith
protested vehemently that they were exceedingly honest people, which,
of course, led us to suppose the contrary. It was now getting dark;
and having no further evidence against the villagers beyond their own
professions, we abandoned the pursuit, and reached camp soon after
nightfall.
We resumed our march towards the mountains through a better country;
water was abundant, and occasionally a little grass was procurable for
the horses, who were beginning to look much jaded.
On the morning of the 10th of March, we reached Dadur, which is close
to the foot of a continuous chain of barren, rocky hills, and four
miles from the gorge of the Bolan Pass. At this place, hopes were
entertained that an abundance of supplies would be awaiting. Alas!
there were none--the commissariat were informed that the force had not
been expected so soon, (a fortunate excuse,) and that consequently
little was to be procured.
The melancholy truth transpired: there was absolutely not one day's
provision for the army, and we were led to infer a similar fate at
the places upon which we were about to march. The consequence was,
an immediate reduction to half rations for man and beast; and Sir
Willoughby saw that he had now no alternative but to push on through
the mountain-pass, and take the chance of what might be found on the
other side.
Major Cureton, of the 16th Lancers, who had been detached with
a squadron of native cavalry, and a wing of a sepoy regiment of
infantry, reported that no enemy was to be seen, but that forage was
nearly equally scarce the first three marches in the Pass. The Bengal
column being assembled at Dadur, orders were issued to advance, the
cavalry-brigade being now preceded by the first brigade of infantry
under Colonel Sale.
At daybreak, we reached the gorge of the Pass, which is wide enough
to admit a regiment of cavalry in line. The road is level, but rocky;
and through the centre runs a clear stream, with an abundance of long,
coarse grass, nearly resembling dried flags, on its banks. The hills,
without a sign of vegetation on them, rise abruptly on each side, at
first, five or six hundred feet, but gradually increase in elevation
as you advance. Our first day's march continued to follow the course
of the mountain stream, on whose banks we encamped, surrounded by
desolate and rocky hills. The camels had no food but the reedy grass,
which contained little nutriment; but for our horses we had provided
better, by carrying on from Dadur two days' supply of green forage. In
the night, an alarm was given that the Beloochees had come down from
the hills, and carried off some camels. As I happened to be on picket,
a detail of my party went in pursuit, but no vestige of the robbers was
found, and the clouds, which had long been lowering, now gave us such
a sprinkling, that it was impossible to see twenty yards off, so the
pursuit was abandoned.
In consequence of the tents being saturated with rain in the night,
our march was deferred till mid-day, to give them a chance of being
dried, for a wet tent and a bad road soon render camels unserviceable.
We continued to march, henceforth, at mid-day, the weather being cool;
and although a strong guard accompanied the baggage, the Beloochees
managed to pounce upon some daily, plundering the camels and murdering
our camp-followers. The infantry had frequent skirmishes with these
marauders, but rarely succeeded in capturing any, so nimbly did the
scoundrels mount the craggy sides of the mountains with their plunder
and conceal themselves in ravines and caverns, which could only be
approached at great disadvantage by the assailants.
The second march, we could scarcely move three abreast in many places,
owing to the narrowness of the passage, (a chasm through a rocky
mountain,) along which dashed a torrent, not deep, but extremely
rapid. The sharp stones in its bed lacerated the horses' feet a
good deal, and took rather severe effect on our bare-legged native
followers. A man and horse belonging to the rear-guard of the 16th
Lancers were lost on this march, but how the former lost his life is
uncertain--he dropped behind his comrades on the line of march, and was
never again seen alive.
Our three next marches were through a plain, environed by an
amphitheatre of distant and lofty hills; but the road was rough, nor
was there any appearance of vegetation to cheer the miserable cattle.
The camels dropped daily on the route in great numbers; and many a
tent, camel-trunk, and wine-chest, fell into the hands of our ruthless
enemies the Beloochees, who doubtless celebrated several midnight
orgies with our lamented luxuries.[22]
Three seers of grain (6 lbs.) per horse, and no grass, had reduced our
steeds to mere apparitions, Scholastikos that stumbled mechanically
onwards, having almost reached the valuable habit of living on nothing.
The result was nearly the same as that which attended the horse of the
Σχολαστικος, in the Greek fable, whose animal had learned to live upon
nothing, but died shortly after trying the experiment.
Having ascended to a considerable height, the climate was fine, and we
experienced no inconvenience from the sun; but so dreary and oppressive
to the spirits were these bleak and craggy mountains that frowned over
us, and so jaded were man and beast, that it was with feelings of great
relief in anticipation that we approached the termination of the dismal
Bolan defile.
The most formidable position throughout the pass was certainly that
which we reached just previously to quitting the above-named range of
mountains. Having marched at mid-day, and ascended rapidly for about
seven miles, we arrived at the passage I allude to, which was about
twelve yards in width, over each side of which the high craggy hills
beetled in irregular and threatening shapes. For a distance of about
two miles we pursued the sinuous passage through this chasm,[23]
looking upwards in amazement to find so formidable a succession of
natural fortresses unoccupied, from whence a resolute body of troops
might have effectually checked our progress. A short distance beyond
its gorge, we descended into an extensive plain, covered with a small
aromatic plant resembling wild thyme, on which our cattle fed with
avidity, and no wonder, for from recent appearances they must have
conjectured that the earth had ceased to vegetate. Here, we expected
to encamp; but water was found to be so scarce that the cavalry were
ordered to proceed. We marched along the foot of a dark range of
hills, from which the numerous lights glimmering through the darkness
announced our old friends the Beloochees on the alert. About midnight,
after a tedious march of thirty miles, we arrived at Sir-i-ab, which
is called the outlet of the pass, although even here we lay in a
valley flanked by lofty hills, whose summits were covered with snow.
Of course, no tents or provisions arrived that night, but we were all
too fatigued to grumble properly, and a cloak and saddle soon proved
themselves effectually soothing.
After a halt of three days, the principal part of the force advanced
to Quetta, a small fortified town, ten miles from Sir-i-ab, and about
three from the hills on either side.
The plain was covered with the same scented plant we had seen before.
Mint, tulips, hyacinths, and a great variety of wild flowers,
enlivened the face of the soil.
Near the foot of the hills were several villages, mostly deserted, and
groves of apple, pear, apricot, and plum trees, the luxuriant foliage
and blossoms of which reminded us of the gardens of our beloved native
country. The inhabitants of Quetta and its vicinity were rather shy at
first, but finding we did not plunder them, they concluded we must be a
set of fools, and resolved to profit by the opportunity.
Small quantities of grain, fruit, and lucerne were brought into our
camp and sold at exorbitant prices; however, after the experiments
which had been tried on our cattle and horses, we were only too happy
to try and prolong their lives at any cost. Here the startling truth
soon became known, that Mehrab Khan had formed no depôt of grain for
the army. Sir Alexander Burnes, with Lieut. Pattinson and a few local
horse, set out for Mehrab's residence, about eighty miles distant, in
the hopes of inducing that treacherous chief to assist in procuring
supplies; but this resource was now known to be almost desperate. In
the meantime, foraging parties of cavalry ranged the country daily to
procure fodder in the villages and amongst the fields.
Fortunately for us, a fine breed of sheep, known as the Dhoomba,[24]
abounded here, and afforded no mean exchange for the tough and muscular
flesh of such animals as had been brought from Bengal, and had
walked into incredible condition, insomuch that they were now better
calculated for supplying the artillery with traces than the soldiers
with food.
Since entering Afghanistan, we remarked a material improvement in the
dimensions and looks of the inhabitants, compared to the natives of the
other side of the Bolan mountains. Their dress was mostly composed of
sheepskins, camels'-hair, and other warm materials, requisite from the
coldness of the climate, even at this season: the thermometer stood
about freezing-point at daybreak; but Quetta is table land, nearly six
thousand feet above the sea.
Women, except the old or very young, were nowhere to be seen, so
prevalent were their unjust suspicions of our behaviour.
Our diet was now one that should have gladdened the heart of the
doctors, (of course I speak only of military ones,) being confined to
bread, mutton, and water; for those who had been fortunate enough to
get wines and other luxuries as far as the Bolan pass, had almost all
been obliged to drop them ere they quitted that gloomy defile, to carry
absolute requisites, such as a tent and clothes; and fortunate were
they who even accomplished that object throughout the campaign.
As there were few regiments able to keep up a mess, an application
was made by the officers to be allowed to draw the same rations as
were issued to the soldiers. This was refused; but subsequently we
were allowed to draw on the commissariat for one bottle each week of a
fiery, unwholesome spirit, made in India, and called arrack.
The audacious attacks made upon our people and cattle by the Kaukers,
a tribe of hill-bandits, made it hazardous for any one to stray beyond
the outposts. Every night some unfortunate camp followers, returning
from seeking grass or tending cattle, were murdered, and usually
mutilated in a wanton and barbarous manner.
Before leaving Quetta, an opportunity occurred for a small retaliation
on the savages.
An alarm having been given early in the day that a party of Kaukers
were hovering near the outposts, Lieut. Yule, of the 16th Lancers, who
was on picket with a party of his regiment, turned out in pursuit.
Within two miles of camp, he perceived a party of about thirty Kaukers,
armed with swords and matchlocks, retiring towards the hills on foot;
when pursued at speed, they fired and wounded one of the Lancers, and
separating, some escaped to the hills, whilst others threw themselves
into a small mud fort, whence they fired on the cavalry party, but
without effect. Yule, having dismounted his men, scaled the fort,
killed seven inside, and took one prisoner, mortally wounded, whom Sir
J. Keane (who had just arrived in camp, and assumed command of the
army) immediately ordered to be hanged. The next evening ten more who
had been taken prisoners were also hanged on trees near Quetta.
Notwithstanding this salutary example, a daring attack was made
immediately afterwards on our cattle, by two or three hundred of the
same tribe. At mid-day they issued from the mountains, cut down several
surwans,[25] and carried off a number of camels; but a wing of an
infantry regiment and a squadron of cavalry coming up, the marauders
retired, driving their booty to the hills, which were so precipitous,
that many of the camels were recovered, being abandoned by the Kaukers
in their retreat amongst their native crags.
Sir Alexander Burnes having reached Mehrab Khan's residence, now sent
intimation that no assistance could be expected from that chief, who,
so far from procuring grain for the army, had instigated the tribes
to annoy us in every way, and to conceal or carry away the produce of
the country. Time could not now be wasted in punishing Mehrab for his
duplicity, but a day of severe retribution awaited him on the return of
the Bombay division of the army from Caubul.
Our position was now far from comfortable. If the army advanced, and
all supplies were removed out of our way by the natives, starvation and
the loss of all our cattle appeared the probable result. And in case
of a retreat through the Bolan pass, every crag would, of course, have
held an enemy to oppose such invaders. Independently of this, the moral
effect of a retreat at the commencement of a campaign would have been
in the last degree disastrous; yet such an alternative was advocated by
many officers on whose shoulders the main responsibility did not rest.
Sir John Keane could not but see that entering the Bolan pass was the
passage of the Rubicon, and orders were issued for the army to advance
towards Kandahar on the morning of the 7th of April: the men were
reduced to an allowance of one pound of flour, and non-combatants to
half a pound per diem; meat and spirits were issued as usual.
No grain was in store for the cavalry, but the horse artillery were
allotted rations of three seers a horse daily, without which the guns
could never have been drawn. The cavalry troop horses subsisted almost
entirely on green wheat, collected by foraging parties. The officers
were occasionally able to purchase small quantities of barley, or
Indian corn, for their chargers, by paying an exorbitant sum to an
Afghan extortioner.
On the morning we left Quetta, fifty horses of the cavalry brigade were
shot, in the lines, being too weak to carry their load. This melancholy
process of slaughtering horses was repeated daily, before or on the
march.
The first morning, on leaving Quetta, we descended, through a steep
and rocky pass, into an extensive valley. A few scattered villages
were seen, whose inhabitants had betaken themselves to the hills,
whence they sallied occasionally to commit atrocities on any stragglers
from the lines in retaliation for the damages committed by the camp
followers on their habitations, and by our horses on their corn fields.
It was carefully circulated amongst the natives who came near us,
that grain and all other supplies would be paid for, and also that
a reimbursement would be made for damages done to their property. It
was further hinted to them that we were friends (not enemies) who were
bringing a virtuous monarch to rule their country; but this they were
unable to comprehend.
As we advanced, however, the same system prevailed with the
inhabitants, and not a soul was to be seen in the villages or on the
line of march, except when levelling a matchlock from some almost
inaccessible crag. Our foraging parties occasionally found young wheat
fields, which were demolished in a few minutes; but had it not been
for that inestimable little aromatic shrub, which grew in the most
hopeless solitudes, it would have been impossible for us to proceed, as
it afforded almost the only food for the camels and beasts of burden,
as well as fuel for the army, which it would have been a difficulty
to dispense with, man having been essentially a cooking animal from
the days of Prometheus, before whose well authenticated exploits it is
difficult to say how mortals fared.
Having crossed a succession of rocky mountains and barren valleys, the
fourth march from Quetta brought us to the Pisheen valley, which is
said to be the best cultivated part of lower Afghanistan, which it
might well be without exhibiting much fertility.
The valley is very extensive, and appeared, as we advanced into it, to
be well inhabited. The corn and barley fields were rich and numerous.
The natives of Pisheen had not deserted their homes, and flocked to
our camp, bringing camels, horses, bullocks, sheep, and grain for
sale, but all at the same exorbitant rate which had been exacted at
Quetta. The better class of inhabitants, terming themselves Synds, or
descendants of the Prophet, (the prolific Mahomet,) were well attired,
and certainly the finest men I have seen in the East. I was much taken
with a richly-mounted cimeter worn by a noble-looking Afghan, and
endeavoured to tempt his cupidity by offering in exchange a pair of
English pistols liberally bedizened with silver ornaments, money being
out of the question, as that article was more than usually scarce,
and more than usually necessary, in those days of famine: but though
the pistols took his fancy much, they still did not succeed, and he
returned them, saying, "It would be unjust to take these weapons which
you will soon stand in need of, for the Ameers of Kandahar will meet
you in the field before you have approached much nearer their city."
"We shall be happy to see them," I replied, "and after the rencontre,
cimeters will be cheap and plentiful in the British camp."
The Synd had some authority for his assertion, as that day intelligence
was received that the Kandahar chiefs were concerting measures to
oppose our advance.
Kandahar was under the control of three princes, Kohun Dil, Raheem Dil,
and Mehn Dil, Khans, brothers of Dost Mahomed, but never on amicable
terms with the Caubul monarch.
The authority of the Kandahar chiefs had been long unpopular; but
of late their oppressive rule had rendered them more odious, as the
exactions on the inhabitants had been increased in order to levy an
army to oppose the British invasion.
The northern side of the Pisheen valley is crossed by a range of
mountains called the Kojuck, a rugged pass leading to Kandahar.
Brigadier Arnold rode forward in the evening to reconnoitre this
defile, and, on reaching its gorge, found the heights occupied by a
party of horsemen, who fired upon him; but a small party of sappers
ascended and dislodged them. A spy was also observed lurking near camp
at night, and was shot by a sentry of the 13th Light Infantry.
The 1st brigade of infantry led the way through the Kojuck pass, and
were followed next morning by the Cavalry Brigade, who started two
hours before daybreak. On entering the pass, about five miles from
camp, we found it completely blocked by the camels of the preceding
brigade. Having halted for about three hours, until these obstacles
were removed, we commenced the ascent--the dragoons dismounting and
leading their horses, whilst a party was detached from each squadron to
assist in dragging the guns of the Horse Artillery.
The dry bed of a torrent, winding round the foot of a precipitous
mountain, was the course by which we commenced the ascent. Having
followed this track a few hundred yards, we struck off on a road which
our sappers had cut on the side of the mountain, and up which the guns
were drawn with considerable labour. We were occupied a great part of
the day in surmounting this steep and rough ascent, casting into the
ravine beneath the dead bodies of men, camels, and bullocks, who had
been murdered the night before by our restless old friends the Kaukers.
By four o'clock in the afternoon, the cavalry and artillery reached
the summit of the pass. From this elevated position we looked down on
a barren, extensive plain, on the edge of which the snowy tents of
the 1st brigade formed the only interesting object, as they intimated
a termination of our labours for the day. A fine mountain breeze was
whistling over the heights and overcame the sun's influence.
We were astonished that the Kandahar chiefs had not occupied this
defile, which had taken us much labour to surmount even with the
indispensable aid of the sappers, and unmolested by the enemy.
With the aid of our glasses, we discerned a few spies or marauders
(probably both) among the rocky peaks, watching our proceedings, but
keeping out of musket-shot from the native infantry pickets, which
crowned the neighbouring heights.
Our descent of the Kojuck was even more precipitous than the ascent,
and many a horse and camel ended his weary career on this precipice
during the night.
When we bivouacked at sunset, the agreeable intelligence was made
known of no water having yet been discovered, and of course no food
was procurable, the commissariat stores being far behind. The soldiers
stood the want of food for twenty-four hours of hard labour without a
murmur; but when they heard no water was procurable, they gave vent
to many a hearty malediction on these inhospitable regions. Several
started off to the hills with waterskins on their backs, and returned
after a long search, the greater part unsuccessful, but some few with a
little filthy mud and water, which was swallowed with an avidity that
extreme thirst only could produce.
As very few tents had made their appearance, and the night was wearing
apace, we laid ourselves on the least rocky piece of ground that we
could select in the dark, and rested till three in the morning, when
the musical invitation of the trumpet called us again to the saddle,
and, after a march of eighteen miles across the desert plain, and under
a sun which, in these lower regions, did not spare us, we came at
length to a small pond of dirty water, where we halted.
I threw myself down beside this inestimable puddle completely
exhausted; and my horse having taken a drink, which threatened rivalry
with Munchausen's notorious steed, followed my example; but our repose
was soon cruelly interrupted by a requisition for our services on
outlying picket, some two miles in advance. We both arose, stretching
and shaking ourselves into consciousness; my charger certainly yawned
widest, although I explained to him how much he had the best of it, as
no dread of a court-martial need await him for sleeping on his post.
My tents and servants did not arrive till late next evening, having
been absent three days without leave, and leaving me to luxuriate
during that time in the same clothing, and on a loaf of tolerably
hard and stale ammunition bread, about the _weight_, size, and
_consistency_, of a twelve-pound shot.
We had been compelled to halt here, to enable the rear-guard to come
up, who had been frequently fired on by the Kaukers; but no casualties
occurred, which does not say much for our enemies as marksmen, though
the long rifle, termed a "jezzail," which they use with a forked rest,
carries a great distance, and with tolerable accuracy, when properly
handled.
Some camels and servants belonging to the rear-brigades were shot in
the transit of the Kojuck Pass, and many of the officers' and soldiers'
tents and baggage were plundered; but these unaccountable mountain
warriors almost invariably allowed the cavalry to pass unscathed
through defiles, where they would have been almost helpless if attacked.
Amongst other troubles and privations, we had now daily to reckon the
badness and scarcity of water. The wells being dug in ground whose
surface was white with saltpetre,[26] we found the water partook so
strongly of this mineral, that it was not only nauseous to the taste,
but affected man and beast with a diarrhoea, which, combined with the
fatigues and exposure to which all had been subjected, reduced the
greater part to a debilitated condition.
As we had descended a good deal since leaving Quetta, the heat of the
sun daily increased; and although we marched every morning long before
daybreak, the roads were so bad and our cattle so weak from want of
sustenance, that we had generally to pass the noon-day unsheltered.
On the 23rd of April, we had, according to the most prevalent
conjectures, arrived within about fifty miles of Kandahar, and met no
enemy. Having marched about twelve miles in the morning, we reached our
appointed ground for halting about nine A.M., when some assistants,
in the quartermaster-general's department, reported to the brigadier
of the cavalry that the water in camp[27] would barely suffice for
a brigade of infantry. We were accordingly ordered to remount, and
proceed towards a river, which was supposed to be some ten miles'
distant. Few who were present will ever forget that dreadful march.
The reflection of the sun from the burning dust and barren hills was
so dazzling, that many who underwent it have never recovered their
strength of sight. We had marched about ten miles, when the halt was
sounded. It was mid-day; about twenty men of the leading regiment held
together, the remainder of the cavalry-brigade were straggling over
four or five miles of country in the rear; some were urging their jaded
beasts with the spur, some leading them on foot, and others driving
their chargers before them at the point of the lance or sword. But far
the hottest thing I beheld that day, was the talented Colonel Ninny,
purple with heat and anger, and seeking an object to vent it upon.
"Where the devil is your squadron, sir?" was demanded, in a voice of
thunder, of a ponderous captain, with a face like a salamander, and a
corporation like a hogshead.
"Four miles behind, sir, at least," replied the hogshead, proud of
having got so far along the road, (as well he might be.)
"How dare you, sir, give me such an answer, and leave your squadron
behind?" cried the enraged genius.
Poor hogshead, frothing with excitement, turned round in search of
relief, and lighting on the officer in charge of his troop, poured
forth the full tide of his indignation on him for not bringing the
stragglers to the front.
"And pray, sir, where is my troop?"
"Here are the serjeant-major and two privates; the remainder vary from
four to five miles in the rear; and as I could not carry them, they are
left behind," replied the troop-leader.
"There is no excuse," cried Ninny.
"But, sir----"
"Hold your tongue, and join your troop."
This was conclusive, and broke up the agreeable interview.
When the sun had begun to decline upon the scene of suffering he had
caused that day, the river was descried from the brow of a sandy knoll,
winding its shining path through the sterile soil. Man and beast rushed
in uncontrollable confusion to the waters, and quenched the fiery
thirst under which both had suffered severely.
Our baggage did not arrive in camp till about midnight; and so severe
had been the heat, that almost every dog belonging to the officers of
the brigade either dropped dead on the road, or was long in recovering
the effects of the cruel experiment. Many men were much broken down,
and one or two in the hospital doolies died on the road.
The cavalry-brigade alone having advanced, and intimation having
been received that the Kandahar chiefs, with three or four thousand
cavalry, had left the city to attack us, General Thackwell considered
it probable that they would attempt a surprise that night, as their
spies would probably have time to inform them of our forced march.
Accordingly, pickets, consisting of about one half of our force, were
posted to protect the remainder, and sentries, videttes, and patrols,
with loaded pistols and carbines, spent the evening of that merciless
day in watching for any approaching party. Our vigilance was all in
vain: the Kandahar chiefs did not deserve the compliment we paid them;
and we lay on watch all night, undisturbed by any sound more warlike
than the complaint of a camel, or the bray of a donkey.
The next day, I was sent with a party of four men to reconnoitre some
hills about three miles distant, on the opposite bank of the river,
and finding many deep ravines in the way, I left my party behind,
and fording the stream, ascended the heights, where the sand was so
deep, that my charger sank up to his knees at every step. I was about
half way up the hill, when an Afghan, armed to the teeth with tolwar,
matchlock, and pistols, started suddenly from a cavern behind a rock,
a few paces above me. I drew a pistol from my holsters, and levelling
it at him, recommended him to surrender. He stood a few seconds,
apparently irresolute; then darted behind the rock, which was close
beside, and out of my sight. I spurred forwards through the sand to
meet my friend on the opposite side; but he had ascended by a narrow
ravine, and in a few seconds I caught sight of him among some crags,
about fifty yards above me, and in full retreat.
I pursued again, but in vain; for the mountain, which had now become
rocky, presented obstacles every ten yards; and when I reached the
summit, I caught a glimpse of three or four mountaineers a few hundred
yards from me, stealing round the mountain, apparently with the
intention of intercepting my retreat. No signs of a camp or any body
of men were to be seen in the plain, as far as my glass enabled me to
discern; I therefore descended the mountain on the opposite side from
which I had ascended, perceiving that my _longue_ carabine attendants
were prepared for a shot, which I preferred making a difficult one.
Having reached the foot of the mountain, I stirred my Arab's mettle
across the plain, receiving three or four salutes from my polite
acquaintances above, some of which whistled as if they had been well
directed.
Having struggled through a quicksand, which lay between me and the
bank, I recrossed the river, and joined my party on the other side.
I have little doubt that the men I encountered on the hills were
spies from the Kandahar army. The matchlock of the Afghan I came upon
unawares, must have been unloaded, or he would certainly have tried
to prevent my ever reporting our interview. I might easily have sent
a pistol-ball through him, for he was not ten paces from me; but it
looked so much like murder that I could not draw the trigger.
Marching from hence by the banks of the river, we reached an inhabited
village, in which a little grain was procured for our famished horses.
News arrived in the course of the day that the Kandahar chiefs had
given up all thoughts of opposing us, and retreated towards Herat,
leaving the field open to Shah Soojah. That illustrious monarch
preceded us next day to Kandahar, where, from the confused salute
we heard in the evening of cannon, matchlocks, and various noisy
instruments, we conjectured he had been received with tumultuous joy.
Public exultation is a cheap commodity at all times, but never less
valuable than when inspired by personal fear; and the citizens of
Kandahar were actuated, I think, by interested motives towards their
new monarch. History assigns no cause he had ever given to render
himself popular.
The defection of Hadji Khan (chief of the Kaukers) was the cause
assigned by the Afghans for the Kandahar chieftains abandoning their
territories without a struggle; but as they could not, at that time,
muster above five or six thousand troops, it is probably as well for
them that they did not make the experiment.
Some days before we arrived, they advanced a few marches, with
the intention of attempting to surprise us by a night attack; but
afterwards hearing that we were not all in the habit of going to sleep
at night, they retired to Kandahar, to deliberate on the subject,
and thereby saved the army of the Indus from utter and immediate
destruction.
Hadji Khan, who had been long in correspondence with Burnes, and also
in the confidence of the Kandahar Ameers, was not a bad specimen of
a traitor. His whole life had been devoted to the profession, and he
had risen by it from an obscure station to considerable influence,
changing his politics with the times, and also his friends, when more
influential ones presented themselves. Believed and trusted by all, he
was faithful to none.
This clever traitor now attached himself to Shah Soojah, being the
first chief of any influence who joined that monarch.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 21: The cause of all this difficulty in procuring carriage
for the Bombay army, was a demand of the Scindian camel-owners for
payment from the time they were originally hired, which responsibility
Sir J. Keane would not undertake, and the camel-owners refused to
advance. The demand was no more than usual; and the results of this
economy were injurious, and might have been fatal.]
[Footnote 22: It was afterwards known that these tribes had been
instigated by Mehrab Khan of Kheiat to annoy us as much as possible
during our progress.]
[Footnote 23: The rear columns were attacked here, but by a very small
body of Beloochees, who soon retired.]
[Footnote 24: The Dhoomba sheep is so named from Dhoom, the tail, which
grows to a great size with this species.]
[Footnote 25: Surwans are camel-drivers.]
[Footnote 26: The cold of Afghanistan may be partly owing to the great
quantity of saltpetre diffused over its surface.]
[Footnote 27: On a more accurate survey of the country, water enough
was found here to have sufficed the whole army.]