Larkhana.--Departure of the Commander-in-Chief for Candahar.--Capture of
Belochee Thieves.--Ludicrous scene in the Bazaar.--Tremendous
Hurricane.--An Irish Colonel's appeal to his men.--Murder of cooks
belonging to the Army.--A native funeral.--The Bholun Pass.--Massacre of
Camp Followers.--Ill-timed Merriment.--Animal Instinct.
Leaving Sehwan we crossed the Indus in pontoons, and entered a fertile
tract of country. Our route lay through rich pasturage and waving fields
of corn, occasionally diversified by rivers and lakes, the latter of
which we found well stocked with fish and game. The natives did not
exhibit any symptoms of fear at our approach, but continued peaceably
tilling and cultivating their lands. Proceeding by rapid marches we at
length reached Larkhana, the boundary which divides Upper and Lower
Scinde. It is a place of considerable importance, and contains from
seven to eight thousand inhabitants. Long cloths are manufactured here
in considerable quantities, and a brisk trade is carried on, in various
other articles with the mountain tribes. Sir John Keane now quitted us
to proceed to Candahar, where he was to assume the command of the Grand
Army of the Indus. He was accompanied by two squadrons of Native
Cavalry, one resselah of Local Horse, a regiment of Native Infantry, and
two pieces of artillery. The command of this division consequently
devolved upon Major General Wiltshire.
The Belochees again favoured us with a visit and carried away about a
dozen camels from the encampment. A troop of cavalry was ordered out in
pursuit, and after a hot chase succeeded in coming up with the
marauders. They immediately abandoned their prey and made off to the
hills, but not before they had left three or four of their party in our
hands. Resolved to make an example which would deter them from repeating
the offence, General Wiltshire ordered the cat to be liberally
administered to them in the Bazaar. The senior of the party was first
tied up, and it was evident, from the trepidation he was in, that he
expected no less than the punishment of death. He begged and implored
for mercy, and finding that no attention was paid to his supplications,
he took leave of one of the other culprits, who turned out to be his
son, and resigned himself to die. Tied up, as he was, and unable to
observe the expression of our countenances, which were convulsed with
laughter, in anticipation of the scene that was about to follow, he
every moment expected to hear the report of the musket, or feel the blow
of the sabre that was to deal out his doom. The moment, however, the cat
descended on his shoulders, the terrified expression of his face changed
into that of the most extravagant joy. He smiled and nodded at his son,
and bore his four dozen lashes with the joyful patience of a martyr,
suffering in the vindication of some holy cause.
On being set loose the culprits were informed that if they were ever
again detected in the commission of similar offences they would be shot,
without mercy, and they were ordered to disseminate this useful piece of
information amongst their comrades of the hills.
Pursuing our route from Larkhana we encamped the same evening at Dooson,
and were visited during the night by a terrific hurricane. Arising
without any previous indication, the tempest came suddenly upon us in
our sleep, sweeping the tents before it, and enveloping us in
whirlwinds of white sand. The night being pitch dark we were soon in the
greatest distress and confusion, and to add to our embarrassments the
horses broke loose and ran wild amongst us. They killed two of the camp
followers, and injured several others by treading them under foot, and
the alarm which they created was as great as if the enemy had made a
sudden irruption amongst us. To this succeeded a scene of rioting and
squabbling, one having lost a shaco, another a jacket, and another his
shoes. Accusations and denials, oaths, vociferations, and complaints of
injuries received, formed altogether a pleasant medley; and glad enough
we were when the first streak of dawn threw some light on this scene of
horrible confusion. After lasting about two hours, heavy drops of rain
announced the approaching cessation of the tempest, but we only
exchanged one discomfort for another, being soon drenched to the skin.
After two days further march we arrived at a wretched village, which
separates Upper Scinde from Belochistan, and which is only entitled to
notice as forming the boundary of a desert plain, about fifty miles in
extent, and completely divested of vegetation, the white soil lying
exposed to, and reflecting back with intensity, the scorching rays of
the sun. There were only two wells at the village, and there was a
fierce contest for precedence at them, it being known that there was
neither spring nor stream of any kind in the desert which we were about
to traverse. The Infantry entered on this cheerless waste about three in
the afternoon and the Cavalry followed about five. The former were fully
accoutred, and carried sixty rounds of ball cartridge each. At two
o'clock the following morning the cavalry overtook them and the general
halt sounded. So great was the fatigue of the infantry that numbers
threw themselves upon the ground in despair, declaring, it was
impossible for human nature to sustain more, and they could proceed no
further. It must be borne in mind that our rations had, for two months
previous, consisted of only half a pound of flour and an equal quantity
of red rice, with about four ounces of meat, and the latter was in some
instances of no use to us, from the difficulty of procuring fuel to cook
it. The order of march having been again given, several refused to move
from sheer exhaustion, and their situation became one of great
embarrassment to their colonel, who was aware that if he left them
behind, they would be instantly sabred by the enemy, who were always
hovering on our rear. Recollecting it was St. Patrick's Day, and that
most of the recusants were Irishmen, he ordered, as a last resource,
that the band of the regiment should strike up their national anthem.
The effect was electrical, the poor devils, whose limbs, a short time
previous, had refused to perform their accustomed office, and whose
countenances wore the aspect of the most abject despondency, seemed at
once to have new life and energy infused into them. They felt that this
was an appeal to their proverbial bravery and powers of endurance, and
gratified vanity did that which threats and remonstrances had failed to
effect. A faint smile lit up their features, and slowly rising from the
ground they tottered on their way. Had they adhered to their first
determination they would have fallen victims to the most savage
cruelties, as the following circumstance will soon convince the
reader:--
Three of the cooks belonging to our division, who followed with the camp
kettles at a short distance in its wake, lost their way in the darkness
of the night, and as chance would have it, stumbled upon a party of the
enemy. They were immediately seized, and each man was bound by the wrist
to the saddle of a Belochee horseman. The cries of the unfortunate men
having reached the rear-guard, which consisted of the Native Auxiliary
Horse, they turned in pursuit, and soon came in sight of the enemy,
whose figures were dimly visible in the obscurity which prevailed. As
soon as they heard them galloping up the Belochees spurred their horses
to their utmost speed, dragging their prisoners along with them at a
terrific pace. Finding their pursuers gained upon them they stooped
down, and with their broad knives ripped up two of their victims from
the abdomen to the throat, and then cast them loose. The third, more
fortunate, escaped with life, the Belochee to whose saddle he was
attached having freed him by cutting off his left arm with a blow of his
sabre: then wheeling round on our horse, who were now almost up with
them, the enemy took deliberate aim at the advancing troopers, and
having killed two, and severely wounded another, they plunged into the
darkness and succeeded in baffling pursuit.
We reached the extremity of this barren waste by seven o'clock next
morning, and encamped at the bottom of a steep hill where there was
abundance of excellent water. The cupidity of the inhabitants of the
neighbouring villages, having got the better of their apprehensions,
several of them ventured into the camp with supplies of flour, which was
eagerly purchased from them by the soldiery, at the rate of about half a
crown the lb. The risk which they ran was great, for if the fact had
been discovered, they would, in all probability, have been massacred by
the mountain chief. The profits which they realised by the adventure,
must however, have well repaid them for the hazard.
Descending the hills to our right, we one day observed a funeral
procession; and curious to witness the ceremonies performed on those
occasions I followed at a little distance. The corpse was swathed in
cotton bandages like a mummy, the head only being left exposed, and it
was borne on a bamboo bier, or stretcher, on the shoulders of four men.
The relations and friends of the deceased gave vent to their grief in
the bitterest lamentations, and there appeared a depth and sincerity in
their woe which is but too often wanting at our European rites. The
procession was headed by a Faquir or priest, whose rolling eyes, and
long dishevelled locks, gave him a wild and unearthly appearance. His
costume was no less singular than his looks, for it consisted of a
motley sort of garment, composed of patches of almost every colored
cloth, with a cap or rather a crown of peacock's feathers. Arrived at
the place of interment, which was situated in the valley, the procession
halted at a freshly dug grave, and the bier was laid beside it. The
crowd formed themselves into a circle round it, and the Faquir holding
up a small idol, commenced an oration in which he expatiated on the
merits of the deceased. The crowd having prostrated themselves, the
Faquir took a reddish sort of powder, and made a large mark with it on
the forehead of the dead man; then taking a basket of freshly pulled
flowers and herbs he scattered them over the body and into the grave.
The mourners rising from the ground, and walking in single files round
the bier made a respectful salaam towards it, after which the corpse was
lowered perpendicularly into the earth, and the grave filled up. At the
conclusion, the Faquir sat himself on a stone at a short distance from
the grave, and remained there quietly smoking his hookah, and
philosophising, as all good Faquirs should do, on the uncertainty of
mundane things.
Our next destination was Dadur, where we were to form a junction with a
portion of the Bengal forces. The distance is only a day's march, and
nothing of interest occurred on the route. On approaching the encampment
of the Bengal troops, I could not help being struck with their superior
appearance. It was evident that their commissariat was better organized
than ours, for their camp equipage and other appointments were in all
respects complete, and they were abundantly supplied with necessaries of
every kind. This disparity was, in some degree, removed before we left
Dadur, by the arrival of additional supplies from Bombay.
A few days having been passed in recruiting our strength after these
fatiguing marches, we at length received orders to advance on the
celebrated Bholun Pass. Nothing could be more calculated to awaken us to
the difficulties of our position, or to impress us with the uncertainty
of the fate that awaited us, than the imposing grandeur of the scenery
on which we now entered. Let the reader picture to himself a gloomy
looking gorge winding through two ranges of stupendous hills, whose
rugged masses of rock and hanging declivities impend over the narrow
route as if about to choke it up, or recede a short distance to some
fortress-like looking freak of nature from whose imaginary bastions and
parapets it seemed easy to hurl down destruction and death on the
passenger, and he may easily imagine that our feelings were not of the
liveliest or most comfortable nature. A handful of men could have
effectually stopped our progress had there been but another Leonidas
amongst the wild inhabitants of this magnificent defile, whose military
skill and resolution would have enabled him to seize upon, and maintain
its many points of defence. We could not conceal from ourselves
difficulties so apparent, and a general and undefined feeling of
uneasiness pervaded us all. We felt that if the enemy had any intention
of resisting us they would not lose opportunities which nature herself
appeared to indicate; and it was but too obvious that if they only knew
how to avail themselves of the formidable barriers which she had placed
against invasion, our situation would become critical in the extreme.
Once involved in the intricacies of the Pass, the superior knowledge of
the country possessed by the natives, and their familiarity with
mountain warfare would enable them to harrass us at every step, and a
well planned and daring attack might at once overwhelm us. Such were the
reflections that suggested themselves to almost every man's mind, and
many there were, I dare say, who just then thought of home, and
speculated whether it would ever be his lot to revisit its peaceful
fireside, and recount the dangers of which he had been the hero.
The Bengal troops who preceded us through the Pass left behind them sad
proofs of the justice of some of these conclusions. We found from five
and twenty to thirty camp followers lying dead upon their track, the
throats of several having been cut, and the others bearing on their
mutilated persons the unequivocal evidence of a desperate hand to hand
struggle. As we advanced through the gorge we could observe the
Belochees peering at us over the jutting points of the precipices, and
the sharp report of their gingalls and matchlocks, which, luckily for
us, were not very sure in their aim, usually followed the brief
inspection by which we were favoured. Observing a camp follower leading
a camel at some distance in the rear, three of the mountaineers suddenly
darted from a fissure in the rock in which they had lain concealed, and
having cut the poor fellow down, led the animal up the ascent by one of
those diverging tracks like sheep walks, with which these hills abound.
A serjeant belonging to the Horse Artillery, who happened to witness the
circumstance, instantly galloped back, and gallantly dashing his horse
up the mountain succeeded in sabreing the nearest of the thieves, and
brought back the camel amidst a shower of balls from the neighbouring
heights.
Within a few miles of the Affghanistan boundary the gorge is traversed
by a stream which winds like a snake through the sinuosities of the
Pass, and crosses it no less than sixteen times. Although it presents
for the most part, the appearance of an insignificant mountain rivulet,
it is, in many places studded with deep and dangerous holes, into which
the cavalry often plunged, and got a good sousing before they were aware
of it. Shouts of laughter usually escaped the comrades of the luckless
wight who became thus involved, and on one occasion a tragedy had nearly
resulted from their ill-timed merriment. An Irish trooper, named Dwyer,
a brave, but hot-blooded fellow, like most of his countrymen was feeling
his way cautiously through the stream, when both horse and rider
stumbled, and became instantly lost to view. Some alarm was at first
experienced for their safety, but it gave way to a roar of laughter when
we beheld them again emerging from the water. After several successive
attempts to disengage himself, the horse at length obtained a secure
footing, and Dwyer, wheeling him suddenly round upon us with a
countenance furious with rage, drew a pistol from his holster and fired
at a group of seven or eight men, who stood close to the spot, but
fortunately without effect. The madman was immediately placed under
arrest, but was released after a few days' confinement.
On approaching Beebenaunce towards the close of the fourth day's march,
we found another stream where the Cavalry dismounted, for the purpose of
filling their canteens with water, while the Infantry were distributed
so as to protect them. We had been marching for several hours under a
scorching sun, and over a stony and rugged road, which rendered constant
watchfulness and exertion necessary to prevent the horses from falling
on their knees. Tormented by an insatiable thirst, we were about to
slake it, when it was discovered that the stream was polluted by the
putrifying bodies of several of dead Affghans, and followers of the
Bengal Army; the spot having been the scene of a deadly contest which
had occurred some days previous. The struggle between the loathing which
this circumstance created and the pressing calls of nature was however
of short duration. Not a man of us hesitated to drink from the
contaminated liquid, but the horse which I rode, being imbued with
keener senses than his master, positively refused to partake of it,
though almost dropping with fatigue and thirst. I took him lower down
the stream, where his fastidiousness being no longer offended he
indulged in a long and copious draught.