I had not been many days in cantonments, before conjecture was changed to certainty, by the arrival of despatches from head-quarters, ordering my regiment to form part of the army destined to assemble at Ferozepore on the Sutlej, about the latter end of November.
All now was bustle and business in our previously quiet cantonment. The furnace in the armourer's forge glowed with as much assiduity, and more brilliancy, doubtless, than that of yore at the shrine of the incomprehensible Vesta. On every side were heard the clicking of carbine and pistol locks; swords and lance-points sent sparkles of fire from countless grindstones, and above all other sounds rose the tumultuous din of the anvils.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] The peak of Dwalagiri exceeds 27,000 feet.
[8] I hear that botanists deny the unity of the genus.
[9] The tehr is a mountain goat.
[10] Bara singh—twelve horns.