Dated June, 1838.
Art. V. "If an enemy[44] should appear from any quarter, and the sirdars should not be able to repel him themselves, the Shah of Persia binds himself to supply the sirdars of Kandahar with troops, artillery, and money, to whatever extent may be necessary, and not to withhold any description of assistance or support."
The treaty, from which this article is extracted, was remitted to England by Dr. M'Neill. It is thus countersigned by Count Simonich, the Russian agent:
"I, minister plenipotentiary[45] of the government of Russia, will be guarantee that neither on the part of H.M. &c. &c. &c., the Shah of Persia, nor on the part of the powerful[46] sirdars shall there arise any deviation from, or violation of, this entire treaty and their engagements.
(Signed) "L.S. Simonich."
Notwithstanding these promises of vigorous assistance from Persia, we had not the pleasure of meeting any portion of their armament in the vicinity of Kandahar, nor, to the best of our knowledge, were any Russian agents seen enforcing the Shah to perform Article No. V. of the above-named treaty. Yet an enemy did appear unto the sirdars of Kandahar, and from a quarter whence he had been many months expected, and those "powerful" chiefs did not even make the experiment of their ability to repel him.
Perhaps this article of the Shah's treaty was founded on the chance of the sirdars making the experiment; but, having adopted a more prudent course, there can be no doubt that a king, who possesses so many sublime titles as the Shah of Persia, would not be guilty of a breach of faith; and therefore the Kandahar chiefs will speedily return from Persia with artillery, troops, and money, to an unlimited amount; in fact, sufficient (as the word "necessary," in the article quoted, must imply) to expel the British from Afghanistan; and, moreover, it is Count Simonich's duty to see this done. As Russia has disowned the threats, and the author met a conveniently political death, we may infer that the project of holding India with a chain of posts, stretching over mountains and deserts more than the semi-diameter of the globe in measurement, whilst the troublesome Dardanelles would materially interfere with all commercial intercourse, when watched by a British fleet, has been abandoned, and for the present a Russian invasion of India may be deemed improbable.
Although Afghanistan was now nominally subdued, the animosity and power of many mountain-tribes was unabated, and a few hours' ride from Caubul a cold-blooded murder was committed on Colonel Herring, commanding a regiment of Native Infantry, on the march from Kandahar to join the army at Caubul. About forty miles from the capital, he strolled from camp in the evening, accompanied by two brother officers, with two sepoys in attendance. The party reached the summit of a hill, not more than a mile from the camp, when they descried a body of armed mountaineers advancing rapidly towards them. As the intention of the Afghans was evident, and their numbers considerable, Colonel Herring's party retired towards camp; but the assassins gained on them; and, in descending the hill, the Colonel, struck down by a stone or a matchlock ball, was immediately butchered. One of the sepoys, who was near Colonel Herring, in trying to defend him, was severely wounded, and left on the ground for dead. The regimental guard, on the alarm reaching the camp, hastened to the spot, but the miscreants had fled, after perpetrating their brutal outrage.
Shortly after the regiment's arrival at head-quarters, Sir John Keane ordered a part of the 16th Native Infantry, under Major Maclaren, accompanied by some irregular horse, to scour the neighbourhood, and endeavour to ferret out the assassins. This object was successfully attained, and the indefatigable Maclaren, having traced them to a hill fort, assaulted and carried the place, when the garrison, conscious of fighting with halters round their necks, made a determined resistance, and were nearly all exterminated. This example had not the effect of restraining the bloodthirsty disposition of other bands of marauders; and the road between our camp and the city continued to be infested with assassins after nightfall. A dragoon was cut down, a night or two after, within a few yards of the standard guard, and similar instances were constantly occurring during our residence in the country. So expert were they at the practice, that retaliation could seldom be made. One instance I must relate, of a singular shot made by a soldier of a Dragoon regiment, who was skirting the hills, a few miles from camp, in pursuit of snipe and partridge, with a fowling piece loaded with small shot. He suddenly perceived an Afghan, forty paces from him, kneeling behind a rock, on which he had rested his matchlock, to make sure of his aim, and coolly waiting till his intended victim approached a little nearer. The soldier instantly threw the fowling-piece to his shoulder, fired, and rolled over his black game stone dead. A few shots had entered the brain and temples, and told with deadly haste.
As it was now considered improbable that any serious opposition to Shah Soojah's authority would be attempted, an order was issued, directing the Bombay column of the army of the Indus to return to their presidency by the route we had advanced.