Sturt's recovery and energy appear little short of miraculous; he nearly possesses the power of ubiquity. He cannot yet mount his own tall horses, and must astonish my little Cape horse, for he gallops him the whole day from bastion to gate, and gate to bastion, laying guns, and off like a shot; his aim being to show the enemy that all our batteries and gates had guns in position, which we could fire nearly simultaneously,—for they know how weak we are in artillery officers.
The enemy kept up a smart fire for some hours; the bullets flew about briskly, and fell plentifully in the verandahs of Capt. Boyd's house.
An artilleryman was killed whilst sponging his gun; also two bheestees in the Mission Compound.
Sir William told Sturt this morning that if we beat the enemy to-day, he felt convinced that in five days they would all be off; and the circumstance of Khojeh Meer's salaam is a favourable sign.
To-morrow early we are to endeavour to get grain from Khojeh Meer at Behmaru.
The grain in the Commissariat fort is still burning, and the fort itself still in possession of the enemy, who annoy us from thence and from the Shah bagh and Mahmood Khan's fort. The latter place we are not strong enough to take unless Sale's brigade or Nott's arrives: this is much to be regretted, for in all disturbances in Cabul, whichever party kept possession of that fort was always the conqueror in the end.
Gen. Nott may be here with his brigade in three weeks: we have plenty of ammunition, and if we can get grain we may hold out till they arrive.
11th.—Yesterday's lesson has made the enemy shy, and very few showed themselves on the hill, and those were all horsemen: none were seen on the Siah Sung hills.
Two regiments were sent to cover the foraging party collecting grain from the captured forts. 600 maunds of wheat have been brought in, boussa, &c .; this gives us three and a half days' provisions.
Ottah is ready for us at the Bala Hissar, and the chief of Behmaru has tendered his civilities again, now that Meer Musjudee's people have retired from the village; but our 900 maunds of grain that were paid for are gone.