A man of the Ghoorka corps has come in. He says the men are wandering up and down the country, and that some have taken refuge in forts; that poor Rose, in a fit of despair, put an end to his existence by shooting himself; and that Dr. Grant, when he last saw him, was wounded in the leg.
Ishmatoolah is said to be imprisoned in the city.
The Parsee merchant is also in prison until he pays a ransom of 10,000 rupees: his property has all been taken away.
The people of the city are said to be discontented. They have no firewood; the people who used to bring it in are afraid to do so lest they should be plundered.
3rd.—The attack intended for yesterday has been postponed to to-day, we hear; but there seems to be little likelihood of one.
Khojeh Meer says that he has no more grain: we only got 50 maunds in to-day. He also says that the moollahs have been to all the villages, and laid the people under ban not to assist the English, and that consequently the Mussulman population are as one man against us. He says he expects himself to have to run for his life to Peshawer whenever we go away. Khojeh Meer has a difficult part, to play: his pecuniary gain in siding with us is great; but being the father-in-law of Meer Musjudee, who married the Khojeh's daughter, he of course lets the enemy occupy the village whenever they please. As far as we are individually concerned, Khojeh Meer has been very civil to us: he sells us grain whenever we can manage to send an Affghan servant on a yaboo to purchase it. Sturt has been kind to the man; and he evinces his gratitude by writing to say that he will get us what supplies he can. Much more grain might have been procured, had we not foolishly tried to drive hard bargains with Khojeh Meer. It has been intimated to the Envoy that the enemy's troops, who lately got one rupee daily for each horseman, and eight anas for each foot soldier, have not had any pay for four days, and that they are grumbling at it.
We saw a party leaving Cabul towards Bhoodkhak with two women on one horse riding with them.
A cossid came in from Jellalabad; no letter for me. He had been detained five days in the city, and his intelligence only reached to the 21st. Khojeh Meer says that the villages to our rear (from whence the grain was brought to Behmaru) are occupied; and that the only place which could have given us grain, and where we might have obtained six months' supply, was Khojeh Rewash, which is at present occupied by Sekundu Khan with 500 men.
In the evening about seven o'clock there was firing on the southern face, and towards the Magazine fort, which continued until past ten o'clock. The enemy appear to be trying to mine that fort, and Sturt saw about ten men close up under the walls of it.
The enemy seem to be on the alert; however there was no firing at night of any consequence: we shelled the city from the Bala Hissar as usual.