The difficulties of the advance had already been felt. Great numbers of camels had died between Sukkar and Shikarpore, and those that accompanied the party of well-diggers were enfeebled, and looked as if they had accomplished a long forced march instead of the strong and fresh animals one would expect to see setting out on such an enterprise. The first halting-place was Jagan. The next day they started at the same early hour and proceeded to Janeedera. Here they had passed beyond the boundary of the Scinde Ameers, and had entered the territory over which the Khan of Khelat held nominal authority. At this place there was a small mud fort, outside of which straw had been collected for the use of the cavalry, and to guard this a small party of Shah Soojah's troops had been posted. These, however, had been attacked and driven off by a Beloochee band, and the straw carried away. However, there was sufficient water in the wells for the men and animals.
The next day's march was a long one, but at Rojhan a certain amount of forage had been collected, and there was a fair supply of water. The country so far had been barren, with occasional bushes, but beyond Rojhan they had nothing but an absolutely flat surface of sand, without a blade of grass or a bush to break the level expanse; across this desert the party toiled on for twenty-seven miles. A little water was carried by the camels, but this supply was soon exhausted, and with parched lips and throats the men plodded on, knowing that until the end of the journey no water could be obtained. Scarce a word was spoken during the painful journey. Passing over the ground as he came down at a canter, Angus had thought but little of it; he had done it in less than four hours, and there was no trouble from the dust. It was very different now. It was fourteen hours from the time of starting before they reached Burshoree, the mounted men having to accommodate their pace to that of the labourers, and the dust rose in dense clouds.
A part of the cavalry rode ahead, the rest some half a mile behind the main body of the footmen. But before half the journey was done these began to straggle, and the dust had no time to settle before the horsemen came along. Fully half the labourers, indeed, threw themselves down on the sand incapable of going farther, and lay there until the cool evening air revived them, and it was long after midnight before many of them reached Burshoree. Here a considerable number of wells had already been dug by the party under Major Leech. The water was muddy, and trickled in but slowly. Still it was water, and men and horses drank it eagerly as fast as it could be brought up in buckets and emptied into troughs which had been erected.
Although the village—a mere collection of native huts, surrounded by a wall as a protection against the plundering Beloochees—offered a most uninviting prospect, Angus was well pleased that he had arrived at the end of his journey, and had not, like Macgregor, another day's march to perform. The latter started as usual at three o'clock, and an hour later Angus, with some difficulty, roused his two hundred weary men and set them to work, promising them that if they laboured hard he would allow them to rest during the heat of the day. Cheered by the promise, the labourers set to work under their headmen. Each of these had charge of twenty workmen; these were divided into two gangs and worked wells close together. Angus had nothing to do save to exercise a sort of general superintendence. The soil became much more firm a few feet below the surface, and as the sides stood satisfactorily it was not necessary to make the wells of any great depth. It was found that four men only could be employed on each, two working in the bottom and the others bringing up the earth with buckets and ropes, consequently, the number of the wells was largely increased. After three days of prodigious toil, water was reached in the majority of the wells, and by the end of the fourth day fifty had been added to those already dug. The liquid, however, oozed in but slowly, and when a well was emptied it was two or three hours before water could again be drawn from it; thus although the amount that could be obtained altogether was considerable, it was still wholly insufficient for the supply of an army. Five-and-twenty of the native cavalry were kept constantly on the alert, for parties of plundering Beloochees hovered round, and several of the well-diggers who, in spite of orders, ventured to wander some distance away were robbed and killed.
The next morning General Thackwell, with a body of cavalry, a small force of infantry, and some irregular horse, rode into the place. He brought with him an order from Sir A. Burnes for Angus to accompany him. The well-diggers were to remain there and continue their work. The general had intended to stop there for two or three days, but finding that no forage could be procured, he started the next morning early and rode through Meerpoor to Oostar, a distance of twenty-seven miles, where, as had been reported by Major Leech, there was a small reservoir of water, and a store of straw and grass had been collected. Angus stopped for an hour at Meerpoor and had a talk with Macgregor, whose men had also accomplished a great deal of work, and who bewailed his fate at having to remain there instead of going forward with General Thackwell.
THE ADVANCE
The cutting of the dam of the Naree did not afford so much aid as had been hoped for, for the thirsty soil absorbed the water almost as fast as it poured out, and it was not until many days later that it began to fill the little irrigation canals at the villages through which the army passed. After resting two days at Oostar, the force proceeded to Bhag, a town of some size. Here water was found in abundance, and grain in considerable quantities, and also a supply of carrots, which were eagerly purchased by the officers for the use of their horses. At the various places where they halted Angus acted as interpreter, and rode out with a small body of cavalry to villages at which they learned a certain amount of forage could be obtained.
At Bhag, to his great satisfaction, Sir Alexander Burnes joined the party. He had paid a visit to the Khan of Khelat, and obtained from him stringent orders to the headmen of villages and others to do all in their power to aid the army. The inhabitants were all to be set to work to dig the holes, for which they would receive payments from the British. The Khan also promised to despatch to Dadur what supplies he could gather, but explained that unfortunately there was a much greater difficulty than usual in collecting provisions, as the previous season had been a very bad one, and in many parts of the country the villagers had not been able to gather sufficient for their own needs. As Angus had heard the same at Candahar, at the village near Quettah, and from his guide, there could be no doubt that this excuse was a genuine one, and indeed the officers who had been engaged in Scinde and in the country bordering the Indus affirmed that the supplies obtainable there were also vastly smaller than had been anticipated.