I now noticed rather a commotion among the garrison of the sangars across the Nisa Gol nullah; the men began turning out, and one or two ran towards the higher sangars, evidently passing on some news. Presently I saw a crowd of men, mostly mounted, with others on foot carrying flags. Then came a fat man in white, with a standard-bearer all to himself. All the garrisons of the sangars turned out, and I counted them—there were over a hundred in each.
The commander-in-chief rode up the whole length of the nullah, and then walked up the spur on which are shown sangars Nos. 16 and 17 in the sketch. Here he sat down, and, I have no doubt, calculated the odds on his winning when the action came off. After a time he came down the hill, and the procession moved down along the nullah and out of sight.
When I had finished my sketch, I shut up my telescope and said—
"Now we'll go across the river."
"Why do you want to cross the river?" said Humayun.
"I want to see the end of the nullah," said I.
"Their cavalry will get you," said he.
"What cavalry?" said I.
"You've just seen two of them," said he.
"Get out!" said I; "you're pulling my leg."