Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan

by William Taylor

Shortly after the breach had been effected intelligence was brought to the Commander-in-Chief, that numbers of the enemy were making their escape through one of the back gates. He immediately dispatched the 1st Bombay Light Cavalry in pursuit. The Affghans being daring horsemen, and better mounted than our men, made at once for the hills, where they knew our Cavalry could not follow. Aware of this our men put their horses to their utmost speed, in order to intercept them before they got entangled in the defiles. The chase soon assumed a character of lively interest. An Affghan, worse mounted, or less skilled in horsemanship than his fellows, was overtaken and cut down, and the pursuers pressed hard on the heels of another. The cheers of his enemies, and the clatter of their horses' hoofs sounding fearfully near in the ears of the pursued he put the noble animal on which he was mounted to its utmost speed, and cleared the space between him and his companions at a bound rather than a gallop. Again he was almost within reach of the sabres of our men, and again did the fleetness of his horse place him for a time in safety. As he was about to plunge into a deep ravine after the other fugitives a shot brought his horse upon its knees, and the rider was flung upon his head. All now seemed over with him. Starting, however, to his feet, he turned upon his pursuers, and single handed opposed a host of them. Warding off the blows which rained on him from every side, he kept rapidly retreating until he gained the brow of a steep declivity over which he flung himself and was instantly lost to view. Disappointed in their pursuit, our men took an unmanly revenge on some peasants who were peaceably engaged in agricultural occupations near the spot. One of these wanton acts of cruelty met with a just retribution. A havildar or serjeant, seeing a young Affghan following the plough at a little distance, galloped up, and made several cuts at him with his sabre. The young man ran to the other side of the plough, and placed the serjeant at bay. The latter drew a pistol from his holster, and was about to shoot him, when his horse stumbled over the plough and fell on his side, breaking the leg of the havildar and pinning him at the same time firmly to the ground. The Affghan seized the sword which had fallen from his grasp, and dealt him a blow on the head which instantly killed him. The comrades of the dead man riding up surrounded and captured the peasant, and he was brought into camp to abide the decision of the Commander-in-Chief. A representation having been made to Sir John Keane of the wanton and unprovoked attack which had been made upon the prisoner, he immediately ordered him to be liberated. The havildar was interred on the spot where he fell and there were few in the army who pitied or regretted him.

CHAPTER IX.

Attempt to Assassinate the Shah.—Court Martial on an Affghan Chief.—Visit to the Hospital at Ghuznee.—Hatred of the Affghans towards the Native Troops.—Departure from Ghuznee.—Capture of a Battery and Fatal Accident.—Summary Punishment.—Arrival at Cabul.—Pursuit of Dost Mahommed and Treachery of a Native Chief.—Description of Cabul.—The Balar Hissar.—Mosque of the Emperor Baber.—The Bazaar.

A few days after the taking of Ghuznee a tragical scene occurred, which pretty clearly indicated how the tide of popular feeling ran with regard to the restored monarch. There is a poetical superstition that approaching events are often foreshadowed, and the circumstance to which I allude seemed to impress every man's mind at the time with the result that has since happened.

The majority of the prisoners who fell into our hands were released on condition of their serving in the Shah's army, but there remained about thirty who refused to accept of their liberty on such terms. They consisted for the most part of the immediate followers of Dost Mahommed's father-in-law, and were devotedly attached to that prince. The Shah, on learning the circumstance ordered them to be brought before him, and expostulated with them on the folly of their conduct. A Chief of haughty bearing stepped from amongst the prisoners, and after overwhelming his Majesty with reproaches, told him that nothing should induce him to enter the service of a man who had brought the horrors of foreign invasion on his country. Then suddenly snatching a dagger from one of the attendants, he rushed with uplifted arm towards the Shah, and would have pierced him to the heart had not one of his Majesty's servants interposed his person, and received the blow intended for his master. The faithful domestic fell dead at the feet of the Shah, and the officers and attendants instantly rushed towards the assassin with drawn swords; but he had already anticipated their intention by plunging the poniard in his breast. The Shah, alarmed and exasperated, ordered the whole of the prisoners to be immediately executed, and in a few minutes their heads were rolling in the dust. This terrible scene created great alarm in the camp, it being at first reported that his Majesty had been assassinated, but the apprehensions to which it gave rise were soon dispelled, by his publicly making his appearance amongst us.

A Chief, named Walla Mahommed, who had persisted in firing on the troops several hours after the taking of the fort, and in spite of repeated summonses to surrender, was brought to a court martial by order of the Commander-in-Chief, and sentenced to be shot within the walls of the fortress. He had killed three or four of our men, and wounded one of the Native officers by his obstinate folly. He met his fate with the most perfect indifference, for the fear of death cannot be said to be one of the weaknesses of the Affghan character.

I one day paid a visit, with some of my comrades, to the hospital where the wounded Affghans had been carried by their friends. It was situated in the old town, and consisted of a mud hut, whose thatched roof was broken in several places, and afforded little or no shelter against the heat of the sun. The interior was as filthy and disgusting as it is possible to conceive. Into a space of about thirty feet by twelve, were crowded from seventy to a hundred patients, who were disabled by wounds of every description, their sufferings being aggravated tenfold, by the intolerable heat and stench of the place. They were attended by two elderly men and a youth about fifteen years of age, who were busily engaged dressing their wounds, whilst a Faquir was performing certain charms, by which he pretended he could restore them to health. Pitiable and disgusting as the scene was I could not help laughing at the mummeries of the fellow. He first placed some cow dung in the hand of the sufferer, and holding it in his, saturated it with water and compelled the patient to smell it. He then wound up the ceremony by repeating some prayers over the fumes of a charcoal pan, the patient repeating after him certain responses which he directed him to make. This done, he covered him up with an old blanket, and ordered him to lay quiet for several hours, when the cure would be complete. Having of course received a consideration for all this trouble, he left his patients to the progress of the charm, and the discovery, when too late, that they had been grossly duped.

Happening to have a quantity of apples with me which I had just plucked from one of the orchards in the vicinity, I offered them to the sufferers in the hope that they would in some degree refresh them. They accepted them with eagerness which induced some sepoys who were with me to follow my example. The Affghans indignantly refused to receive anything at their hands, and so great was their hatred of the native troops, that they actually spat upon the men who showed them this kindness.

Early in August we resumed our march towards Cabul, leaving the whole of our sick and wounded in garrison at Ghuznee. It was reported that Dost Mahommed intended to dispute every inch of ground to the capital, but these valiant resolutions were abandoned as soon as formed. The only indication of a preconcerted plan of defence which we met with on the route, was a battery of sixteen field pieces which we found planted on an eminence commanding the entrance to a formidable pass about midway between Ghuznee and Cabul, but which had been deserted by the enemy as soon as our advanced columns made their appearance. A party of the Horse Artillery having been sent to secure the guns and ammunition, an accident took place which was attended with fatal consequences. One of the men having approached a tumbrel with a lighted pipe a spark fell into it and the whole blew up with a tremendous explosion, killing two of the party and severely injuring another.