Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan

by William Taylor

The Bengal regiment of Native Infantry, whom we found in garrison at Ghuznee on our return, and whom we left after us, appeared to be quite as well reconciled to their quarters as we were at Cabul, although the two places appeared to me vastly different in point of health and comfort. The majority of the inhabitants regarded the troops with a sort of sullen indifference, but the trading classes seemed civil enough. The quantities of fish and game with which the neighbourhood abounded, afforded the officers a ready means of dissipating their time, and we would have been well content to have remained here. Orders were however given that we should pursue our route, and we left Ghuznee on the 25th of September, after a stay of only two or three days.

Instead of diverging to the right towards Candahar, we took the direct route to Quettah, over the Ghiljie hills. The weather had become intensely cold, and the rivers and streams were covered with ice, several inches in thickness. The Rev. Mr. Pigot, our chaplain, happened to be crossing one of them on a pony, when the ice gave way with his weight, and the worthy clergyman was immersed in the water. The stream was not, however, so deep as to occasion any alarm for his safety, and he was speedily rescued from his embarrasment, with no other inconvenience than being kept shivering several hours in his wet clothes, his baggage being at a considerable distance in advance. The rascally native who preceded us as guide grinned maliciously, and told him that if he had not forgotten to say his prayers setting out the accident would not have happened.

On encamping, at the close of the first day's march, from Ghuznee, some soldiers belonging to the 17th Infantry and Queen's Royals, went out in search of water, and met with a draw well, which proved to be dry. One of them descended in order to examine it more closely, and an exclamation of horror escaped him as he reached the bottom. On his companions enquiring the occasion of it, they learned that he had fallen upon several skeletons, the identity of which with some soldiers we had lost on the route upwards was placed beyond doubt by fragments of military clothing and regimental buttons which lay scattered about. Singular to relate, a lark had built its nest in one of the skulls, and was found innocently reposing with its young in this curious receptacle.

The annoyances to which we had been subjected during our route upwards, from the thieving system of warfare pursued by the Affghans, seemed now at an end. Our road lay through bleak and desolate hills, where only a solitary, and timid mountaineer was occasionally to be seen. Numerous rivers and streams traversed this wild country in every direction, and relieved us from all apprehensions on the score of water. Provisions were also plentiful, as the Commissariat had taken care to lay in sufficient supplies, and the only inconvenience which we might be said to have experienced was the severe cold of the nights. The barren nature of the country rendered fuel difficult of obtainment, and the consequence was that numbers of the troops were carried off by dysentery.

The march from Ghuznee to Quettah occupied about five weeks, and we thought we should never reach the end of these long chains of hills. Always ascending and descending heights of no inconsiderable elevation, the horses became regularly knocked up with fatigue, and we were obliged to shoot numbers of them on the way.

In a recess in one of these hills, I one day came upon a singular scene. About nine or ten of the natives were assembled around a dead horse and while part of them were cutting steaks from his haunches, the others were engaged cooking them. Revolting as such a sight is to European stomachs, I have seen the time when, on our march upwards, I could have partaken of these same horse steaks with infinite relish.

A few days before our arrival at Quettah, we requited an atrocious act of treachery, which had been committed towards us by some Ghiljie chiefs, with the punishment it richly merited. About one hundred camel drivers, who had left us at Candahar, on our way to Cabul, for the purpose of returning homewards, took their route over the hills we were now crossing in order to shorten the journey. They were met by the Ghiljies with professions of friendship, and seduced into a mountain fort under the pretence of hospitality. They had no sooner entered its walls than their throats were all cut, and their bodies flung into deep wells for the purpose of concealing the massacre from the eyes of the British.

Information of the fact having been received, Sir Thomas Wiltshire despatched a Squadron of her Majesty's 4th Light Dragoons, two companies of Native Infantry, and two pieces of artillery to raze the fortress to the ground. The cavalry started at two o'clock in the morning, and after a hard gallop of eighteen miles we arrived in front of the Ghiljie strong-hold. It was a small but strongly constructed fortress, situated on the brow of a steep declivity and defended by strong wooden gates. The entrance was commanded by an old iron carronade, and a number of loopholes for the discharge of musketry. Not a living soul was to be seen on the walls, and fearing some artifice, Major Daly, our commanding officer, resolved to suspend operations until the artillery came up. As soon as the latter made its appearance, and the guns were placed in a position to command the fort, Major Daly ordered part of the cavalry to dismount and proceed with loaded carbines to the gate, under cover of their fire. No opposition was, however, offered to us, the enemy having fled to the mountains, and the gates were forced open in a few minutes.

The only inhabitants we found in the place were a few women and children, but we discovered quantities of the richest silks and carpets, beside arms and money (consisting principally of silver coins) the fortress being a sort of depot for the booty obtained by these highland marauders.

One of the cavalry having entered a dwelling in search of plunder, was suddenly seized by two or three Ghiljies, who unexpectedly made their appearance through a sort of trap, with which almost every house in the fort was furnished. They placed a bandage over his eyes, and were in the act of passing a rope round his arms, when the timely approach of some of his comrades saved him from being carried off as a prisoner, the enemy disappearing through the trap the moment they heard the noise of their footsteps at the entrance. The troopers would have willingly pursued them, but the depth and darkness of the subterraneous passage convinced them it was something more than a mere cellar, and they knew that if they once got involved in its windings they would be completely at the mercy of the enemy. It is probable that these passages had outlets without the walls, and that it was through them the enemy made their escape at the first news of our approach, the suddenness and quickness of our movements preventing them from taking their valuables with them. There was also abundance of cattle and grain, of which we brought off large supplies to the camp. Orders having been given to the Artillery to blow up the fortress, the women and children were sent out of it, and at five o'clock the same day the walls were breached, so as to render them completely useless, and the houses fired in all directions. After remaining to see that the work of destruction was complete, we quitted the place at three o'clock in the morning, and arrived the same day at the encampment. The enemy were not entirely without their revenge, for, following on our footsteps, and watching us closely, they contrived to carry off the cook, and three camels laden with the cooking utensils of the squadron, a loss which was severely felt, and by some thought ill compensated by the booty we had obtained.