saddlery, clothing for troops, musical instruments, shot, shell,
caps, and accoutrements, and a vast amount of lead, copper and tin. It
would not have given us much trouble to storm the Bala Hissar, had we
been obliged to do so, for Artillery could have opened on it within
easy range, and there was cover for Infantry close up to the walls.

The reading of the Proclamation announcing the intentions of the
British Government with regard to the punishment of the city was
to take place in the Bala Hissar next day. The Amir had agreed to
accompany me. The leading people were invited to attend, and I had
given orders that all the troops were to take part in the procession,
so as to render as impressive as possible the ceremony, at which were
to be made known to the inhabitants of Kabul the terms imposed upon
them by the British Government. The object of my visit was to decide
how the troops might best be disposed so as to make the most imposing
display on the occasion.

I decided to detain in custody two Sirdars, Yahia Khan[1] and his
brother Zakariah Khan, the Mustaufi, and the Wazir, as these four
were Yakub Khan's principal advisers, and I was satisfied that their
influence was being used against us, and that so long as they were at
large a mine might be sprung upon me at any moment.

The Commander-in-Chief, Daud Shah, was also in the Amir's confidence;
but I determined to leave him at liberty, for, from what I could
learn, he had made an effort (not a very strong one, perhaps) to help
our unfortunate countrymen, and he had on several occasions since he
had been in my camp given me useful information; moreover, I hoped
to obtain further help from him, in which hope I was not altogether
disappointed.

As to what I ought to do with the Amir I was considerably puzzled.
Lord Lytton had urged upon me the necessity for weighing well the
advisability of prematurely breaking with him, as it was very possible
he might become a useful instrument in our hands, an eventuality which
I thoroughly understood; but I was not at all sure that Yakub Khan
would not break with me when he learnt my decision with regard to his
Ministers, and I had received more than one warning that, if he failed
to keep me from entering Kabul, he contemplated flight and a supreme
effort to raise the country against me.

Yakub Khan certainly did not deserve much consideration from us; for,
though no absolute proof was forthcoming of his having instigated t