g of Daud Shah, Yakub Khan's Commander-in-Chief, under
arrest. I liked the man, and he had mixed freely with us all for more
than two months. He was not, however, absolutely above suspicion: some
of his near relatives were the most prominent amongst our enemies; and
I had been struck by a change in his manner towards me of late. In
trusting him to the extent I had done, I acted against the opinion of
almost everyone about me, and now that I had a doubt myself, I felt I
was not justified in leaving him at liberty, for if he were disposed
to make use of his opportunities to our disadvantage, his unrestrained
freedom of movement and observation would be certainly a source of
great danger.

For three or four days cloudy weather prevented heliograph
communication with Lataband, and messengers sent by Hudson had failed
to reach Sherpur, so that we were without any news from the outer
world; but on the afternoon of the 18th I received a letter from
Brigadier-General Charles Gough, conveying the disappointing
intelligence that he had only got as far as Jagdalak, twenty-one miles
from Gandamak, and that he did not consider himself strong enough to
advance on Kabul.

Gough no doubt felt himself in an awkward position. The line to his
rear was weakly held, the telegraph-wire on both sides of him was
cut, his rear guard had been attacked near Jagdalak, there was a
considerable collection of men on the hills to his front, and, as he
reported, 'the whole country was up.' Moreover, Major-General Bright,
under whom Gough was immediately serving, shared his opinion that it
would be wiser for him to wait until reinforcements came up from the
rear.

Gough, however, had with him 4 Mountain guns and 125 Artillerymen, 73
Sappers and Miners, 222 Native Cavalry, 487 British Infantry, and 474
Gurkhas; in all, 1,381 men, besides 36 officers--not a very large
force, but composed of excellent material, and large enough, I
considered, augmented, as it would be, by the Lataband detachment, to
move safely on Kabul. I had no hesitation, therefore, in sending Gough
peremptory orders to advance without delay, thus relieving him of all
responsibility in the event of anything unexpected occurring.

Hudson, at Lataband, as has already been recorded, was only victualled
until the 23rd, before which date I had calculated that Gough would
surely have relieved the garrison and brought the troops away. But now
all was uncertain, and it was incumbent upon m