might have crippled us pretty considerably) except
in the last march, but then we fired on them first. My company was on
baggage-guard this day, which was sent on in advance of the column; and
Halket, seeing some of the rascals on the hills, had a crack at them
with his double-barrel, which produced a reply of three shots from them;
but a soldier of the company taking a beautiful aim at one of them, at a
distance I am afraid to mention, and nearly knocking a fellow's head
off, the rest took to their heels, and we saw no more of them. Our
Grenadiers, however, who were bringing up the rear, had a slight
skrimmage with them, and killed five or six, without any of their shots
taking effect, although one man's firelock and another man's belt were
cut in half by a bullet. They fired on the column which came on
afterwards, and wounded one trooper of the Light Dragoons, and a few
native followers, and killed three horses. Most of us lost a deal of kit
in this Pass, owing to the camels' feet knocking up, from the sharpness
of the stones; and the very moment the column was off the ground the
rascals would be down and fighting for what was left behind. I was on
rear-guard the second day's march, and the very moment we cleared the
ground it was most amusing to see the rascals popping out of the holes
in the rocks in every direction.

On the 18th, we reached Siriab, where we halted for one day. This was a
rather pretty valley, with some fruit gardens, but the fruit not ripe.
Here I was taken unwell, and obliged to go on the sick-list; I had been
ailing some time; the doctor, however, put me off the list again on the
24th; but owing to the fatigue &c. I underwent on 25th, in going through
the Ghwozhe Pass, I caught a violent fever, and the next day was laid on
my beam ends, and did not get round again till the middle of last month.
In the Ghwozhe Pass our company was on baggage guard. We left our last
encamping ground at 3 A.M. on the 25th; we had only four miles to the
Pass, and the Pass was five more, when we reached our new ground, so it
was not more than nine miles altogether, yet it was 10 o'clock at night
before the rear-guard, bringing up the fag end of the baggage, came in.
For nearly the whole of this day I was exposed to an infernally hot sun,
and the stench arising from the dead cattle was really frightful. I was
also literally twenty-six hours without getting a morsel to eat or a
drop to drink, and but the day before on t