field officers engaged at Ghuzni and heads of
departments, the third; for the rest, all officers engaged at Ghuzni get
a gold medal, and the soldiers a silver one: however, all this depends
on the will and sanction of Queen Victoria.

On Wednesday, the 18th, we took our final leave of Cabool and its
beautiful environs, and reached Ghuzni on the 26th, where we halted two
days, and then struck off in a new direction, straight across country to
Quettah, by a new road, and very little known, leaving Candahar to our
right, and thereby cutting off a considerable angle. Our object in doing
this was, besides saving distance, to afford assistance, if required, to
Captain Outram, who had preceded us by about a week, and was gone with
some of the Shah's force into the Ghiljee country, and was employed in
destroying the forts, &c., of some of the refractory Ghiljee chiefs. He
captured one fort in which were found forty or fifty fellows who were
identified as being the same men who had murdered so many camp followers
and some of our officers during our march through the country. I saw
them at Ghuzni, where they were under confinement, and about to be
executed in a few days, as I was told. About eight marches from Ghuzni,
Outram sent to General Willshire for assistance, as his force was not
sufficient; he was then before the largest of these hill forts,
belonging to one of the most influential and refractory of the chiefs,
and who had given us a great deal of annoyance in our way up. A wing of
the 19th Native Infantry, some Artillery, and the Light Companies were
therefore sent to his assistance; but they made a miserable failure as
the chief, putting himself at the head of about a hundred faithful
followers, dashed through their pickets at night, and made his escape
with all his valuables, and without losing a man. We marched at an easy
pace, detaching a force now and then to take a fort, which was
invariably found, deserted on our approach. Nevertheless, we had hard
work of it, as our route lay through and over high and barren mountains
with scarcely an inhabitant or village to be seen, and nothing to be got
for our cattle. For three days my horse, and those of most of us, lived
on bushes and rank grass that we found occasionally. We had to depend on
our commissariat for everything; and they found it difficult to supply
grain for the staff and field officers' horses, so, of course, ours were
quite left out of the question. Guns, pow