ur men. Then came a larger puff of smoke and a murmur from the men
round me, as a shell pitched across the river and burst over a sangar.
It was as pretty a sight as one could wish for, and I felt as if I
should have been in a stall at Drury Lane. I could have stopped and
watched the show with pleasure. It was quite a treat to see how steadily
the 32nd Pioneers worked across the plain; but just then the men below
shouted that they had found a path, while I could see those above
working their way on to the grassy slope. These latter now shouted that
there were no enemy left on the hill, so we chose the lower road, and
gradually worked our way down, joining the grassy spur lower down--only
it wasn't grassy here at all, but chiefly precipice. We got down
somehow, chiefly on all fours, but by the time we had reached the
sangars, the enemy had bolted, and they were occupied by our men. It had
taken us nearly an hour to get down. Here I came across Colonel Kelly,
and after shaking hands, I looked at my watch and found it was just
twelve, so I had made a good shot at the time of our meeting when we
parted in the morning.

Now I will give you an account of the attack carried out by the main
body. It is the official account, so I can back its correctness.

The action at Chokalwat on the 9th April is thus described: "On the
morning of the ninth April I advanced to the attack of the enemy. In the
early morning Lieutenant Beynon, with the Hunza Levies, ascended the
high hills on the left bank of the river to turn the right of the
position and attack in rear. The Punyal Levies were sent up the hills on
the right bank to turn out the men above the stone shoots.

"I advanced in the following manner:--

Half Coy. 32nd Pioneers, advanced guard.
Kashmir Sappers and Miners --
Half Company 32nd Pioneers |
Two guns 1st Kashmir Mountain |= Main Body
Battery, carried by coolies |
One Company 32nd Pioneers --

"The baggage, under escort of the rearguard, remained in Gasht till
ordered forward after the action.

"An advance was made to the river, where the bridge had been broken, but
sufficiently repaired by the Sappers and Miners for the passage of the
infantry. The guns forded the river, and the force ascended to the fan
facing the right sangars of the enemy's position.

"The configuration of the ground was as follows: The road from the river
after leaving Gasht brought us on to an alluvial fan, the asc