h
his own hand. Not only on this occasion, but on several others, the
surgeon's bravery was most conspicuous, no one grudging him the
distinction he had so gallantly won.

There is nothing so destructive of the morale and discipline of soldiers
as street-fighting, nor can control be maintained except by men of
extraordinary resolution. The veterans of the European regiments
composing the Delhi army on the day of assault fully justified their
reputation. Cool and determined, they kept in check the impulsive valour
of the young soldiers, and assisted their officers on various occasions
when it became almost impossible to control their ardour. Till late
at night the fighting never ceased; the weary and famished soldiers,
exhausted and worn out from fatigue and exposure, and without a moment's
rest, carried out the work of clearing the streets and houses, exposed
all the time to a fire of musketry, coming chiefly from unseen foes.

Many lost their lives in the houses, where, entangled in the labyrinth
of roofs, courtyards, and passages, they were shot down by the inmates,
and were found, in several instances days after, with their throats cut
and otherwise mutilated. The hope of finding plunder in these places
also led many to their doom, and accounted for the large list of missing
soldiers whose names appeared in the day's casualties.

And now I must pass from our force to record the doings of No. 1 and
2 Columns, under General Nicholson. These, for a long distance, had
carried all before them, taking possession of the ramparts and bastions
as far as the Kabul Gate, and effectually clearing the streets leading
to the heart of the city. Exposed to a pitiless fire of grape and
musketry through their whole advance, their loss was very heavy, but,
still pressing forward, barrier after barrier was taken, the guns on
each bastion, after its capture, being at once turned on the city. Their
goal was the Burn bastion and the Lahore Gate, and all that men could do
with their diminished numbers was tried at those points without effect.
The rebels were in enormous force at these positions; field-guns and
howitzers poured grape and canister into the assaulting columns, and
musketry rained on them from the adjoining houses. Time after time
attacks were made, till the sadly harassed soldiers, completely worn
out, were forced to retire to the Kabul Gate and the bastions and
ramparts they had already gained.

It was in one of these uns