r comrades on their right retreating, began to draw off, and
the fire sensibly diminished. The movement was accelerated by the
four elephant guns--which had, at length, come up--opening fire
into the pine-wood forest. As the fire slackened, a reconnaissance
of the hill was made by General Roberts and his staff; but the
result showed that the mountain was so covered with pines, and
brushwood, that it formed an almost impenetrable barrier to the
advance of troops--for the growth was so thick that it was
impossible to say in which direction any movement should be made.
The experience gained, in the last six hours of hard fighting, had
shown how difficult it was to keep command over troops scattered
along a front of half a mile long, in the forest, where nothing
could be seen beyond a radius of a few yards.

The general, therefore, determined to desist from the attempt to
force his way direct to the top of the Peiwar-Khotal; and to march
to his left and so, by menacing the Afghan line of retreat, to
hasten the movement towards the rear which had evidently begun. The
men were, therefore, brought back to the plateau to the east of the
ravine. Here they were halted for a time, and the contents of their
haversacks furnished them with a meal.

At two o'clock they again drew up on the Spingawi plateau. The 2nd
Punjaub Infantry being left on the hill, to oppose the Afghans,
should they again advance in that direction; the rest of the column
entered the defile leading into the Hurriab valley, far in the rear
of the Peiwar-Khotal. As soon as the enemy--who were still opposing
the 2nd Punjaub Infantry--saw the head of the column enter the
defile, they were seized with a panic lest their retreat should be
cut off; and began to retreat with the greatest haste, as they had
to make their way across two mountain ridges, before they could
pass the spot towards which our troops were moving. The advance of
the column, however, was necessarily slow; as the woods and side
valleys had to be carefully examined, lest a flank attack should be
made upon them.

In two hours the head of the column emerged from the forest on to
the open slopes above the highest cultivated point in the Hurriab
valley. It was now four o'clock. The short December day was drawing
to a close. No enemy were in sight, for their line of retreat was
hidden in the bed of the stream, a couple of miles further on; and
no one knew where they were to be found. The troops were m